SXSW 2025 Review: ODYSSEY, A Super Tense Thriller With A Bloody Edge
Natasha Flynn (Polly Maberly) is a hustler. She runs an estate agency, selling and leasing properties all over London. Working from a flashy office with a cadre of hungry employees, on the verge of a profitable merger with a bigger agency, she shows all the outward signs of a professional on the rise. However, underneath all of the parties and fancy clothes, she’s crumbling. A coke-fueled ambition monster who owes a lot of money to some very scary people, Natasha is about to discover the lengths to which she’ll go to maintain the illusion of success in Gerard Johnson’s gripping thriller, Odyssey.
Johnson’s third feature thriller since 2009, Odyssey’s intense, propulsive energy reflects lessons learned in the years since he debuted with Tony. Maberly, a veteran of British TV, makes her solo lead debut after playing a sharing the screen in Johnson’s 2019 film, Muscle. A tense, anxious film, Odyssey is an exciting experience that grabs the audience by the throat and never lets go, throwing never-ending curveballs that keep the viewer on their toes.
As Polly struggles to keep her shit together, poorly balancing her job, her drug habit, and fending off loan sharks, she fields a proposition. Her shark has abducted another estate agent – it made the news – and is holding him until he can get his money. Unable to come up with the cash to clear her own debts, Polly is told that if she can help her antagonists move this other agent out of the city and away from suspicion, they’ll clear her obligations and she can walk away, scot free.
A tempting offer, Polly tries every scheme she can to avoid being further in hock but eventually finds that acquiescing to their requests is the only way out. As the plan proceeds, the endgame becomes less and less clear, and Polly is forced to consult with an old fearsome friend, The Viking (Mikael Persbrandt, Sex Education), to help her save herself and perhaps her poor hapless colleague. From here on out, the film changes gears completely, swapping its heartburn inducing Uncut Gems vibes for something bloodier. It’s fantastic.
A masterclass in world building and tension stretching, Odyssey is the rare thriller that never gives away more than it can afford. For every seemingly obvious road the film travels, there’s an unexpected fork that brings the audience back to attention. Maberly holds court in Odyssey, doing stunning work with a role that women are rarely asked to play, it’s a refreshing switch from the arrogant man in over his head to a woman in the same position.
Director Johnson never lets the audience get too comfortable, maintaining a high level of energy throughout the film’s 110 minute run time. Watching Polly continually attempt to wriggle her way out of danger and failing miserably until the final reel is a brilliant tact and collaboration between actor and director. Though Odyssey doesn’t tread a lot of new narrative ground, it makes up for it with sheer kinetic glee. If Uncut Gems had you on edge, this might be right up your alley.
