There’s a fascinating contradiction in a lot of media from over the years, where it is implied that the smaller and more quaint a town is, the bigger and more sinister the secrets lurking beneath the surface are, which has become such a common narrative trope that it borders on being unbearably cliché, solely because of how frequently it is employed. Despite being so widespread, we keep seeing stories built around this premise being made, since audiences seem to be receptive to the idea of the most placid, pleasant places being enshrouded in secrecy, since it plays into our morbid fascination with the relationship between people and their surroundings. A recent entry into a sub-genre that is becoming rapidly overrun with these stories is Normal, a film that is about as original and descriptive as its title. The story follows Ulysses, who has recently separated from his wife, and in an effort to keep himself occupied, accepts a temporary position as the sheriff of a small town in Minnesota, standing in for his recently deceased predecessors until the upcoming election, when a new one will be chosen. However, Ulysses can’t shake the feeling that something is amiss, especially when he discovers that this small, quaint town is far more prosperous than they have any right to be, and in the process he makes some shocking discoveries that lead him to realise that there is much more to this town than initially meets the eye. Surprisingly, this relatively conventional premise (based on a screenplay by Derek Kolstad) is directed by Ben Wheatley, who has gone from being one of the most promising filmmakers of his generation to someone who is now essentially a director-for-hire, losing so much of the uniqueness that drew us to his work in the first place. Normal is not a particularly good film – it’s not an outright failure, but it lacks any real vision, and says very little despite having some strong potential to be a fascinating subversion of the genre, being more than content to just rely on conventions in the hopes that no one will notice the very prominent hems in the fabric of this already one-dimensional narrative.

There is a quote by David Lynch (who is perhaps the filmmaker who perfected the art of telling stories about small town eccentricity) that I usually turn to when looking about films about outsiders discovering the sinister secrets lurking under the surface of seemingly idyllic places: “I discovered that if one looks a little closer at this beautiful world, there are always red ants underneath”, which is about as clear and direct a statement on how there is always more than meets the eye when exploring these apparently placid locales. Normal is a film that plays this note so heavily, it actually becomes quite overwhelming, since it is so desperate to convey the collision between a charming small town and the more maniacal figures exploiting it and its people that it actually begins to lose any hope of being particularly interesting, relying too heavily on a very one-dimensional premise for a story that is already quite thin in terms of what it is trying to communicate. The idea that the Japanese yakuza chose some arbitrary small town in the American Midwest as the location where they hide their fortune has some promise behind it, but it can only go so far on that premise alone, and the film does very little (if anything) to actually elevate itself beyond this subject, and it begins to erode once we see how unwieldy the story is in practice. Choosing to use a sheriff who is new in town (and therefore entirely unaware of the origins of how the population became so rich) is an easy way to explore the subject without needing to do too many narrative gymnastics to explain the premise, but even this feels quite limited for the most part, never really amounting to anything particularly noteworthy or worth the time or effort. It’s already not the strongest premise, and while Wheatley does clearly try to shade in the nuances through adding some further eccentricity to the story, it ultimately proves to be quite a hollow endeavour, never rising to any of the potential that was demonstrated throughout the film.

We all have that one person in our life that chooses to do something completely different to what they usually do, and momentarily seems to make an enormous success of it, to the point where it becomes a part of their personality. This is how it feels to see Bob Odenkirk actively pursuing being an action star, since his surprising heel-turn with Nobody (and its sequel) drew enough attention to his unorthodox ability to play a heroic character in a part that is far more physically demanding than we expected from an actor known more for his comedic work. Odenkirk is certainly not bad in the film – in fact, he’s by far the best part of Normal (and it makes sense that he’d have such a potentially interesting character, since he developed the story alongside the screenwriter, so he was clearly intent on playing into the more eccentric aspects of the character), but there’s also only so much that he can do to elevate this paltry material. He is as charismatic as ever, and proves to be willing to do whatever it takes to make this character seem authentic, even if the overall experience is not always quite as consistent as we may hope. There’s something slightly unwieldy about how the film uses Odenkirk, trying to position him as this flawless hero while rarely letting us get to know him beyond the surface, which feels like a missed opportunity. There’s a scene-stealing performance from Henry Winkler, who takes on the rare villainous role as the maniacal Mayor Kibner, a man who is more than willing to sacrifice his morals (and his constituents) for the sake of earning a fortune. Much like Odenkirk, Winkler is game for absolutely everything, and he delivers solid work that feels much more generous than the film actually deserved, which is a credit to his incredible skill and a criticism of the inability of the screenplay to actually make good use of these excellent actors. For the most part, the cast of Normal is quite good, with every shortcoming being the result of the heavy-handed execution that does very little to actually draw the viewer in and make the film worth our time.

I had known that Wheatley was directing this film initially when it was announced and marketed, but in the time between learning this information and actually watching the film, that fact had mostly evaporated, which made the moment his name appears in the end credits unexpectedly surprising. This is not necessarily something that should be praised, considering he used to be a filmmaker who was known for pushing the boundaries of the craft, directing fascinating and well-constructed artistic curios that were distinct, original and always compelling, even if they weren’t consistent in quality. Whether it is a case of him just being passionate about this subject matter, or struggling to find opportunities, it’s disheartening that he has had to take to directing what is essentially an anonymous action thriller that has very little narrative or practical merit beyond just being a conventional entry into a genre rarely known for its innovation. It’s more concerning when we realise that he has become exactly what he was parodying in films like High Rise and Free Fire, high-concept action films that took a more cerebral approach to a very simple genre. Where those films embraced familiar ideas in an effort to deconstruct them, Normal feels far more tied down to its genre, not being the vehicle for observing class and violence, and instead just seemingly being content to reproduce the most obvious conventions without actually saying anything all that interesting. There’s no real curiosity or insight that drives this film, and while the director does include some hints at his more ambitious style, they’re concealed under layers of overwrought storytelling and tonal inconsistencies – at no point do we know whether this film is supposed to be a comedy or a drama, since the satire is weak and the emotions are hopelessly dense. The film struggles to leave an impression, and ultimately becomes a very derivative work, never amounting to anything beyond the absolute bare minimum, which is not at all ideal for something that could’ve been far more audacious.

Normal feels less like a work crafted by one of our great independent talents, and more like an assignment given to someone who built enough of a following to draw a portion of the audience in, but never enough to actually see through all of its intentions. It isn’t even able to function as an action thriller that is at least memorable, since every aspect of it is hopelessly dull and inconsistent, with the central mystery being flaccid enough as it is, and only increased by a lack of clear narrative direction. There are certainly flashes of a more interesting story lingering beneath the surface, but no one involved seems all that interested in doing more than the bare minimum. The writing is mediocre and the direction far too restrained – had there been more consistency in one of the two, the film may have been a much better experience, but it often seems like it is at odds with itself. Decent performances from the cast do at least help make the film palatable, but the direction is too one-dimensional (and this isn’t even accounting for the visual aesthetic – it is staggering how much Hollywood has abandoned colour grading and lighting, embracing the kind of dull, lifeless imagery that is nothing if not frustrating), and the material is not strong enough to hold our attention. It is extremely predictable and plays the same notes, despite seemingly trying to portray itself as some subversive take on the action thriller genre, and loses a lot of its credibility along the way. It is a profoundly inert, uninteresting film that believes itself to be some challenging conspiracy thriller, when in reality it is as bland and unconvincing as the exact films it thinks it is lampooning, never living up to the promise of its premise, or being anything particularly daring, despite it clearly positioning itself as something that thinks it is unique, never once doing anything even vaguely interesting beyond the absolute bare minimum – and even that can be called into question in an otherwise heavy-handed, unconvincing dark comedy.