Film Review | Shudder

Oddity (2024) — tense but cliché-ridden horror outing

After the brutal murder of her twin sister, a psychic medium goes after those responsible by using haunted items as her tools for revenge.

While Ireland has a strong association with the written word, having produced some of the best writers of the last few decades (and centuries), the same sentiment doesn’t apply so keenly to film. As a small country with a population of just a few million, there’s not a sizable enough industry for many well-crafted films to be made. This requires quite a bit of creativity on the part of Irish filmmakers to ensure that budgeting limitations don’t compromise the stories they want to tell.

From its opening scene, it’s clear that Oddity can gamely work within these constraints, even using them to heighten the tension behind its scares. Largely limited to one residence, the movie is not just able to maintain what must have been a relatively small budget, it also crafts a tension-filled experience with a feeling of dread that creeps forward. Starting with a woman alone in a large…