Damian McCarthy's 2023 Irish horror film 'Oddity' is streaming now on Shudder, Hulu, Hoopla, and Kanopy, and it deserves your attention before or after you see his new theatrical release 'Hokum', starring Adam Scott.
Both films share McCarthy's core toolkit: cursed objects, rural Irish isolation, the occult, and a slow-burn dread built from architecture and stillness rather than jump scares. 'Oddity' centers on a blind woman investigating her twin sister's murder at a remote countryside home, and features a wooden golem that earns its place among recent horror's most unsettling practical creations.
The full piece at The Verge breaks down exactly how McCarthy constructs tension across both films, which makes it worth reading even if you have already seen 'Oddity'. The craft analysis alone explains why he is one of the few working horror directors building a genuinely consistent body of work.
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