damienmassart

So many positive reviews for this film, seriously?

Let's start by making one thing clear : Oddity is NOT a horror film, so let's stop saying it ushers in a revival of the genre. At best, this film is a bad "whodunit", with criminal investigation mixed in with fantastical elements.

For the rest, Oddity stands out for the weakness of its screenplay and twists, its approximate acting and its many air holes in the story. There's not much to salvage from this insipid mush, other than the viewer's time, who would be well advised to look elsewhere for horror thrills.

But what scares me a little is that this kind of over-rated, over-appreciated film may eventually establish itself as a new kind of benchmark. A step in this direction has already been taken with Longlegs, and I wonder what justifies this critical and public infatuation. Is everyone blinded by arty packaging and the "independent cinema" stamp, when in fact this cloak conceals an empty, hollow film devoid of the slightest interest?

There was a time when genre cinema was a reservoir of innovation and ideas, but unfortunately it seems to me today that those days are gone, and Oddity is proof of that. Absolutely empty. Absolutely hollow.

The first episode of a series is supposed to lay the groundwork for the plot, define the main characters and create a sense of expectation in the viewer.

This first episode does just the opposite. The characters are thrown into the story like ingredients in a bad recipe; there's no script, no clear narrative line, just a succession of inane situations worthy of the worst Z series.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you: this is a werewolf story. No spoilers, rest assured: all is revealed in less than thirty minutes. It's as if the first episode wanted to reveal all the cards right from the start, abandoning any idea of building a story episode after episode, exactly what a series is supposed to do, isn't it ?

To make matters worse, the actors are terrible. The CGI are frighteningly ugly. In short, absolutely everything that could go wrong does, but in an absolute way that borders either on an abysmal form of misguided genius, or a very basic lack of talent at every level: actors, script, direction.

There are plenty of ways to take the viewer for a fool, but this series takes the shortest route: lining up all the clichés of the genre in the shortest possible time.

Oh yes, there's Sarah Michelle Gellar at the end. Is that reason enough to inflict this first episode on yourself? No. A thousand times no.

Let's watch Buffy again and let this sad production languish in its mediocrity.

I really hope there won't be a season 2 !