The remarkable Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) is the titular character in Geremy Jasper’s quirky, visually stunning dystopian love story.
O’Dessa heads off a-ramblin’ to Satylite City, trying to retrieve her father’s unique guitar, which has been stolen by a group she thought she’d befriended. When she reaches the city, she discovers a population brainwashed via television by the ‘lord’ Plutonovich (Murray Bartlett). Trying to earn money, O’Dessa meets and falls for entertainer/prostitute Euri (Kelvin Harrison Jr). This liaison only puts her in more danger.
Writer/director Geremy Jasper presents the story within the frame of a musical, but fear not, it’s not all singing-and-dancing in the traditional fashion; everything fits the situation and the songs are actually very good. This is a future in which people who step out of line are shipped off to ‘Wonderland’, where they have to be entertaining, as they take part in a deadly Saturday night-style TV talent show. With this, Jasper shows the effect the mind-numbing TV output and crowd-pleasing corporal punishment has on the masses.
A wonderfully transgressive tale of love, O’Dessa mixes Mad Max (Regina Hall brilliantly channeling Tina Turner as the foreboding Neon Dion) with Hedwig, wrapped up with Videodrome and the worst episode of Britain’s Got Talent (complete with autotune). However, it doesn’t shy away from nastiness, with some particularly brutal scenes including a wince-inducing finger chop!
Bolstered by the fantastic performances (Sink, Harrison Jr, and Hall are all outstanding), Jasper’s follow-up to Patti Cake$ is more than a vivid, extended music video – it’s got a big heart and is genuinely enthralling.
O’Dessa will be available to stream on Disney+ in the UK from 20th March 2025.
