This Underappreciated Supernatural Horror Movie Wrecked Me Last Year — and Now That It’s on Hulu, It’s Your Turn

2024 was yet another huge year for horror. Nicolas Cage floored us with his creepy performance in Osgood Perkins‘ Longlegs; Bill Skarsgård proved yet again that he can do anything as Count Orlok in Robert Eggers‘ Nosferatu; Art the Clown dismembered some more poor souls in Terrifier 3 and Demi Moore and The Substance went straight to the Academy Awards. In such a successful year for the genre, smaller outstanding films are going to be missed. There’s a chance you haven’t seen Oddity, the Irish folk horror film written and directed by Damian McCarthy. If you have yet to witness it, you’re in luck, because it’s now streaming on Hulu. Oddity is a mixture of murder mystery and the deep and heartbreaking connection between two sisters, both played by Carolyn Bracken. It also has one of the most unnerving objects you’ll ever see in a horror movie. Check it out and good luck getting to sleep after.

What Is ‘Oddity’ About?

Oddity starts off with husband and wife, Ted (Gwilyn Lee) and Dani Odello-Timmis (Bracken), settling into their new countryside home in Ireland. It’s a beautiful place, but with its high stone walls and dark corners, it feels like a haunted house at night. That’s not where the terror might lie though, because late one evening, when Ted is at work as a psychiatrist at a local hospital, Dani is home alone when there is a knock at the door. You don’t need more than that to send a chill down your spine. Dani answers it to find a strange man warning her about seeing someone who means her harm inside her house. He sounds convincing, but is he telling the truth or is he a killer trying to find a way in?

Either way, Dani ends up dead, and now it’s up to her twin sister, Darcy (also played by Bracken), to figure out what happened. Darcy is a rather unusual woman. She may be blind, but she can still see things others might not want to find out through her clairvoyant abilities. She also owns a small store called Cabinet of Curiosities, which is filled with supposedly cursed items. A year after Dani’s death, she shows up at the house where Ted and his new girlfriend still reside, determined to find out the truth about Dani’s murder.

Carolyn Bracken Seamlessly Plays Two Characters

Oddity is filled with intriguing characters who we’re not sure we can trust. Is the man, Olin Bool (Tadhg Murphy), who knocked on Dani’s door that fateful night a murderer or an innocent person who was trying to help? Is Ted somehow involved? After all, whenever a spouse ends up dead, their partner is the prime suspect. And what’s going on with Ted’s new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Melton)? Is there something more sinister under the surface with her or does she have the misfortune of being caught up in something bigger than her?

Oddity is full of great performances, but it’s ultimately a showcase for Carolyn Bracken. Countless movies have had actors play multiple characters, but you could easily forget that this is what Bracken is doing. It’s not just that the two sisters look a little different, but it’s also how they act. Dani is a loving wife who should be relaxed and calm in her new dream home. We care for her because she is alone and made vulnerable, but she is taken from us before we get to know her too well. Darcy, on the other hand, is highly bizarre in the best way. When she shows up at the home, we know that whoever killed Dani is going to be in a world of hurt when she finds out. It’s not only because of the power of the love for her sister — it’s also the life-size wooden man she brought with her.

The Wooden Man Will Give You Nightmares

The Wooden Man is just that. Darcy props up at the kitchen table, and he sits there, arms outstretched, while his dead eyes are open to the world, and his mouth is agape in a scream that looks more out of rage than fear. The blind clairvoyant brings it as a gift, but it’s certainly not a present anyone would want. In an interview with Mashable, director Damian McCarthy said that the Wooden Man is inspired by a golem, a Jewish clay figure that can come to life and do whatever its creator bids. The idea for it came from none other than Guillermo Del Toro because McCarthy read that he had said “he really always started with a really strong image, and then almost builds out the story around that.”

That’s the Wooden Man, who is the centerpiece of marketing, as it’s shown in the poster and trailer. It’s chilling to look at, and we can’t help but focus on it, waiting for it to move. It’s impossible to take your eyes off of it whenever it’s on-screen. Still, as unnerving as the Wooden Man is, that’s not what the story is about. It’s more a love story between two sisters across life and death. Oddity leads to an ending that’s not only terrifying but heartbreaking, as we see what Darcy’s love for her sister will drive her to. It’s one of the best horror movies of 2024 and now that it’s on Hulu, hopefully it will get the wider recognition it deserves.