I’m not a huge fan of musicals. I don’t really like them on the stage, and I really don’t like them on the silver screen. Though O’Dessa, the musical starring Sadie Sink and streaming on Hulu, hasn’t been a hit with many critics, it was a hit with me. I wasn’t sure at first why I liked it when I expected to hate it, but then it dawned on me. It’s more like The Who’s Tommy than, say, Wicked, and I love Tommy.
It’s A Rock Opera With Great Characters
O’Dessa puts music at the forefront by making the story about the music. That really works for me. Stranger Things cast member Sadie Sink, fresh off of wrapping filming on the Netflix hit, stars as O'Dessa Galloway, who wants to become a traveling musician like those from the 1930s, in a dystopian future where everything is ruled by the host of a TV talent show, played by Murray Bartlett. She wants to be a “rambler,” as she calls it, like her father. Her father, by the way, is played by musician Pokey LaFarge who has modeled his own music career after the same kind of musician.
O'Dessa's music is the story, and I realize that I’m splitting hairs when I say it is integral to the movie, as you could say that about all musicals. Not to pick on Wicked and its marvelous technical achievements, but it’s a story that could be told with or without the music. I understand that the music is the point, but for me, making the music – 16 original songs written by Geremy Jasper and Jason Binnick – a key plot element changes everything. When the characters break into song, it drives home the emotion of O’Dessa’s struggles and, eventually, her love for Euri (Kelvin Harrison Jr.); it doesn’t take me out of the story.
I Also Loved The Electro-Folk Vibe To The Set Pieces
As I watched the movie, I kept thinking about the set pieces and how the movie looks. It’s got a dystopian, futuristic element to it, of course, but the sets are also lit with multicolor LEDs, neon lights, and other discarded pieces of technology that update a sort of steampunk vibe with a modern touch.
It's Electro-Folk. It’s folk music, or at least Americana music, but with a rave vibe. The music is both old-timey and very modern. The sets are very much in what a dystopian nightmare might look like in 100 years. It’s a multi-genre feast for the ears and eyes for a modern generation who have the entire music catalog of the last 100 years at its fingertips; Americana, contemporary pop, and EDM are fused like never before.
It heartens me to know that despite the lukewarm reception by critics, the film has seemingly been popular on Hulu, so people are watching it. It’s also exciting to watch Sink, who will be in the next installment of Spider-Man, as her career transitions from child star to more adult roles. I also hope it can become a big enough hit that we’ll see more musicals like it on the upcoming movie schedule in the future.
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