O’Dessa Review: Hits The Right Notes

Sadie Sink shines in O’Dessa, a post-apocalyptic musical with amazing songs, trippy visuals, and an incredibly unique narrative.

Geremy Jasper, known for 2017’s Patti Cake$, which he also wrote and directed, leans even further into his roots as a music video director by crafting his own rock opera. After taking a beat to introduce us to O’Dessa Galloway (Sink) and the world around her, Jasper gets this plot moving at a quick pace. It’s a tale that flips the gender expectations of a “chosen one” narrative on its head.

This film declares early on that a “seventh son” will save this world from the grip of a ruthless tyrant, who turns out to be Murray Bartlett as Plutonovich. Our seventh son, the Luke Skywalker (from Star Wars) of this story who inherits a guitar from their father rather than a lightsaber, is a girl. In fact, O’Dessa proves to be quite capable, save for a mishap that leads to her journey to Satylite City. Our damsel in distress is not a damsel at all, but a queer male singer named Euri (Harrison Jr.) who is trapped working for Neon Dion (Regina Hall). These two cross paths and it leads to a love so great that they might be able to save each other and the world. 

Unfortunately, the romance is also where the narrative stumbles a bit. As great as Sadie Sink and Kelvin Harrison Jr. are, they lack the chemistry that one would expect from a so-called great love. O’Dessa and Euri are better off as friends rather than lovers. There is little spark between these actors, even during the love scenes, and it makes it hard to buy the central romance. Now thankfully, everything else around them works and makes the film an enthralling watch. 

Drawing off the Luke Skywalker reference I made earlier, if you stuck him, Flash Gordon (1980) and 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a blender, you would come out with O’Dessa. With those ingredients, you can practically feel the cult status radiating off  Geremy Jasper’s film and understand why Searchlight Pictures is releasing this through Hulu. It will have to find its audience and likely would have flopped at the box office because of just how unorthodox this story is. I would have loved to see how these neon soaked visuals translated to the big screen, but if putting it on streaming means we get to see the film period, I will take that.

While I am certain the premise will draw in eyeballs, Sadie Sink is likely the reason that most will give O’Dessa a shot and she will reward people for that. Sink is absolutely stellar and shows off sides of her that most are unfamiliar with. This character is unlike any that she has portrayed to date as she captures a loss of innocence through the eyes of a badass musical heroine. She creates someone that is cool in every sense of the word but also relatable because this character is not infallible like a number of chosen ones. 

Sink gets to display her singing chops for the first time in years throughout O’Dessa and truly has not missed a beat. She is a fantastic singer, belting out tunes with this wonderful twang. “Here Comes the Seventh Son” is a highlight for me but you cannot go wrong with any of the tracks Sink lends her voice to in all honesty. O’Dessa Galloway processes the pure magnetism that viewers would expect to resonate off a musical prodigy with or without her signature guitar. This character is so compelling and Sadie Sink deserves a lot of the credit for making that happen through her vocal and facial performances. 

You have an excellent protagonist but that is not all it takes to make a film. Having great supporting characters like Euri and villains such as Neon Dion and Plutonovich help our hero grow, as well as make her journey more interesting. Even though Sink and Harrison Jr. lack chemistry, they do their best to sell the bond between O’Dessa and Euri. It also helps that Euri is someone that commands your attention. His arc is intertwined with his lover’s, but he has his own unique qualities that separate him from her and ultimately helps O’Dessa become who she is meant to be.

With the antagonists, Neon Dion is the better of the two, as Regina Hall commits to being just straight up evil and abusive. Her character has no gray area, this is just what Neon Dion must do in order to survive and Hall embraces that. Meanwhile, our main antagonist Plutonovich is like a mash up between two characters from The Hunger Games series in President Snow and Caesar Flickerman. While that sounds like a great idea on paper, it does not come together in O’Dessa. Murray Bartlett is really giving Plutonovich all he has got but the guy is barely even a character. We do not spend much time with him and do not even really dig into his motivations. Bartlett does his job and makes Plutonovich a great obstacle for O’Dessa, but you should not expect much else. 

The musical sequences are where Geremy Jasper gets to shine as a director during O’Dessa, helping the film fully earn its weird cult classic label. He draws from his music video background to craft a neon drenched world before populating it with so many amazing songs. Often, the film will remind you of a beautiful, bizarre dream once the music kicks in. What is so surprising is that each of these songs are memorable either because of their sound or how they are shot. With 16 original songs throughout the film, this is quite the feat for Geremy Jasper and Jason Binnick.

O’Dessa is a big swing from Geremy Jasper and you cannot help but admire it. Sadie Sink is astonishing in the title role, the music is surprisingly memorable, as is most of the story. Those that love this film will cherish it forever, even if it will not connect with everyone.

Searchlight Pictures’ O’Dessa will be available to stream on Hulu (US) and on Disney+ (Canada, UK & Ireland, Europe, and more countries) on March 20, 2025.