★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed by Gerard Johnson
The stakes are as high as the coke-snorting estate agent protagonist in director Gerard Johnson’s suspenseful thriller Odyssey.
Synopsis: Odyssey follows Natasha Flynn, a sharp-tongued, coke-fuelled London estate agent, who juggles debts, danger, and deception. Her seemingly glossy life — flashy clothes, posh loft apartment, and endless champagne — hides a spiralling mess of broken dreams, addiction and a business on the brink of collapse. Enter Dan and Will, smooth-talking loan sharks with a sinister edge. Their offer? Easy cash, if she hides a kidnapped fellow estate agent. What follows is a wild, neon-soaked ride through London’s seedy underbelly, as Natasha searches for The Viking, an old ally with violent tendencies. A bloody, chaotic showdown ensues, leaving bodies—and morals—shattered.
Director Gerard Johnson’s Odyssey is a briskly moving thriller with horror elements that rewards viewers with terrific performances, taut conflict aplenty, crackerjack direction and pacing, and a carnage-filled third act.
It’s difficult for me to get invested in unlikable protagonists. Odyssey’s Natasha Flynn is a strong exception to my usual mindset, thanks in great part to Polly Maberly’s amazing performance. From Flynn’s opening conflict regarding payment after a dental procedure (those who suffer from dentophobia, steel yourselves) through her debt-induced stress to her falling in with deadly loan sharks to her final resolution, Maberly is a force of nature in the role. The film’s blue-tinged color palette wonderfully reflects Flynn’s icy demeanor. She berates her staff constantly, even though she knows that she can’t successfully grow her business without their help.
The rest of the cast members also give striking performances. Mikael Persbrandt as an acquaintance from Flynn’s past known only as The Viking is another standout, as the character sends the film in increasingly tense and violent places. He absolutely nails the portrayal.
Odyssey is a character study of a woman in mental, psychological, and financial turmoil. The actions of some characters also add commentary on misogyny to the proceedings. Johnson, who cowrote the screenplay with Austin Collings, balances the suspense and drama brilliantly.
Odyssey isn’t full-on horror, but it does boast fright-fare elements and copious amounts of the red stuff and some gruesome effects in its jaw-dropping finale, and the tension is ever-present. Highly recommended.
Review by Joseph Perry
Odyssey had its world premiere on March 9, 2025, at SXSW.
