O’Dessa is a Hulu movie apparently directed by two people in one body. The one who made the joyful, transfixing musical loved what he was making and poured his imaginative soul into it. The other one just slapped together a movie. Why two such extremes in tone? I’m baffled. But I went with a rating reflecting the joyful side… but don’t be fooled… this is a very schizophrenic, likely polarizing film.
It takes place in a world where the land is poisoned and only one major city remains. Sadie Sink plays a dirt farmer who, with her six string at her side, takes to the road as a rambler. But she trusts the wrong hobos and now she has to get her guitar back… and maybe save the world.
This film feels like something they didn’t make in the ’80s… an off-kilter fable set in a vaguely defined post-apocalypse. It begins with a very pulp sci-fi high energy intro that gave me a lot of hope. It’s opening scroll tells us “In another time, in another place” which is surely a reference to the 1984 film Streets of Fire which describes itself as a rock ‘n roll fable. This film is more of a folk rock fable, but I think they’re on the same page (minus the motorcycle gangs). It also reminded me of other films, including Six String Samurai from 1998.
Sadie Sink can sing… some producer probably heard her pipes in passing and said, “She aughta be in pictures!”. Mostly her tunes are folk country with a little pop/rock mixed in… and the crazy thing is, they’re all really good. I was genuinely impressed by her vocals but also the production and use of these song. This is a surprise musical, but one that grabbed me on first listen (which is rare).
On top of that, the director has an eye for slightly off-kilter visuals bathed in both natural and neon light. It occasionally dives into surrealism that flourishes in companionship and love. I adore the film’s vibes, especially when it champions the everyday… and when it sticks it to The Man.
Too bad there are stretches of pedestrian, borderline mediocre storytelling… like the very soul of the film is shucked and we get a more generic, fumbling sci-fi drama. It’s amazing such extremes could mix in the same film and challenge what I love about it. More amazing I decided to look the other way.
I’ve decided to champion the good parts of the film, the uplifting, the mesmerizing… all that good stuff. And let slide the less interesting movie, the one that’ll probably turn most people off. I should probably give it a 2.5 or a 3, but dammit, the way it made me feel gets it a 3.5.
Score: 83