Damian McCarthy is an Irish writer and director known for independent horror films built around confined settings, practical unease, and carefully rationed information. Before making features, he directed several short films, including He Dies at the End, Hungry Hickory, Hatch, and Never Ever Open It. His short-film work established recurring interests later expanded in his features: isolated characters, ominous objects, strange rules, and plots in which an apparently limited assignment becomes increasingly threatening.
McCarthy made his feature debut with Caveat, released in 2020. The film stars Ben Caplan as Isaac, a financially desperate man offered a job by Barret, played by Jonathan French. Isaac is asked to stay in a remote house and look after Olga, Barret’s niece, portrayed by Leila Sykes. The unusual condition is that Isaac must wear a leather harness attached to a chain, restricting how far he can move through the building. As Isaac learns more about the house, Olga, and the disappearance connected to the family, the arrangement reveals a much more disturbing purpose. Caveat’s cast also includes Inma Pavon. The film’s imagery—particularly its decaying house, a drum-playing rabbit toy, and the chained harness—became central to its reputation among horror audiences.
His second feature, Oddity, premiered at the 2024 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival, where it won the Midnighter Audience Award. The film was written and directed by McCarthy and stars Carolyn Bracken in dual roles as Dani and Darcy. Dani is murdered at an isolated country house while her husband, Ted, is away. A year later, Darcy, Dani’s blind twin sister and a dealer in supposedly cursed objects, visits Ted and brings a life-sized wooden figure with her. The story follows Darcy’s investigation into Dani’s death and the secrets held by Ted, his new partner Yana, and the psychiatric patient connected to the original crime.
Oddity also features Gwilym Lee as Ted, Tadhg Murphy as Olin, Steve Wall as Ivan, Caroline Menton as Yana, and Jonathan French as Declan. Like Caveat, the film uses a small cast and a limited number of locations, but its plot is structured as a murder mystery as well as a supernatural horror story. IFC Films released Oddity theatrically in the United States in July 2024. McCarthy’s two features have made him a notable contemporary Irish voice in horror filmmaking.
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