ODDITY/Rougeski Movie Review

Oddity is a stunning film, perfect in every way.  It is intelligently written and directed by Damian McCarthy of Caveat fame.  In both films, visual aspects are privileged over dialogue, forcing viewers to lean into the experience, to lust over every word as if lost in a forest, following breadcrumbs into the unknown.

This is a film directed at the needs of intelligent viewers who detest predictable plot lines.

Danni and her blind, clairvoyant twin Darcy have always been close.  Danni and her physician husband purchase a large house in need of serious repair.  One dark night, Danni is brutally murdered.  According to the law, the murderer was discovered and convicted.  However, Darcy has her doubts.  A year after the murder, she decides to settle the matter.  Danni’s husband has a new lover and wants nothing to do with the past, with good reason.  However, he cannot dissuade Darcy from her path of discovery.  What ensues is a convoluted tale of a twin bent on discovering the truth.

McCarthy first draws viewers into his world with an uncomplicated scrolling list of the team members printed in simple, small white text on a deep black screen so as not to disturb the mood being created by the sounds.  During this segment, an ominous thrumming, not quite music, but more like binaural beats, sends a dark thrill through viewers and prepares the subconscious for the emotional journey that looms ahead.  Perceptive viewers will realize that they are being drawn into a very, very dark place.

Viewing Oddity is an extremely visual experience.  The first visual is a flyover that draws viewers over a deep forest to the island-like house where much of the action takes place.  Here, viewers look down upon a house that demonstrates the first element of a parallel lines motif that dominates the visuals, boxing the characters into their destinies as sure as if they were enclosed in in a tomb.  The house is a square courtyard enclosed by four parallel walls of stone.  It’s a tomb in a deep forest that confines the players, in the same way that inmates are imprisoned in a nearby mental institution where nefarious plans are conceived.

The cinematography and staging are perfect.  The house that holds most of the mysteries is dark and brooding, incomplete like as is the crime.  The colors match the mood.  Dim lighting and echoing halls create a Gothic atmosphere where ghosts can hide in corners.  Most interesting are the repeating parallel lines that box the actors in like prison bars.  Whether caused by rows of stones and wooden supports, the lines continue to warn viewers that nobody gets out alive.  It is obvious that the director took painstaking care to create details that will certainly send a message to the subconscious minds of viewers.  Every element works toward developing the plot and the avalanche of murders

Crucial elements are foreshadowed by symbolic visuals such as the incongruous trap door that waits in a second floor hallway:  A high-end camera set on automatic provides flashes of an alternate reality:  and most of all, the wooden man whose mouth yawns wide, ready to inhale the evil that lurks in the house, silently waiting to be called upon.

McCarthy employs mirroring effects as breadcrumbs for viewers to follow.  Both sisters kneel before the trap door on the upper floor.  The picture behind the doctor’s desk looks surprisingly, like the wooden man.  Blind eyes use a glass eye to see.  Perhaps the most telling and disturbing example of mirroring is the scene where Darcy mirrors the position of the wooden man who now sits at the table, urging viewers to wonder if he is a gift or an accomplice.

Although the basic plot is not entirely original, its twisted nature provides alternate possibilities that make the film unique.  Many film plots revolve around murder, but few are so tortuous, with so many possible suspects.  However, the director surreptitiously leaves arcane clues, like breadcrumbs in the forest, likely to go unnoticed.  Viewers will not be able to guess the truth until the denouement, where they realize that the clues were there all along.

Not a single scene, although it might seem inconsequential, fails to play an important part in the story and will indeed become a crucial aspect of the plot line.

The film documents a horrendous murder of one of a set of twins.  The surviving twin is a blind psychic who operates a small antique shop that specializes in oddities.  Both sisters are played by Carolyn Bracken who does a marvelous job of creating two very different yet connected sisters.  This fact is echoed by one sister who calls the other and is surprised that their cell phones could connect says, “Guess what.  We are connected.”  This statement has hidden meanings that viewers will discover much later in the tale.  When one sister is murdered, Darcy, the remaining blind twin, dedicates her life to discovering and punishing the murderer.  The turning point occurs when Darcy removes her white gloves and holds the glass eye so it can touch her flesh.  With her wooden man in tow, she must do whatever needed, including leaping through a deadly portal in the floor to gain the supernatural power she must possess to complete her errand.

Oddity comes highly recommended for its convoluted plot, masterful cinematography, faultless acting, and of course, the wooden man.

 

For more intormation, check out the official movie site.     https://www.odditymovie.com/

 

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