O’Dessa, 2025.
Written and Directed by Geremy Jasper.
Starring Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Murray Bartlett, Regina Hall, Pokey LaFarge, Mark Boone Junior, Bree Elrod, Dora Dimić Rakar, Ivona Tomiek, Marinko Prga, Judy Malka, and Rithvik Andugula.
SYNOPSIS:
A farm girl is on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love – but in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test.
Part rock opera and part film, O’Dessa begins with so much expository text setting up this world and the hero’s journey that one wonders if it’s also part novel. That’s also not a knock; writer/director Geremy Jasper (also contributing to the music and lyrics alongside Jason Binnick) has crafted an intriguing alternate reality set in a world diseased with a poison that has all but reduced civilization to slums, with one person’s music as society’s last hope. The point is that it turns around and does nothing with much of this, becoming a different type of story while leaving behind a plethora of missed opportunities.
Benefiting from this catastrophe is the villainous Plutonovich (Murray Bartlett), who emerges as a popular game show host in Satalytte City (one of the last bastions of humanity). He also doubles as a cruel dystopian leader tormenting others who speak out against him. The games are meant to distract from the current reality and keep society clinging to a shred of hope.
Change is prophesied to come from Sadie Sink’s eponymous O’Dessa, the seventh son of a seventh son wandering and rambling (not verbally, musically) with a guitar handmade from a burning willow tree. For this review, O’Dessa’s gender will be left unaddressed other than that the film perceives the character as androgynous, comfortable playing around with identity within the central romantic relationship (most notably during wedding and with who wears what).
It brings to mind the plot of the Jack Black-led video game Brutal Legend. O’Dessa’s music is meant to inspire a revolution and stir emotions back in individuals. Not to directly compare two mediums where each narrative has different aspirations, but O’Dessa is far less interesting than that game. At times, it feels like Geremy Jasper wasn’t sure what to do after all that setup or how to make the film exciting, settling for a generic, dull film inspired by Greek mythology. There is little chemistry and no sizzle, with the only memorable aspect of the romance being the uncertainty surrounding each character’s gender.
It’s confounding that upon O’Dessa setting off on their journey (following her mother’s death at the end of that prologue), Geremy Jasper puts the character, who is admittedly naïve and convincingly so, in a position to lose that family heirloom. Granted, O’Dessa is resourceful and quickly crafts a temporary guitar from scrapyard junk, but the opening text has already set this story up as an adventure stemming from the power of that generational guitar. It also means that we spend roughly 20 minutes watching the character walk around these neon-drenched slums without the film actually doing any world-building or character-building beyond introducing a right-hand woman for Pltonovich, Regina Hall’s Neon Dion, a menacing individual using electrified brass knuckles as a weapon. Not to spoil anything, but her exit from the film is unintentionally hilarious and yet another off-key note here.
Eventually, O’Dessa stumbles into a music show where Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s Euri Dervish puts on a pop star show. Later that night, their paths cross, with Euri kindly offering shelter and what must be O’Dessa’s first shower in who knows how long. O’Dessa’s singing soothes Euri, opening the window for connection. The issue is that there is practically no characterization, and the romance is bland. It is soaked in neon colors, synthetic retro-style music, and an extended sluggish vibe that drains energy and intrigue from the compelling setup. Note, this isn’t the complaint that the film transitions into a romance, but that the hopeless romanticism here is surface-level and boring.
Even the glimpses of Pltonovich’s villainy, which involves soul-sucking by way of facial surgery, doesn’t necessarily instill horror or cause unsettling anxiety for what’s to come when one of our protagonists inevitably ends up in his lair (which comes with a ridiculous autotune theme song). Sadie Sink is a terrific vocalist, and some of the early songs here get one half-invested in the possibilities that could come from this journey. Still, whenever it veers into romanticism, it never quite hits the emotional high note the narrative strives for.
O’Dessa is ambitious with seemingly endless potential, but in the end, it’s one of those distractions characters in the film routinely talk about, except the only revolution it will inspire is someone looking for something else to stream.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
