Oculus

 

Yesterday I decided to watch Oculus (2013).

First off, lets get this straight, Oculus has nothing to do with virtual reality. It is a horror film so don't let the name fool you, okay?

Oculus stars Karen Gillan as Kaylie Russel, Brenton Thwaites as Tim Russel, Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan as their younger selves and Katee Sackhoff and Rory Cochrane as their parents, Marie and Alan. It is written and directed by Mike Flanagan.

The movie is split between two time periods; the present and ten years ago and in a nutshell the story is this:

The Russel family moves into a new house and thanks to a sinister mirror, things go very wrong. Parents die, Kaylie gets put in the foster care system as she was only twelve, while Tim age eleven is committed to psychiatric care until he is 21, due to certain events.

Now adults, Tim and Kaylie tries to prove that what happened wasn't their parents fault but rather the malign supernatural influence of the mirror, the Lasser Glass. (Great name BTW.)

The beginning was a little bit underwhelming in my opinion. Stylish sure, but a bit paint-by-numbers. Flanagan even uses two Lewton Bus moments (building tension and then defusing it with something innocent) in quick succession, which is one too many. However, once the movie got going, I was fully invested. The fact that Oculus is 104 minutes long but it felt more like 80 is a testament to how good it is.

The movie switches back and forth a lot between ten years ago and now. This technique can and has been done well before but it can also be pretty grating if you get it wrong. Oculus gets it incredibly right. The central theme is perception, and the movie plays a lot with what is real and what isn't. A theme that again, can go very wrong and that Oculus gets so right. Bit by bit the two time-lines blend together which was a smart move.

I want to take a moment to point out how good the child actors are. Both Basso and Ryan do a stellar job playing the siblings. The fear and vulnerability is amazing and only serves to highlight how incredible brave they have to be. Sure, they were actually 14 and 15 not 11 and 12, but they still show real acting ability. Naturally some credit has to go to the director as well. Sterling work.

To sum up, Oculus is an intelligent horror movie that despite its central theme of confusing reality and perception is easy to follow. It is the kind of horror movie that I'd recommend not just to horror fans, but also to people who aren't horror fans but who like to watch one now and then. Apart from a slightly weak start I have nothing to complain about and I highly recommend Oculus.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!