Ulysses, a temporary sheriff who drifts into the quiet town of Normal only to find something far stranger and uglier beneath the surface.
Normal opens like a slow-burn Midwestern noir-bitter cold, empty frost-covered roads, and a weary small-town atmosphere that feels authentically lived-in. Ben Wheatley leans into the frozen isolation, shooting on location so you can practically feel the wind cutting through the screen.
Directed by Wheatley from a Derek Kolstad screenplay (story co-developed with Bob Odenkirk), the film stars Odenkirk.
While it shares DNA with Nobody (thanks to Odenkirk and Kolstad), Normal carves its own identity. Less adrenaline-fueled escalation, more eccentric neo-Western filtered through deadpan black comedy and icy crime-thriller vibes. Violence hits suddenly and brutally, but the film prioritises atmosphere, odd personalities, and creeping tension over body counts.
Odenkirk is excellent, weaponising understatement as a morally bruised, exhausted lawman who seems one bad day from collapse. His restraint makes the bursts of action hit harder. Lena Headey brings grit as Moira, Henry Winkler adds an oddly warm yet unsettling presence, and the ensemble makes the town feel real.
What makes Normal memorable is its refusal to settle into one genre. It shifts between Coen brothers-style snowbound crime, savage satire, and vicious action. It's not just a straight Nobody clone.
Normal stands on its own as an atmospheric, sharply performed action thriller. Bob Odenkirk still has plenty left to offer.
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