[3]

Eleven years ago, young Kaylie and Tim saw their father murder their mother. By the end of that night, Tim would be put in an institution for killing their father and Kaylie would enter the foster care system. Cut to now: Tim is discharged from the institution, now a young adult. Kaylie is there waiting to take him home to the scene of the crime, where she intends to exonerate her family by proving they were acting against their will — that the real culprit is an antique mirror with the supernatural ability to control people’s minds.

There’s some originality in the story and the performances are all pretty decent, but the pacing makes Oculus a bit of a rough ride. The first half is a slow burn (too slow?), which would be fine if the second half hit the ground running. But it doesn’t. Oculus plateaus at the mid-point and slowly backs into a telegraphed ending. It tries to stay interesting by shifting back and forth in time between present-day Tim and Kylie and their childhood counterparts. Director Mike Flanagan does a remarkable job transitioning between the two timelines, but after a while this only accentuates the movie’s pacing problem. The peaks aren’t high nor the valleys deep in Oculus. Instead, you find yourself caught in a tedious cycle of two-minute, quiet suspense build-ups to twisty reveals that aren’t all that revealing. I’ll give the movie credit for serving up an ending that is true to itself and the genre, but I can’t say it was a surprise. And after the long slog to get there, I think any ending would feel anti-climactic. Basically, you get blue balls watching Oculus.

I really wanted to like Oculus. It has a can-do, indie film vibe about it, and despite my gripes, Flanagan and his crew do a lot with very little — one location, very few characters, and the main villain is a piece of home decor? I’m also grateful that Flanagan chose not to indulge in any of the stylistic cliches that mar so many contemporary horror flicks (watch the trailer for The Quiet Ones for comparison). Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites (Prince Philip in the upcoming Maleficent) do good jobs as Kaylie and Tim. Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan are just as good playing the younger parts. Rory Cochrane and Battlestar Galactica‘s Katee Sackhoff make the most of their roles as the children’s doomed parents.