The new sheriff of a small town in Minnesota uncovers a dark secret while investigating a botched bank robbery.
Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Henry Winkler, Lena Headey, Reena Jolly, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan, Brendan Fletcher
Release Date: April 17, 2026
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rated R for strong bloody violence, and language.
Runtime:1h 30m
Review:
Ben Wheatley’s Normal is what happens when you throw Fargo, 30 Days of Night (sans the vampires) and Hot Fuzz into a blender, the result is a bloody but choppy, tonally inconsistent film that’s highly entertaining in spots thanks to Bob Odenkirk keeping the whole thing from flying off the rails. Wheatley’s film has an easy air about it, especially in its opening act as we are introduced to the assorted collection of characters in the quirky small town. He gives you just enough of a hint that something’s off about the whole thing before the full reveal of the town’s secrets. Bob Odenkirk’s world weary interim Sheriff, Ulysses, is more than content to just go through the motions and humor of the small town and its quirky residents. His own checkered past has him adrift, moving from one town to the next, hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife. A pair of hapless bank robbers reveal the town’s ugly underbelly that begins with the rather graphic violence that takes up the film’s back half. There are wild swings in tone from there which occasionally shift from serious to devilishly brutal, sometimes in the same scene. It makes for a herky-jerky feel as the film struggles to maintain a steady rhythm even as the action gets more insanely kinetic and ultra-violent. The biggest issue is that, besides Odenkirk’s Ulysses, everybody else onscreen is little more than thinly written caricatures who are given scant time to leave any sort of noticeable impression. Billy MacLellan’s Deputy Mike Nelson and Henry Winkler’s Mayor Kibner both turn in fun performances but the script wastes their efforts by taking them offscreen far too early. Those sorts of missed opportunities keep Normal from being something far more memorable than it ends up being.
C+
