Greetings again from the darkness. As evidenced by the abundance of ‘shoot-em-ups’ released each and every year, it’s clearly not that challenging for screenwriters to find a reason to have characters firing bullets at each other. Director Ben Wheatley proved his mettle with this genre in 2016 with the excellent and madcap FREE FIRE. This time out, he’s working from a script by Derek Kolstad (the “John Wick” and “Nobody” franchises) and Bob Odenkirk (well known comedy writer and star of “Better Call Saul”).
The film opens in Osaka, Japan as a Yakuza leader deals out punishment (some cruel, some shocking) and new assignments. It’s a bit surprising, and quite creative for the story to jump from Osaka to Minnesota, which is where the titular small town of Normal is located. Ulysses Richardson (Mr. Odenkirk) has been hired as the temporary town Sheriff after the previous one died under mysterious circumstances. As you would expect, Ulysses is carrying some personal baggage. He’s estranged from his wife (we can tell from the string of unreturned voicemails he leaves) and fights through vivid nightmares of a recent traumatic event that changed his life.
Despite his flaws, Ulysses is a sharp lawman. A couple of run-ins with the smarmy Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler) and the tricky local bartender Moira (Lena Headey, “Game of Thrones”) ignite his ‘something’s not right about this town’ radar. Eventually, the tie-in to the Yakuza is established, as is the fact that Ulysses has to face-off against the entire town of Normal, including Deputy Anderson (Ryan Allen, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, 2019) and Deputy Nelson (Billy MacLellan, NOBODY, 2021). To say that the action is stepped up is a bit of an understatement.
The point of separation between this and the endless bang-bang movies is in fact the fight of the ‘normal’ guy (in the town of Normal) against the entire town and the Japanese mob. Odenkirk has already mastered these types of roles after a couple of NOBODY films, and his personality works. A town moose is a welcome touch, as is opening with a Black Sabbath song. The film isn’t at the level of the aforementioned FREE FIRE, and certainly doesn’t have the benefit of that film’s cast or the twist of its confined space, but man against town works well enough for entertainment purposes, and fans of the genre should be satisfied.
Opens in theaters nationwide on April 17, 2026
Movie Reviews from the Dark 