Review of Oculus (2014) by Kate H — 16 Aug 2014

Much, much better than I thought. The mirror narrative works perfectly well here and it is fantastic. By the end of the film you're still not sure what the heck was going on and which version of events is actually the truth.

Eleven years ago, Tim and Kaylie and their parents move house and buy a really old mirror. Soon after this, both parents are dead - one at Tim's hands. Tim is incarcerated in a mental health facility until is 21st birthday where he gets to meet Kaylie again. The pair remembers events two different ways: Tim remembers their parents going crazy and him killing their father. Kaylie remembers a series of strange occurrences, all involving their father's mirror and a promise the siblings made to kill the evil in the mirror when they were old enough.

The past and present narratives are told at the same time and things meet in the middle as much as the siblings meet in the middle from their own experiences. The film really does so much with so little and the creeping dread and uncertainty of what you're seeing being real is just delicious.

If you rolled your eyes when you saw the trailer and skipped this, I really do think you should give it a go.