Let’s not beat around the bush: I loved Normal. Premiering as part of TIFF’s Midnight Madness block, the film sees Ben Wheatley return to his signature territory of dark absurdism in a crime thriller that goes places many would not expect. The film reunites Nobody star Bob Odenkirk with John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad, creating a gonzo neo-western that turns small-town mythology on its head. What begins as a typical small-town sheriff story quickly transforms into a sinister exploration of corruption and community complicity that feels both familiar and utterly unhinged.
Odenkirk takes on the role of Ulysses, a disillusioned career lawman who arrives in Normal, Minnesota, as a temporary replacement after the previous sheriff’s unexplained death. The fictional Midwestern town presents itself as the perfect small-town community where everyone knows each other, complete with Mayor Kibner’s relentless cheer, thanks to the ever-fantastic Henry Winkler. Beneath Normal’s surface, however, lies something much darker: a population that has sold its collective soul to an international money-laundering operation for the Yakuza.
The film’s genius lies in its inversion of Western tropes and its expansion on the little we know about the town to mount its onslaught upon our hero. This subversion creates immediate tension as Ulysses navigates a community where the bartender, the hardware store owner, and seemingly everyone else participate in the criminal conspiracy. Only fellow outsiders like Moira, played by Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey, offer any kinship to the bewildered lawman. As we slowly learn more about the town, the cracks begin to show, revealing what is really going on.
It is one group of criminals that sets into motion the chain of events that brings the delicate house of cards crumbling down. A pair of would-be bank robbers, played by Brendan Fletcher and Reena Jolly, inadvertently uncover a massive stash of ill-gotten gains. As the bullets start flying and the tension cranks up to eleven, Ulysses chooses not to arrest these small-time crooks. Instead, he protects them from the far more corrupt townspeople, who turn murderous to guard their secret and avoid the repercussions that would come if the criminal organization descended on the town. This moral reversal forces the sheriff into an impossible position where the criminals become the innocents and the community becomes the threat. It is also where all hell breaks loose in a shower of bullets, blood and explosions, to spectacular effect
Wheatley describes the film’s tone as gonzo, suggesting it could have played at drive-ins in the 1960s and ’70s, and he could not be more correct. The director, known for genre-bending thrillers like Kill List and Free Fire, brings his trademark bleakness to American small-town mythology. The twist feels organic and, much like the grindhouse cinema and spaghetti westerns it borrows from, delivers fun, spectacle and enjoyment, even if the story falls apart under serious scrutiny. The insularity that makes small communities seem charming can transform into something menacing when viewed through the eyes of an outsider.
Odenkirk brings his everyman vulnerability to the role of Ulysses, distinguishing him from traditional action heroes. He is not an unbreakable killing machine, as we often saw in the action heroes of the 1980s and ’90s, and that is the point. He is vulnerable, willing to do what he must to do the right thing, and aware that he is walking into potential doom by doing so. That makes his performance all the more compelling. He is someone we can sympathize with while recognizing his humanity in every choice he makes.
“Normal may not be the deepest film at TIFF 2025, but it is without question one of the most fun.”
The film’s 90-minute runtime keeps the tension tight without overstaying its welcome. With a cast that includes Peter Shinkoda, Billy MacLellan and Jess McLeod in supporting roles, Normal creates a full community of complicit characters surrounding Odenkirk’s increasingly isolated protagonist. The film never overstays its welcome and offers a story that knows exactly what it wants to say, delivering that concept with style, fun and enough violence to satisfy even the most seasoned action-movie fan.
Normal succeeds as both visceral entertainment and pointed social commentary. By inverting the Western’s moral tropes, Wheatley and Kolstad create a thriller that speaks to contemporary anxieties about community, corruption and economic desperation, while ensuring it remains as fun and bombastic as possible. Odenkirk’s committed performance anchors the film’s tonal shifts, while Wheatley’s direction maintains the delicate balance between absurdism and genuine menace that makes the story work. Normal may not be the deepest film at TIFF 2025, but it is without question one of the most fun.
