“Oddity” Unleashes the Terrifying Power of Haunted Objects
I don’t shop at antique stores. Sure they may contain gorgeous furniture, beautifully distressed books, or charming artifacts of a bygone era, but I’m terrified that whatever I pick up will also include an invisible threat that will wreak havoc on my house. In short, I’m convinced all antique objects are haunted and Damian Mc Carthy’s supernatural horror film Oddity does nothing to allay my fears. This terrifying film follows a spiritual antiques dealer with the power to see beyond the veil. In this harrowing story of supernatural revenge, Mc Carthy plays with our senses and fills the corners of a spooky house with unnerving monsters both spectral and human.
Dani (Carolyn Bracken) is renovating a large and creaking estate in the Irish countryside. With a faint cell-phone signal and no electricity, she’s rigged up a tent in the dusty foyer while her husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) works long hours at a residential treatment facility for the mentally ill. As she prepares to turn in for the night, Dani is disturbed by a knock at the front door and an impossible choice. One year later, her sister Darcy (Bracken) grieves Dani’s death and we learn that she made the wrong decision. A talented medium, Darcy holds the glass eye of her sister’s killer in hopes of discovering what happened that night. The truth she pulls from this powerful object unlocks a frightening story of violence and revenge. With a shop full of haunted objects at her disposal, Darcy embarks on a spiritual journey to seek justice for her sister’s death.
Mc Carthy first made waves in 2020 with his terrifying debut Caveat. Though absent the same grimy claustrophobia, his sophomore film Oddity has a similar feel. We spend most of our time in a spooky house who’s stone walls overwhelm attempts at modern decor. Mc Carthy’s fascination with archaic relics and unusual objects is present here as well and Caveat’s glass-eyed rabbit harbinger feels at home with similarly unsettling antiques. This gorgeous, old house provides the backdrop for a violent clash between new and old and its circular backbone prevents us from ever fully finding our bearings. Overwhelming shadows hide sinister secrets and we wonder how anyone could make it a home.
We first meet Darcy in her curio shop informing Ted that each object carries a dangerous curse. Her latest prize is an antique desk bell said to summon the spirit of a murderous bellboy. Though we’d love to learn more about each object for sale, our attention quickly turns to the contents of a large trunk. Darcy offers this antique as a gift to Ted and his new girlfriend, surreptitiously bringing it into the house. Contained within is the stuff of nightmares. A perpetually screaming wooden man somehow emerges unseen from the box and takes a seat at the dinner table. Hidden in his skull is a series of ominous objects that may hold the key to the oddity’s power. Reportedly inspired by Creepshow and Child’s Play, this ominous figure casts a heavy shadow over each scene until a nerve-shattering conclusion when its power awakens.
But there are human monsters in this story as well. Dani’s motion sensor camera not only reveals supernatural beings still roaming the halls, but a sinister man in a black rain slicker and white porcelain mask. Though slightly reductive, Ted’s hospital feels like a relic of mid 20th-century asylums leaving us without a setting in which we feel safe. Steve Wall is equally terrifying as a sinister orderly who delights in punishing the patients in his care. Bracken is outstanding in a dual role at the heart of the film. Her palpable fear and touching vulnerability contrast moments of cathartic defiance as she insists on seeking revenge for her murdered sister.
As disparate elements of the story wind together, all secrets lead back to a bloody confrontation. Mc Carthy plays with our senses using fractured timelines and upsetting reveals as we piece together unexpected elements of the original crime. Jump scares abound in this disturbing film, but each feels inevitable and emerges from a foundation of slowly mounting dread. Haunted house stories are a dime a dozen in the horror genre, but Oddity delivers fresh terror that never feels cheap. It’s a solid story that eats away at our nerves while providing a sense of justice restored. With two terrifying and unique films under his belt, Mc Carthy has established himself as an important new voice of modern horror.
Jenn Adams is a writer, podcaster, and film critic from Nashville, TN. Find her social media nonsense @jennferatu.