Oculus

Oculus is about one adjustment away from being a superior thriller.

Praised on the festival circuit, it's got what it takes to succeed outside of that rarefied atmosphere.

Horror fans may find the reflection a little familiar.

What's missing? A sense of the ineffable.

Oculus, a cleverer-than-average haunted-house movie... speaks to a couple of widespread anxieties-one topical, the other sadly timeless.

This unpretentiously efficient affair handles its dual-narrative past/present intercuts with aplomb and keeps a couple of nicely nasty tricks up its sleeve.

Despite some questionable logic and character motivations, Oculus delivers an intense descent into madness and fear as it deftly juggles two terrifying timelines.

A master class in affecting dread.

While it may have taken unconventional approaches to the visual language of haunted house movies, the narrative is messy and never offers up anything more than surface-level intrigue.

We’re left with the terrifying fear that if Tim and Kaylie can lose themselves in the mirror’s reflection, so can we.