Oculus (film)

Oculus
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Flanagan
Produced by	Marc D. Evans Trevor Macy Jason Blum
Written by	Mike Flanagan Jeff Howard
Based on	Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan by Mike Flanagan
Starring	Karen Gillan Brenton Thwaites Rory Cochrane Katee Sackhoff
Music by	The Newton Brothers
Cinematography	Michael Fimognari
Edited by	Mike Flanagan
Production company	Blumhouse Productions WWE Studios MICA Entertainment Intrepid Pictures
Distributed by	Relativity Media
Release date	September 8, 2013 (2013-09-08) (TIFF) April 11, 2014 (2014-04-11) (United States)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$44 million

Oculus is a 2013 American supernatural psychological horror film written, edited and directed by Mike Flanagan. The film had its world premiere on September 5, 2013, at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and received a wide theatrical release on April 11, 2014.Karen Gillan stars as a young woman who is convinced that an antique mirror is responsible for the death and misfortune that her family suffered. The film is based upon an earlier short film by Flanagan, Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan.

The film takes place in two different times: the present and 11 years earlier. The two plot lines are told in parallel through flashbacks with many cuts occurring between corresponding actions in each time frame. In 2002, software engineer Alan Russell moves into a new house with his wife Marie, 10-year-old son Tim, and 12-year-old daughter Kaylie. Alan purchases an antique mirror to decorate his office. Unbeknownst to them, the mirror supernaturally induces hallucinations. Marie is haunted by visions of her own body decaying, while Alan is seduced by a ghostly woman named Marisol, who has mirrors in place of eyes.

Over time, the parents become psychotic; Alan increasingly isolates himself in his office, and Marie becomes withdrawn and paranoid. All of the plants in the house die, and the family dog disappears after being shut in the office with the mirror. After Kaylie sees Alan with Marisol, she tells her mother, and the parents fight. One night, Marie sees her reflection in the mirror, and sees herself bleeding from an old scar. She goes insane and attempts to kill her children, but Alan overpowers her and locks her away, telling the children that she is unwell. When the family runs out of food, the children realize that their father is under the influence of the mirror, so Kaylie goes to seek help from their mother, and finds her chained to the wall and acting like an animal. Kaylie and Tim try going to their neighbors for help, but the neighbors disbelieve their stories. When Kaylie attempts to use the phone, she discovers that all of her phone calls are answered by the same man.

One night, Alan unchains Marie, and both parents attack the children. Marie briefly comes to her senses, only to be shot dead by Alan. The children try to destroy the mirror with golf clubs, but the mirror tricks them, making them believe they are hitting the mirror when they are actually hitting the wall. Alan corners the children in his office, but also experiences a moment of lucidity. He kills himself by taking the gun Tim is pointing at him and forcing Tim's finger against the trigger. Before dying, he begs the children to run, but Marisol and various other victims of the mirror appear as horrific ghosts. The police arrive and take Tim into custody. Before the siblings are separated, they promise to reunite as adults and destroy the mirror. As Tim is taken away in the back of a squad car, he sees the ghosts of his parents watching him from the house.