O'Dessa

O'Dessa may catch your eye with some cool visuals and a few catchy musical moments, but that's pretty much where its strengths end. Sadie Sink is the standout here as she brings a commitment and charisma that makes up a little for the film's weak, contrived plot and shallow character development. Despite the film's ambitious attempts to mix different styles and eras, it ends up feeling like a messy collage without much substance to hold it together.

The movie just can't find a clear direction, with a tonally inconsistent script that feels more like a string of expositions than a well-paced story. While it's fun to see the stylistic nods and moments of creativity, everything else falls flat and leaves you with a feeling that, aside from Sadie's performance, nothing truly resonates.

O'Dessa is more than a dystopian musical thriller-it is an allegory woven with classical mythology, Orwellian warnings, and the transformative power of music. Beautifully shot in a bleak yet eerily mesmerizing future, the film reimagines Homer's Odyssey through the lens of a world where art and individualism are crushed under the weight of a sadistic, yet handsome, gleeful, hypo-manic TV Host/Dictator.

O'dessa is the young woman who is a symbol of resilience and with her inherited musical talent as a weapon, she embarks on a journey to ramble: from her folk ballads, evolving into folk-rock, hard rock, and finally an electrifying Eurobeat.

She busks her way through a grotesque totalitarian system where a single, omnipresent TV channel broadcasts torture as mass amusement-echoes Orwellian nightmares while recalling the grand, satirical spectacles of O Brother, Where Art Thou.

Her love interest is a very personable guy, another victim of a broken society.

This deep human connection of "one"-ness, could transcend to society, if she can fulfill her destiny by retrieving her father's six string guitar ... plus one.

Every aspect of O'dessa is meticulously crafted, from its haunting cinematography to its exhilarating soundtrack that fuses classic storytelling with modern soundscapes: power of art to challenge, inspire, and ultimately, free.

This is the film of our age: thrilling, deeply symbolic, and utterly unforgettable.

I have no idea why so many reviews have trashed this film (this is actually my first review ever because the rating needs justice) but I suppose that's the nature of art: it's not going to work for everyone.

I was captivated by this film, the story development others claim it lacks I found flushed out in the wordless dialogue prevalent in the actors' expressions, deliberate aesthetics, and, of course, in the songwriting.

The only reason I can't give it the last star is because I wish it was a series; I want to spend more time with these characters in this civilisation that doesn't realise how much it needs the people next to them in order to get their autonomy back.

4/10 STARS - O'dessa is a musical set in a post-apocalyptic world. I admit the concept alone was a bit of a head scratcher because ... why? I decided to go ahead and screen it anyway and unfortunately it didn't really hit the mark with me. I'm not a huge fan of musicals to begin with (there are some exceptions like Better Man and Sound of Music - both of which I LOVE), but oddly, it wasn't the musical aspect of it that bothered me the most. In the beginning I was getting a little annoyed at how many songs there were in just the first 15-20 minutes of the film, but as the story went along, it wasn't as much of an issue with me, especially since some of those numbers happened during a performance setting so it fit in well enough with the narrative. The problem I have is that while a unique blend of genres can sometimes work well, most of the time they don't. And this was one such time. In many ways, O'dessa doesn't seem to know what it wants to be: powerful, moving musical, post-apocalyptic thriller drama, romance, hero's journey? It couldn't effectively be all four at the same time and consequently, some parts of the plot felt "underbaked" and lacking substance. The romance felt rushed and unearned, and some of the narrative flows felt sloppily stitched together. Another reviewer descried it as a "disjointed music video marathon" and having "style without purpose" and those are great ways to describe it. The acting was fine (I didn't even recognize Regina Hall, because of the wacky haircut she had), but some of the characters did feel a bit over the top and cookie-cutter - especially the main antagonist played by Murray Bartlett. I did enjoy the performance Kelvin Harrison, Jr. Gave us and Sadie Sink did an admirable job at the singing and guitar playing, but ultimately, O'Dessa was a lackluster viewing experience. Quick take video review will be available on my YouTube channel shortly.

People say they want original stories, and O'dessa definitely brings one.

This film visually stunning with a bold, stylized, apocalyptic world, and in my opinion, the soundtrack is genuinely beautiful-Sadie Sink's voice is incredible and especially held my attention during those parts.

On the other hand, I didn't fully connect to the romance as much as I wanted to, but knowing it's rooted in the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice helped me appreciate it more. As a rock opera told almost entirely through song, it won't be for everyone, but it's ambitious, unique, and I got the message it was putting out there.