MOVIE REVIEW – Oddity, Damian McCarthy’s latest venture into the horror genre, is a gem that creeps up on you, almost unnoticed, sinking deeper under your skin with each frame. At its heart is the story of Dani, a medium grieving the loss of her sister, who searches for answers within the supernatural. Carolyn Bracken’s performance is captivating, infusing her character with a surprising emotional intensity that permeates the entire narrative.

Too often, horror films fail to deliver that visceral fear they promise. Perhaps it’s due to the oversaturation of predictable clichés that audiences have come to expect. Modern horror, at times, feels overshadowed by the excellence of past classics. However, let’s not indulge too deeply in nostalgia for “the good old days”; exceptional horror films are still being made, albeit on a smaller scale. The problem is that for every film with a unique vision or a bold twist on a well-worn genre, there are countless cash-grab attempts that recycle tired formulas without bringing anything fresh to the screen.

Fortunately, Oddity falls squarely in the category of originality. Written and directed by Damian McCarthy, whose debut feature, Caveat, was a chilling introduction to his style, Oddity is as genuinely terrifying as it is laced with dark humor. McCarthy’s deep understanding of horror allows him to play with and even satirize genre conventions, while still delivering a truly classic, bone-chilling experience. It’s the kind of film that slowly seeps into your consciousness, and when it finally “pulls the rug out from under you,” you feel every second of the fall.

What is Oddity’s Story?

The story centers on Dani (Carolyn Bracken), who is working alone in a secluded, haunted house in Ireland. She calls her husband, Ted (Gwilym Lee), a doctor, to check in on her progress, while he works late. The eerie silence of the night is shattered by the sudden appearance of a former patient, Olin (Tadhg Murphy), who urgently warns Dani that something sinister is lurking in the house. He begs her to open a locked door so he can help confront whatever presence haunts the space, but Dani hesitates. A flash, the screen cuts to the title, and we jump forward a year to learn that Dani was brutally killed that night. Olin is held as the prime suspect, but those around him seem eager to move on from the incident.

Ted still resides in the same house, now with his new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton), a woman he met through his work. Things take an unsettling turn when Dani’s sister, Darcy—also portrayed by Bracken—arrives with a bizarre gift, leaving Ted and Yana at a loss for how to respond. Darcy, a blind medium with the ability to access the past and other people’s lives through objects connected to them, begins piecing together clues from that fateful night.

The story’s twists are best enjoyed with as little foreknowledge as possible, but one element can be revealed: Darcy brings along a disturbing wooden puppet, one that eerily resembles a constantly suffering, agonized version of Pinocchio. This puppet disappears and reappears in unsettling ways—stationary when watched, yet mysteriously shifting positions when unseen. Its intricate design, simultaneously lifelike and grotesque, adds to its terrifying presence. Each time it vanishes from view, we wonder what it’s up to, making the unseen every bit as frightening as what’s on display.

With painstaking patience, Oddity builds an atmosphere so thick with dread that it becomes nearly suffocating. Brutal moments and eerie scenes hit their mark precisely because McCarthy masterfully pulls us deeper and deeper into darkness. Set largely within the isolated house with Yana and Darcy or at Ted’s workplace, McCarthy never misses an opportunity to amplify the tension—whether through macabre humor or the increasingly menacing supernatural forces at play.

Carolyn Bracken Is Mesmerizing in Oddity

As the film reaches its excruciating yet cathartic climax, Bracken’s performance takes center stage. She not only rises to the occasion but brings an astonishing emotional weight to the final scenes, leaving audiences emotionally wrecked. Bracken is no stranger to horror, having delivered a similarly powerful performance in the recent chilling film You Are Not My Mother. Though her screen time with this character is relatively short, Bracken’s portrayal elevates the tragic ending to monumental proportions.

Bracken breathes life—and death—into McCarthy’s grim tale, making it impossible to look away, even as we dread what’s next. The final revelations carry an oppressive sadness and unresolved agony, making the emotional impact even sharper. As the last scenes reverberate through the nearly empty house, Oddity leaves us with a haunting reminder of what might be lurking beyond. When we finally realize—almost too late—sometimes the scariest things are the ones knocking from inside our own walls.

-Herpai Gergely “BadSector”-