Oracle (2023) User Reviews

Really Good Little Flick

[bryanmartin-19759 · 6/10 · 15 October 2023]

Heather Graham is the only actress you'll recognize and she is not the main star. The people who make up the cast do a great job. The effects are done well enough to give you a good fright.

The story centers on a girl making a real connection with a place from her dreams. She's hired as a nanny for just one night and that's when everything happens. Camera work is good. This doesn't feel like a B movie. Not sure what the budget was but it was well directed and produced. I watched on a streaming service as part of my subscription and am glad I did. Good little scary movie to watch when you're in that kind of mood.

Decent Story. Bad Execution

[betsyhorowitz · 4/10 · 13 December 2023]

I can understand why this project was made. It's a really good story.

The characters are interesting and clear enough in their roles. The two boys were a little lacking until their last scene.

No shockers, it was quite obvious that *spoiler here* Blair is a ghost, but knowing that in advance doesn't ruin anything; we're still left trying to figure everything else out until the end.

My four star rating is for the whole setup of Shay being in the house that night at all. It seems malevolent, an indictment of Kate, the mom, who is *spoiler alert* innocent of anything. So, it was just too weird for Shay to even be in the house.

And why did the driver have to be killed? This isn't even a spoiler, he was so irrelevant, just a nice guy being killed for being a nice guy. A plot device I particularly despise.

I expected a lot more

[jmichaelmorgan · 3/10 · 14 November 2023]

When I was searching for a horror movie and saw Heather Graham and Universal Pictures had worked on this movie and teamed up, I expected they would create a great movie. This is not a great movie. Maybe if my expectations were very low it would be somewhat enjoyable but I don't think so. This was a weak film and probably why it wasn't released in the movie theaters. I feel the writers were trying to be too socially relevant and not focused enough on making a great movie. "Get Out" was a similar genre but so much better done. In this movie there were no real unexpected twists. There were racists and ghosts and black people treated very wrong who didn't deserve it. That is not enough to carry a film. Maybe if we knew some of the revelations at the end during the film it would have been better.

There was very little character development. I know the main actress liked Civil war history and she couldn't find a job. I knew Heather Graham had a sick mom. But who they were and what they stood for and why was not developed at all and that would have added. There were a lot of nonsensical plot issues that distracted as well. Overall I would say watch it if you don't expect anything. The acting isn't terrible. But if you want to watch a good movie you will likely be disappointed

Maybe it would make more sense in 1864.

Bland, boring, and unlikeable characters.

[thatguysfan · 1/10 · 18 November 2023]

So this movie feels like they wanted to make a Jordan Peele movie, just without a decent director, good writing, passable talent, or anything interesting or creative.

Every character is a 2D characture, just there to fill overused and bland role. It's almost a paint by numbers with, first impression of a character on screen and you already know what they're going to be.

From the moment we enter the house, they begin to throw every cheap scare in the book. If you've seen any horror movie you can play a drinking game with how predictable this movie is.

Finally the movie's pacing is just a drag. Half way through and you're still waiting for anything to happen besides the main character brooding.

Rather bland ghost story.

[jmbovan-47-160173 · 3/10 · 25 October 2023]

Rather bland ghost story haunted house movie. The overall quality of the lighting didn't help aa it just made the movie dark. Plotting was standard, and it was lacking in originality. There were several elements from other ghost stories and movies that I was guessing ahead of time and sticking the landing.

The efforts of the film makers to bring social relevance to the film by entwining the history of hatred from slavery and racism didn't have the impact that was needed. (Get Out this isn't, and doesn't come close.) Instead, this is simply the plotting and setting to place the movie, but it tries to make it more relevant because of slavery and racism. There is no attempts for understanding of the intergenerational aspects of slavery, or the social impacts of racism that is inherent in our world.

Acting is decent but mildly stereotypical for this genre and subject matter. That appeared more the do with the script than the actors. Overall, it was watchable but not interesting.

Just plain horrible!

[amb-12514 · 1/10 · 23 October 2023]

This movie was just plain awful. Made no sense in the least. Bad acting, especially by the kids and plot was a hot mess. Don't waste your time watching it. If I could've marked a thumbs down 👎 on Max, I would have, so that's why I had to make my comments on here. Definitely received a higher rating than deserved. I would have given it anywhere from a 4.0 or below!! That would have certainly made me not bother to watch it..and I am a huge an of horror movies. This belongs in the 'flop movie's' category. Again, don't waste your time watching it. Just plain dumb, horrible and you'll never get back what you put into it.

All preaching and no horror

[oiveynegev · 1/10 · 6 November 2023]

TLDR: a boring mess that isn't funny bad and should be avoided at all cost.

Another movie that cares more about preaching a message than actually being scary or interesting which is a huge trend in horror movies nowadays. It takes almost 40 minutes for a single bad scare to happen. Then follows the most boring obvious horror tropes imaginable for the rest of the movie.

Like many new horror movies the film is obviously just a vehicle for the writers and director to push some social message, instead of trying to make something interesting or scary. Unless you enjoy someone validating your beliefs or being incredibly bored I would avoid this movie.

Surprisingly Really Good & Scary

[Gleek4eva · 9/10 · 8 October 2023]

In reality, I'd give this movie an 8.5/10, but since that's in between an 8 and 9, I rounded up! I watched this movie with little expectations. I did not know any of the actors/actresses in the cast, however, all held up really well on their end. The leading actress carried throughout... she was just the right amount of drama, not over the top, and not too little. The child actors and actresses did great as well. The plot was good with a nice unexpected twist. There were some great jump scares. There was one part that I thought was a little corny, but not nearly as cringe as most horror movies made nowadays. The jokes were definitely aimed towards Gen-Z audiences and a few made me giggle and some made me do a little nose snort. Definitely a great horror film for movie night!

Just Finished This - URGH!

[somoteitbri · 1/10 · 11 December 2023]

This movie is gross and totally predictable. My husband and I turned if off before it was done and started to watch YouTube. I see why this movie got trashed and put directly on streaming. It's not good at all. It's a cliché storyline that's been done a million times. The actors are terrible besides maybe Graham. Mediocre actors at best, you can tell they had a a microscopic budget and couldn't hire real talent. The main actress is awful. She's not believable as her character and doesn't look like she put much effort into the role. I have no idea how she got casted or who she even is. Odd. She definitely was hired for a specific reason that I don't need to mention. This was an awful movie. Don't waste your time.

VERY Bad

[ife-41675 · 3/10 · 4 March 2024]

One star for the production quality and one star for the atmosphere. The acting is pretty dull. An earlier reviewer described the characters as bland and unlikable. I completely agree. The main character barely shows interest or emotion. I don't want to "spoil" anything but there's two times where characters just don't react to some pretty serious events. Besides all that it's a horror movie that's been done before, only better. I'm glad I didn't pay to watch this, it's one of the worst movies I've seen in a while honestly. Fortunately it's only an hour and twenty six minutes long. Usually I throw out some ideas I think could've maybe helped but this one needs to much help. 3 out of 10 is generous.

If you have nothing else to do...

[mistela67 · 5/10 · 22 February 2024]

Oracle is horror movie that addresses some sort of slave-era situation, but in modern day. It's not really clear. Its the sort of movie that you watch on a boring Saturday afternoon, maybe when it's rainy.

You don't watch this movie with any other expectation than to be watching a cookie cutter, grade D formula horror movie with a dark skinned black female lead instead of your usual skinny blond dish. You'll wonder how they got Heather Graham to deliver her handful of lines. You'll wonder what the storyline was all about. You'll wonder why you have nothing better to do than to watch movies like this. And then when you're done, you'll feel better about life.

5/10 - not bad, not good, has its moments, sorta.

Predictable and increasingly dumb

[Norman_French · 3/10 · 16 March 2024]

This movie starts off OK; there's an intriguing vibe and the cinematography is decent. Unfortunately, it's all downhill from there.

The one good thing about the movie is Ariel Martin (as plucky roommate Jasmine); her character is fun and I would have MUCH rather seen a movie about her (maybe a rom-com?).

Sure, there's Heather Graham, but she's got a small role in this ultimately forgettable film. Not sure how they roped her in.

If you want to see a derivative paint-by-numbers horror film, by all means DO watch. But otherwise, please skip this; there are better films out there. I give this three (3) stars.

Thriller

[jlhdoll · 10/10 · 24 December 2023]

I felt the movie was really well done as a paranormal horror style movie. I love the setting being in southern Louisiana. Absolutely, love the historical presentation in it ...

I don't feel like writing a 600 word review

Sorry. But I'm straight to the point

Good ending too.

Some action.

It might of been nice to be a bit longer, and possibly see what happens further at the end once the EMT'S arrived.

But overall I believe it was really good. It probably would of been nice to have the ending where it exploded what other things happened there outside what was said.

The movie was overall good.

One of the best ghost movies I've seen in awhile

[edjams · 9/10 · 30 January 2024]

Honestly I work at a movie theater and with 38yrs of watching movies it was fresh and a different take dealing with how things were in the past. I can see if your ignorant you may take something about this movie being racist but truth is whether we like it or not history wasn't always pleasant and lying or hiding the truth doesn't do anything. The scares and the cast are great main lead is charismatic. There's jokes clever lines and a twist they may be a bit predictable. Though it all is well thought out greatly pasting and would of paid to see this on big screen or on my case free cause I manage a theater. So I say if you watch it all through out I think you will find it enjoyable.

solid movie, could use a little more cosmetic emphasis

[miless-49621 · 8/10 · 3 November 2023]

It was good. I'm a fan of heather graham, i liked the story and it was well written and acted, but the film wasn't quite ace material. There were a lot of sequences where i felt a few little details could have made all the difference, perhaps if the protagonist locked the mask on at the end instead of just setting it on like a helmet, or if there was something a little more gruesome behind the door.

Viewed as a film made on a limited budget though, it's great. I think it was just missing a little bit of panache, but there wasn't anything glaringly wrong with the project that comes to mind.

I think the ghost is pretty bland, and could have been more of a caricature of a racist lady vs it's sort of generic ghost/demon lady look. Still, it was good enough to make it's point.

I really loved this movie but I will agree there are some flaws.

[sophiavansandt · 9/10 · 13 March 2024]

I really loved this movie. I will agree that there are some parts that could have better work but overall I love the casting and everything. I don't get why there is so little stars on the movie.

The plot is great and the jokes are good. Some of the acting is decent but overall I loved it. I hope that the actors of this movie become big someday because the acting is very mature! I recognize some of the casting of the movie but not all and I would love to see some of them on a bigger movie!

I would give it a 10/10 but I do agree with some of the reviews... so a 9/10 it is from me! Great work everyone.