Ben Wheatley’s Normal has all the ingredients for a cult-favourite midnight movie: absurdist comedy, violence, bizarre small-town energy, and Bob Odenkirk continuing his transformation into cinema’s most exhausted action hero.
The premise is genuinely interesting. A washed-up interim sheriff arrives in a suspiciously wholesome Minnesota town only to uncover a conspiracy involving corrupt locals, hidden weapons, and the Yakuza. On paper, it sounds like Fargo with a dusting John Wick — and at times, it absolutely delivers that chaotic energy.
Set in the snowy town of Normal, Minnesota, the film follows Ulysses (Odenkirk), a temporary sheriff trying to rebuild his life after personal and professional collapse. When a bank robbery exposes that the entire town may be hiding something sinister, Ulysses is dragged into a spiralling series of shootouts and betrayals that turn the sleepy community into a war zone.
The biggest strength here is atmosphere. Wheatley knows how to stage mayhem, and the action scenes have the same frantic, messy brutality that made Free Fire so entertaining. Odenkirk remains extremely watchable as a man who looks permanently annoyed that violence keeps following him around. His tired, gloomy presence gives the film its best comedic moments.
But after a promising setup, Normal quickly loses its grip, never quite becoming the sharp, propulsive crime thriller it so clearly wants to be. The mystery at the centre of the town feels compelling at first, yet the story soon devolves into repetitive gunfights without developing the conspiracy in a satisfying way. There’s a sense that the film mistakes escalation for momentum.
The supporting cast also feels underused, which is frustrating because they are often more interesting than the main plot. Henry Winkler brings an unsettling charm to the town’s villainous mayor, while Lena Headey gives barmaid Moira a sharp edge that hints at a much richer character than the script allows. Even Billy MacLellan’s overly cheerful deputy leaves feels strangely tame and stunted. The film introduces colourful personalities, then rarely gives them enough material to fully land.
Havinbg said that, there’s still fun to be had. The dark humour works more often than not, the violence is gleefully excessive, and Wheatley keeps the pacing energetic enough that the movie never becomes dull. But it ultimately feels like a film built around a fantastic concept that never fully figures out what to do beyond that concept.
Normal is entertainingly strange and occasionally inspired, but it never quite reaches the level of smart, savage crime comedy it clearly wants to be.
