O’Dessa

• Written and Directed by Geremy Jasper
• March 8, 2025 (SXSW) / March 20, 2025 (US)

In a post-apocalyptic world, a young farm girl journeys to retrieve her father’s special guitar and save her lover. There is a prophecy in there that falls by the wayside.

O’Dessa is a musical drama very heavy on the music part. It opens with a song and writer/director Geremy Jasper does not let up with the music. The songs are not bad but a little dialogue can go a long way to tell a story even in a musical. The style is almost split down the middle with a little bit country like Johnny Cash might make and a little bit softer rock yet not so soft it is easy listening. Not a bad balance and nothing that feels disjointed.

The story feels as much like a fantasy as it does a science-fiction movie. Some of it reminds me weirdly of Six-String Samurai which is an obscure little American post-apocalyptic action comedy film from many years ago. There is music and weirdness in a devastated near future world in both films.

O’Dessa involves a special guitar (I guess) played by the seventh son who seems to be the title character O’Dessa (Sadie Sink) that will free the world from the control of a media personality though mentions of that end before talk is revived at the climax. Being a musical, Sink sings a great deal and does a very admirable job with the tunes. That’s good because like I said most of the runtime is taken up not with story but with songs which are better than expected. Nothing that will have you thinking about or humming afterwards but good enough quality that you may find yourself wanting the soundtrack.

When it comes to Sink’s costuming and others it struck me that they were trying to pay homage to Johnny Cash. The father of the story who passes away certainly looks like a young Johnny Cash. An interesting choice much like the Buddy Holly homage in the aforementioned Six-String Samurai. When simply acting Sink is a little mopey and looking a touch long term constipated in her expressions. During her performances she tries is more into that and really relaxes.

O’Dessa gender swaps people from what one would perceive as traditional roles in film. O’Dessa’s blue haired love interest Euri Dervish (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) dress is more like one would expect a woman to dress. Specifically a woman who is also a celebrity prostitute. Then again, O’Dessa is often called or hinted at as being a son. The romantic connection is adequate but not one to motivate a person to risk it all as the title character does.

Intentionally or not this movie puts pressure on itself to be different or just subvert expectations. That effort for uniqueness can create nonsense or stuff that feels force rather than organic. It tries really hard to invert what some would call gender norms to the point it appears to be a gag than a serious plot element.

Sex in film is often used as shorthand for characters falling/being in love. You can skip over any establishment of connections with the power of a booty call and get to characters being passionately into each other. This does that. When O’Dessa gets blue hair’s good lovin’ she risks facing the villain to save Euri. I thought the prophecy was about her ending Plutonovich’s (Murray Bartlett) rule.

I’m gonna go off on a little bit of a tangent here. Way back I stumbled across on Facebook a comedian named Laura Clery and her then husband Stephen Hilton. She still produces good stuff since the divorce but the villain in this movie looks a lot like Stephen Hilton. It became very distracting for me. Anywho…

I don’t know if Plutonovich is immortal or supernatural in some way (the movie struck me as vague on that), but the world of O’Dessa has been in the crapper for some time and he has controlled it much of that time. Through the use of his TV show he gets energy and control over the people and somehow zaps their will. Is this movie trying to make some statement on entertainment or social media? Religion (there are nuns) or even Trump? Maybe but it is not a strong one.

Plutonovich’s personality is closer to the Stanley Tucci character of Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games films. He’s less evil and more game show host. It’s hard to take him seriously as a threat let alone a mastermind. You cannot believe he rules anything.

The real saving grace of this movie are the visuals. This is unafraid to have style. It’s not style just for the sake of style but it’s style that sets up the world and whatever happens to be occurring in the moment pushing this distinctly into a fantasy presentation. 

O’Dessa is no great cinematic achievement. It’s enjoyable mostly for the music. Sadie Sink doesn’t rock the world with her acting, but she could certainly have a career in music. Not a bad investment of your time.