My experience with one of the BEST atmospheric horror movies of 2024

“Words have no power to impress the mind

without the exquisite horror of their reality.”

- Edgar Allan Poe

Do you believe in ghosts? From its beginnings, cinema practically wanted to make us doubt about paranormal and spiritual matters from various points of view. From Lake Mungo's devastating extreme realism to Ghost's hopeful vision and Clive Barker's Candyman's fantastic approach, everything can be summarized with the expression "believe it or not." Nonetheless, from time to time—and solely from time to time—there appears a new movie which makes us observe our surroundings out of the corner of our eyes with unease in pursuit of what we can't see but can feel.

I didn't know who Damian Mc Carthy was until recently, when I read somewhere that he directed a new trending paranormal horror movie. Oddity is completely different from the genre's mainstream popular movies which appear on the big screen and end up boring every horror lover. This is the Irish director´s second work—which turned him into an interesting figure—and can be included among the movies in which the atmosphere surpasses all the other components, becoming the story's real protagonist.

I won't lie to you, this film doesn't seem to have iconic scenes, memorable characters nor a reasonably remarkable story to be defined as a subgenre masterpiece. Nonetheless, despite all those flaws, it still disturbs, disrupts and terrifies. How is this possible? Mc Carthy focuses on simplicity, details and the creation of a weird aura around the house that serves as the most important place to explore topics such as guilt, familial and romantic relationships, human behavior and, most importantly, greed.

The story presents Dani y Ted Timmins' life, a married couple who just bought a big modest house within a complex on the outskirts of a small Irish city. They decided to spend every night without great comforts until they can afford what they need to establish themselves. Ted is a doctor who works in a psychiatric facility and who, at first sight, seems loving and kind. We don't know much about Dani, but it doesn't matter since, from the very beginning, an "abnormal" presence is lurking around the area, whether they like it or not.

One night, Dani feels someone touching the doorknob from the other side of the door and, after opening the small door window—which is a visual Easter egg showing she's trapped somewhere—to see who's there, she sees a suspicious man with a glass eye. He warns her she's not alone in her house, tells her he saw someone entering the house while she was looking for her house keys in the car and states her life is in danger. Both the main character and I exclaimed "What?" at the same time. Everything is confusing, dark and, as I gradually experience the scene, I felt a bad taste in my mouth. While the woman thinks twice whether to let the man in to help her, PUM!… The movie title appears on screen and puts an end to the scene.

Then, we witness an ellipsis. Immediately after that last scene, we see an unknown place directly connected to what we saw before: a mentally unstable man, drawing disturbingly strange faces and figures, who hears a noise outside his room. We clearly see the figure of the man with the glass eye in one of his drawings hanging on his bedroom's wall and the questions raise. Is he a myth, a serial killer or maybe an urban legend? Seconds after, we see Ted entering an antique store and, magically—even though it's not—a woman identical to his ex-wife, but with blonde short hair, welcomes him. This woman is Darcy, Dani's twin. The movie doesn't explain what's going on and lets us solve the puzzle by ourselves with our imagination: indeed, Dani was murdered that night, but we don't know how.

In Oddity, there are some jumpscares whose only purpose are to entertain—I suppose they're intended for those who consider that creating an atmosphere is dense and boring. Honestly, after a long time of not getting scared, these jumpscares made me jump from my seat. Nonetheless, the fear we feel is not due to this popular element, but to a truly terrifying wooden manikin. Ted "invites" Darcy to spend some time in his new house after years of his sister's death, and she finds out he's dating a coworker named Yana. Once again, the calculated information piece we receive allows us to draw some possible conclusions: Darcy wants revenge and, in addition, she feels something isn't totally right about Ted.

Ted, who has a night-time job, and his young girlfriend, who must travel to the city, insist they can't stay that night in the house, but Darcy indirectly uses the fact she's blind and that she would like to stay for a few hours where her sister spent her last minutes alive. Nothing is as it seems in this supernatural mystery thriller, but I'll stop giving details about it since I would only discourage you, spoil the potential horror you might feel and prevent you from enjoying one of the best atmospheric horror films of the year.

BY JERÓNIMO CASCO

Posted on SEPTEMBER 20, 2024, 13:30 PM | UTC-GMT -3

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