Normal (2026)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, April 17

R Running Time: 91 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Bob Odenkirk blends effortless charisma with a likable charm that makes his performance as a 60-something action star kind of undeniable.
There is some sly, deadpan humor on display in Normal that offers some comic relief from the escalating violence that builds throughout the film.
Feels like a de facto sequel to Odenkirk’s Nobody movies, but has enough small town mystery and quirkiness, that it stands out as its own property.

NO

Sly comedy, frequent bloody violence, and moments of melodramatic storytelling … Normal struggles in finding a balance between everything it attempts to accomplish.
Some of the film’s subplots are uninteresting and feel forced.
While not the goriest film by any stretch, Normal is not at all for the squeamish.

OUR REVIEW

Bob Odenkirk’s folksy charm as “Substitute Sheriff” Ulysses is pretty undeniable in the opening 20-25 minutes of Normal, the veteran actor’s latest foray into portraying an unassuming action hero. As with his Nobody films, Odenkirk allows a calm, kind demeanor to give way to a fearless, assassin-like mentality as he dispatches bad guy after bad guy in increasingly bloody and gory fashion.

Paced a bit differently than the Nobody films, Normal is written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick series, Nobody series), whose ability to write screenplays for action movies for “men of a certain age” has benefitted Keanu Reeves and Odenkirk well in the past. In this third collaboration with Odenkirk, Normal is set in a fictional Minnesota town, near the Canadian border, where life moves at a slower stroll. Ulysses, we never learn a last name, is on a six-week contract to bridge the gap between the recently deceased sheriff and his incoming replacement. He quickly bonds with his team and starts to become familiar with the locals, in the small, everyone-knows-everyone kind of town.

He also starts to see some strange things in a place called “Normal.” Visit by visit, he learns more about the town’s character and sees, for example, that the town is stocked with enough ammunition to withstand most potential adversaries. Everyone is polite, but a bit guarded. The mayor (Henry Winkler) is a brazen blowhard. Yet rather than cause any disruptions, Ulysses simply sets his jaw, smiles, and goes about his day until two would-be bank robbers, Lori (Reena Jolly) and Keith (Brendan Fletcher), get caught up in circumstances that place him in the unexpected position of protecting them while also putting him at odds with the city and police force who hired him.

To say much more would spoil a key pivot point in Normal’s plot. However, this story shift allows Ulysses to load up his guns, tap into that ammunition reserve, and fight back while protecting a town that he doesn’t want to stay in and that doesn’t really want him around in the first place.

The folksy charm Odenkirk embodies lends itself to some sly deadpan humor. Quips and one-liners are frequent, but when the carnage ramps up and heads explode or bodies are riddled with bullets, the humor gives way to the spectacle of violence that Normal relies on a bit too heavily at times.

Directed by Ben Wheatley, who has a penchant for incorporating satire and comedy into action-oriented films, Normal struggles to find a consistent tone but seldom wastes a minute of its efficient 90-minute runtime. The movie moves at an accelerated pace and we rarely sit still for long. Odenkirk plays Ulysses as a man perpetually uncomfortable, which works well for the film’s quick cadence.

Through scenes set in darkened nights and a snowy haze, Kolstad’s writing mirrors the cold and unfeeling aura Wheatley designs for the film. We do have some attempts at character development, as Ulysses befriends Alex (Jess McLeod), the surviving child of the dead sheriff. He also shows some vulnerability with local barkeep Moira (Lena Headey) and looks out for Lori and Keith as they form a makeshift team trying to survive a sustained attack in the city.

A subplot involving the Yakuza never really comes together, and though there is plenty of action in Normal, the film often feels thrown together. Odenkirk is a salve to the wounds the film inflicts upon itself, never fully deciding whether it wants to be a human-centered revenge story or a bloody, B-movie-style action flick.

Ultimately, it lands much more in the latter camp. Still, Odenkirk is so good here that you can almost overlook the film’s shortcomings. In a briskly moving 90 minutes, Normal offers gnarly kills, a whimsical leading man, betrayals, surprises, and lots of violence. For some, this is just what they need right now.

For me, I wanted more balance between humor and action, stronger character development, and a film that trusted in its characters as much as its body count. While it often looks great on screen, Normal risks alienating viewers who are not exactly eager for beheadings, severed limbs, and bodies exploding across the screen.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Henry Winkler, Lena Headey, Reena Jolly, Brendan Fletcher, Jess McLeod, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan, Peter Shinkoda

Director: Ben Wheatley
Written by: Derek Kolstad (screenplay); Derek Kolstad, Bob Odenkirk (story)
Release Date: April 17, 2026
Magnolia Pictures

Bob Odenkirk blends effortless charisma with a likable charm that makes his performance as a 60-something action star kind of undeniable.

There is some sly, deadpan humor on display in Normal that offers some comic relief from the escalating violence that builds throughout the film.

Feels like a de facto sequel to Odenkirk’s Nobody movies, but has enough small town mystery and quirkiness, that it stands out as its own property.

Sly comedy, frequent bloody violence, and moments of melodramatic storytelling … Normal struggles in finding a balance between everything it attempts to accomplish.

Some of the film’s subplots are uninteresting and feel forced.

While not the goriest film by any stretch, Normal is not at all for the squeamish.