Review By Alicia Glass
Studio: Relativity Media
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Mike Flanagan
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A woman tries to exonerate her brother of the suspicion of killing their parents, by proving that the crime was a murder of supernatural origins.
Honestly, Oculus is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in recent years, although that isn’t necessarily saying much. Karen Gillian as the adult Kaylie Russell, determined to prove that that unholy mirror is the actual cause of all their siblings troubles, gives a very fine believable, almost manic, performance. Brenton Thwaites as her brother Tim does a swell job as well, desperately wanting to believe all the stuff the nut-nut factory crammed into his skull, instead of the thought that it’s an eeeeevil mirror coming to get us. The movie centers on the story of the two siblings, trading off in younger flashbacks and adult determined-to-finish-this interleaved scenes in a very smart, understandable way. So let’s open the horror closet and see what we make of Oculus!
We begin with adult (more or less) Tim getting out of a “mental health facility” and being picked up by his sister Kaylie. We learn rather quickly that Tim was roundaboutly accused of the murder of his parents but since he was a minor when it happened he was sent to a rehabilitation facility instead of jail, where of course they filled his head with reasonable, logical explanations for what actually happened to the Russell parents. Adult Kaylie is having none of it, however. She spent her free years tracking the mirror that she believes caused the horrors that happened to her family, and indeed, she happily tells Tim that she’s gotten her hands on the mirror in question and wants to take it back to their old house for a final confrontation and hopefully destruction. For the Russell children promised each-other that they would come together when they were adults and destroy the cursed mirror that tried to kill their whole family.
Kaylie has spent a very long time researching the history of the mirror and its various owners, and the horrors that were visited upon each and every last one of them before the mirror changed hands again. She’s rigged the old Russell house with all sorts of monitoring equipment, supplies and even set up a “kill switch” to automatically demolish the mirror in case it all goes horribly sideways. Tim is frightened already and immediately begins remembering what happened to his parents as soon as Kaylie convinces him to reluctantly remember his promise and come help kill that bloody mirror. And so we the audience are treated to some of the most disturbing instances any child should ever have to endure, in flashbacks of what happened to the Russell family.
Software engineer Alan Russell (Rory Cochran) moved his wife Marie (Katee Sackhoff) and their two adolescent children (Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan) into a new house, and ignorantly purchased an antique mirror to decorate his new office. (The office seemed nice enough to me, but throwing that mirror in there seemed rather ostentatious and like it didn’t belong in there at all.) Things continue along their merry way until shortly after, both parents begin acting very strange. Mother Marie starts having visions of her own body decaying and becomes completely unable to take care of the children, much less really communicate at all. And Father Alan, well, he apparently can’t keep it to himself and becomes seduced by a malevolent spirit that seems to live in the mirror, this awful ghostly apparition of a woman with mirrors for eyes. The children try desperately to keep it together while their father locks their mother in chains in the bedroom and then himself in his study, to do who-knows-what-nasty with a ghost. All the plants in the house die, the dog disappears, food runs out and the neighbors won’t help. The children determine, despite being frightened beyond belief, that the only way they can stop the evil going on in their house is by confronting it themselves.
Well, obviously solving it themselves when they were children didn’t work out too well. Kaylie has resolved as an adult to stop the mirror at any cost, not reckoning just how high that cost could be. And poor Tim, after years of being convinced that there’s no such thing as any evil mirror that caused him to shoot his father, is back to impotently confront his younger self and the ghostly demons of his and his families past.
Gillian brings forth a cheerful determination for her character, left over from her Doctor Who days, that is a joy to watch. It was rather fun to see Katee Sackhoff play a character that quickly dissolved into a monster, and for Rory Cochran to pull a Shining-like performance for the father. The history of the mirror and all the people who owned it was fairly thoroughly looked into, but not the why and how of the evil curse living in it, which was a bold choice for the filmmakers, and one I appreciate. I of course don’t want to give away the ending, but it was rather like the end of Stephen King’s Rose Red, another very fine sendup of a haunted house story. The house, or in this case the mirror, that eats people gives no explanation as to its evil motives, and that just somehow makes it all that much more terrifying.
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr., affectionately known as Jr NTR, has consistently enthralled audiences with his dynamic performances and versatile acting prowess. Following the successful release of “Devara: Part 1” on September 27, 2024, fans are eagerly anticipating his forthcoming projects. Here’s an overview of what’s next for this action superstar.
1. Devara: Part 2
After the resounding success of “Devara: Part 1,” which grossed over ₹466 crore globally, the sequel is highly anticipated. Director Koratala Siva has hinted that “Devara: Part 2” will be even more intense, stating that if Part 1 showcased 10% of Jr NTR’s capabilities, Part 2 will unveil the remaining 90%. Filming is slated to commence in the first half of 2026, with a targeted release by the end of that year.
2. War 2
Expanding his horizons, Jr NTR is set to make his Hindi film debut with “War 2,” directed by Ayan Mukerji. This sequel to the 2019 blockbuster “War” will see him sharing screen space with Hrithik Roshan and Kiara Advani. The film is part of the YRF Spy Universe and is scheduled for release on August 14, 2025, coinciding with the Indian Independence Day weekend.
3. NTR 31 (Tentative Title: Dragon)
In collaboration with acclaimed director Prashanth Neel, Jr NTR will star in a period drama tentatively titled “Dragon.” The film is set to delve into themes of immigration and is expected to be one of the most expensive projects for both the actor and the director. The movie is slated for a grand release on January 9, 2026.
Why Jr NTR is the Action Hero Everyone Wants to See
Jr NTR’s appeal as an action hero stems from his ability to seamlessly blend intense physicality with deep emotional resonance. His performances are characterized by a compelling screen presence, dynamic energy, and a remarkable ability to connect with audiences across diverse roles. This unique combination of skills has solidified his status as a leading figure in Indian cinema, making him the action hero everyone wants to see.
With a lineup of diverse and high-profile projects, Jr NTR continues to push cinematic boundaries and captivate audiences worldwide. His dedication to his craft and ability to reinvent himself with each role ensure that fans have much to look forward to in the coming years.
Headed to a wilderness retreat of a wealthy pharmaceutical CEO to hopefully land a lucrative job, widower Elliot and his reluctant daughter Ridley manage to have a car accident with a heretofore-thought creature out of legend, and hijinks ensue!
Oh this is an absolute gem of a movie y’all, brought to you by the genius minds of film production company A24, a delightful blend of horror and campy, almost idiotic, comedy. Make sure your seatbelt is buckled and let’s dive into this!
So Ridley (Jenna Ortega) is you typical teenager, angsty and missing her passed-on mother, full of acne troubles and secretly vaping while her dad Elliot (Paul Rudd) ignores her for much more than appearance purposes, while he schmoozes his way into the good graces of the family they’re going to stay with. Elliot ignores everything but his continued greed, for both money and continuous stability for him and Ridley, really, he swears, so when the misty mountains cause their electronics to go haywire and Elliot’s busy with that crisis, he doesn’t notice until it’s too late and BAM. You’ve hit an actual unicorn with your car.
Like most girls, Ridley can’t help but be fascinated by the poor mythical horse-like creature, and of course she reaches out to grasp the glowing horn, filling her head full of magic and her eyes full of stars and the cosmos, while Elliot has a much more, let’s say visceral, reaction. But rather than calling, I dunno, some sort of wildlife preserve or the cops or even considering burying the unfortunate horned horse, no, the baby is loaded like a downed stag into the back of Elliott’s car and they hurry on to the CEO’s wilderness retreat.
It makes sense that the changes to Ridley’s appearance are the first thing that allows O’Dell (Richard E. Grant) and his greedy, grasping family to understand that the body of the unicorn has healing properties. Wife Belinda (Tea Leoni) is your typical utterly vapid socialite who helps the poor downtrodden of whatever’s currently popular third world country, not for the do-gooder part of it, but for the optics. And their son Shepard (Will Poulter) is a walking poster boy for the arrogant frat boy type who could never settle on just one thing to be or do, and so he tries them all – archery, photography, mixology, music and various forms of pharmaceuticals, all while sporting these terrible fashion choices in shorts and rambling proudly about his nonexistent accomplishments. Griff (Anthony Carrigan) is the family butler and general verbal punching bag, and let us not forget the unfortunate pair of doctoral research scientists who get called in to examine the unicorn, Dr. Song (Steve Park) and Dr. Bhatia (Sunita Mani).
So we have a family of covetous types who all want to divy the unicorn up and sell its various parts for as much wealth and power as they can get, plus the pair of scientists who are flabbergasted to find themselves dissecting an actual unicorn that, hey, guess what, isn’t actually dead for really-real yet. Elliott’s trying to procure his and Ridley’s slice of the action, though honestly, his lawyerly powers of persuasion seem to be rather lacking in this regard, while Ridley is off doing some actual research on medieval unicorns and what the ancient legends in tapestries had to say about them. You know how the modern genie, with his Arabian lamp and his three wishes with their horrifically ironic consequences, actually stems from the ancient legend of that old monster, the creature born from fire that wants nothing more than to destroy all human life on Earth, the Djinn? Our modern legends and beliefs about unicorns is kinda like that.
So everyone, even our scientists with their experiments and O’Dell supposedly being an experienced animal hunter, seems to have forgotten that a horse is a mammal and therefore, has parents. And while everyone is concerning themselves with what to use the babies’ various parts for, only Ridley seems to have realized, that the babies’ sire and dam are coming for it!
We all know horses are smart, and that humans and horses can form an almost mythical bond, but when a stallion or even a dam’s ire is raised, they can attack and defend just as well as any rampaging beast, and do present a very real and dire threat. And these particular horses, with their shaggy midnight-black coats and hooves the size of monster-truck hubcaps, their fangs and absolute righteous rage at their baby being stolen, not to mention both mom and dad’s inherently magical nature, and those utterly badass war-unicorn horns, are here to wreak utter destruction and death upon the humans that would dare to eat, drink and snort, their baby!
Full of utterly ridiculous fun with human greed and the scarcely-remembered wonder of those magical creatures you heard about as a child, cheer along with the Jurassic Park-like screech of our rampaging parents to save their baby, in Death of a Unicorn, in theaters now!
Upcoming NTR Junior projects
“Death of a Unicorn: A24’s Twisted Fairytale You Won’t Forget”
WonderCon 2025: A Faith Full Dickens Tale & The King of Kings Animated Movie
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