Oculus is a 2013 American supernatural psychological horror film co-written, edited, and directed by Mike Flanagan.

[5] It is based on his short film Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan,[6] and stars Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites as two young adult siblings who are convinced that an antique mirror is responsible for the death and misfortune that their family had suffered.

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.

Marie is haunted by visions of her own body decaying, while Alan is seduced by a mysterious and ghostly woman named Marisol Chavez who has mirrors in place of eyes.

Using her position as an employee of an auction house, she obtains access to the mirror and has it transported to the family home, where she places it in a room filled with surveillance cameras and a "kill switch" — an anchor weighted to the ceiling.

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, acting like an animal.

Alan also experiences a moment of lucidity and kills himself by forcing Tim to pull the trigger of the gun and shoot him, causing a small crack in the corner of the mirror in the process.

When they notice the houseplants begin to wilt, they review the camera footage and see themselves performing actions they have no memory of.

[9] Eventually, Intrepid Pictures expressed interest in producing the film "as long as you don't do it found footage".

"[8] In early drafts, it was difficult to distinguish between the two timelines, until the team hit upon the idea of writing all of the scenes from the past in italics.

[12] Brenton Thwaites was the last of the main cast to sign on to Oculus, joining the project on October 5, 2012, after shooting for the production had already begun.

In September 2013, shortly after Oculus' premiere at Toronto, Relativity Media acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film from Blumhouse and set it for a wide release.

The site's critics consensus reads, "With an emphasis on dread over gore and an ending that leaves the door wide open for sequels, Oculus could be just the first spine-tingling chapter in a new franchise for discerning horror fans.

[23] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Less concerned with fake shocks and show-me violence than the grimly calibrated rotting of personalities, Oculus is one of the more intelligently nasty horror films in recent memory.

[25] Mark Kermode of The Observer gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "this unpretentiously efficient affair handles its dual-narrative past/present intercuts with aplomb and keeps a couple of nicely nasty tricks up its sleeve.

"[27] Wendy Ide of The Times gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "It's certainly worth taking a glance at this looking glass, but horror fans may find the reflection a little familiar.

"[28] In March 2015, Relativity Media, B4U Television Network, and Balaji Telefilms confirmed a Bollywood remake with the title Zahhak, later retitled to Dobaara: See Your Evil.