Oculus Summary and Review - Horror Through the Looking Glass

In Oculus, writer-director Mike Flanagan takes a familiar horror trope, the haunted mirror, and reframes it into something original. A supernatural psychological horror, Oculus is less concerned with jump scares and more interested in blurring the boundaries between perception and reality. It’s a chilling, mind-bending battle of wills between siblings and a malevolent force that doesn’t intend to go down without a fight.

A Shattered Childhood

The film opens with Tim Russell being released from a psychiatric facility into the care of his sister, Kayley, 11 years after the violent deaths of their parents in a tragedy that shattered their childhood and changed their lives forever. While Tim spent over a decade trying to piece his sanity back together, Kayley's been chasing a different truth, rooted in the antique mirror she believes was responsible for the family’s destruction.

Unbeknown to Tim, Kaylie has tracked down the Lasser Glass (as the mirror is known) and orchestrated its return to their old family home, with a plan to destroy it once and for all. Through her research, Kaylie uncovers a disturbing history. The Lasser Glass is an entity in itself, rather than a channel for something else. A malevolent force with its own built-in defences - ever watchful and manipulating those around it to propagate horror through the ages. Previous owners were compelled carry out unspeakable acts of violence on themselves and others, all under the mirror’s powerful and corrupt influence. She wants not only to “kill” the mirror but to capture proof of its supernatural influence to vindicate her family and expose the evil within the glass.

Tim is reluctant to become involved in. what he initially sees as, Kaylie's fantasies. After years of therapy, he’s holding on to the idea that what happened was a result of psychological trauma, not the supernatural. But as the mirror exerts its malign influence, even Tim can't ignore the signs that something is terribly wrong.

 A Breakdown of Reality

What follows is a gradual breakdown of reality. Flanagan uses a series of masterfully edited flashbacks to shift fluidly between past and present. We see the siblings as children experiencing the early stages of the haunting, while their adult selves deal with strange memory lapses and hallucinations that feel all too real - highlighting how closely their past is tied to the present, to the extent that it feels like they never truly left the house at all.

The key elements of this family horror drama are drawn together by tightly scripted scenes and Flanagan's ability to draw out fine performances from his cast. Karen Gillan as Kaylie, walks a tightrope between steely resolve and obsession. Brenton Thwaites brings a calm presence to Tim that contrasts well with Gillan’s increasingly intense energy. As their younger selves, Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan inject vulnerability that adds emotional weight to the siblings' bond and Katee Sackhoff and Rory Cochrane round out the ensemble as the parents, capturing the slow unravelling of the family and the growing confusion as their situation disintegrates.

A Complex Structure

If Oculus has a flaw, it's that its complex structure - although creative - can sometimes be confusing. The overlapping timelines and shifting perspectives might be frustrating for viewers who prefer a more linear narrative. At times, the single-location setting can also feel a bit repetitive. Still, for those open to its disorienting style, it offers a thoughtful and unsettling take on how a house haunted not just by the mirror, but by memory itself.

While Oculus might not seem as ground-breaking as it may have done in 2013, it stands out as an ambitious project and shows the early signs of Flanagan's signature style of non-linear story-telling and technical expertise. If you’re a fan of his later work, or just looking for a smart, well-made horror film, this one’s definitely worth checking out.

4/5

Kayley Russell: Karen Gillan
Tim Russell: Brenton Thwaites
Young Kaylie: Annalise Basso
Young Tim: Garrett Ryan
Alan Russell: Rory Cohrane
Marie Russell: Katee Sackhoff 
Director: Mike Flanagan
Writers: Mike Flanagan & Jeff Howard (Based on Flanagan’s earlier short film, Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan
Released: 2013