If there is one word commonly associated with the films of Mr. Ben Wheatley, then ‘normal’ is not it. A Field In England is not normal; Free Fire is not normal; In The Earth is not normal; Meg 2 is not n— well, you get the idea. So suffice it to say, when we learned Wheatley’s latest joint was called Normal, there was no fooling us. And if the first trailer for the Bob Odenkirk led, Derek Kolstad (John Wick) and Marc Provissiero (Nobody) produced action-thriller is anything to go by, then yeah… there’s nothin’ normal here, folks. Check it out below;
See, what did we tell ya? As this first trailer for Wheatley’s latest teases, strange things are afoot in the (very Fargo-like) town of Normal when Odenkirk’s moustachioed man of the law Ulysses rocks up. No sooner has the sleepy village offered the new sheriff a warm welcome and a mug of Joe than the man finds himself fighting for his life as all comers — citizens, colleagues, all and sundry — take a shot at him (literally). It’s stylised, darkly witty, bloody brutal stuff, and — at least on present evidence — exactly the level of kinetic brouhaha you’d hope for from a movie that brings the creative forces behind Wick, Nobody, and Free Fire together.
And here’s the official synopsis for Normal, which co-stars Lena Heady and Henry Winkler: “For Sheriff Ulysses (Odenkirk), his provisional posting to the quaint Midwestern American town of Normal was meant to be a welcome respite from both his marital woes and recent moral injuries in the line of duty. But when a botched bank robbery interrupts the municipality’s tranquil pace, a sordid secret is inadvertently exposed and Ulysses learns that the town is anything but its namesake. Suddenly everyone is trying to shoot the sheriff, even his own deputies, and our put-upon policeman must rely on his affable mettle and some motley crooks if he is to survive the night. (And that’s all before the Yakuza show up).”
Having just about survived the holiday from hell in Nobody 2, we look forward to seeing if funnyman-turned-action-hero Bob Odenkirk makes it through the night in Normal when, er, Normal hits cinemas on 17 April, 2026.