Oddity (2024), directed by Damian McCarthy, stars Carolyn Bracken, Caroline Melton, Gwilyn Lee, Tadhg Murphy, and Steve Wall. The film follows Darcy Odello (Bracken), a blind psychic medium who sets out to uncover the truth behind her sister’s murder after she comes into possession of a personal item left by the supposed killer. Accompanied by her sister’s former husband, Ted (Lee), and his new fiancee, Yana (Melton), Caroline begins to uncover a truth that none of them could have imagined. 

The cast is small, and although nobody gives an Oscar-worthy performance, they mostly succeed in providing unique and memorable characters. Carolyn Bracken as Darcy is perfectly off-kilter. From the movie’s beginning, all we know about her is that she’s blind, psychic, and loves her sister. These details are simple and allow us to sympathize with her, but they still allow room for us not fully to trust her (or at least understand her), and the same goes for Ted and Yana. The film’s biggest strength is that it’s often able to establish its characters without allowing us to fully understand their motivations. Likewise, these characters are written in a way that’s so balanced that they often act unlikeable without sacrificing their overall likability. If they act rude or dismissive of other characters, there’s always a clear reason/understanding of why they’re doing so.

This film perfectly balances this sense of mystery by providing us with enough implied explanations so we don’t feel completely lost. It also helps, that in the end, we do receive a satisfying (but perfectly incomplete) level of explanation for the proceedings at hand. 

The movie is extremely well-paced at 98 minutes, allowing for equal and effective focus on each of its main characters. It’s also consistently unpredictable and goes in directions the viewer doesn’t expect, but never feels convoluted or over-the-top. Yes, it’s often a strange experience tonally, but this always serves to put the audience on edge in the sense that they can’t guess from moment to moment what kind of horror movie the events will result in. It also features some terribly frightening imagery that’s never overused, therefore increasing its effectiveness.

The film features a twist that fits well but is somewhat predictable about halfway through. That being said, this is one of those cases where although I could predict the twist, it was also the twist I was hoping for. Instead of rolling your eyes because it goes the direction you guessed, you pump your fist in excitement. It also ends in a way that is satisfyingly dark for hardcore horror fans but still holds an element that makes you feel like the good guys won. 

Overall, this is one of the bigger horror movie surprises of the year and cements Damian McCarthy as a director to follow. Excluding the “blind psychic” trope, I feel everything here is refreshingly original and results in a consistently unpredictable and chilling movie-going experience. Some viewers may feel confused by some of the movie’s genre subversions and occasionally off-kilter tones, but other than that, I can’t find much wrong with it. I expect most won’t be as high on it as me, but high I was as the credits rolled. A-