Ben Wheatley’s Normal, a snow-soaked, blood-spattered neo-Western with Bob Odenkirk playing a burned-out temporary sheriff, touches down in Austin this week for its U.S. premiere at SXSW. Written by Derek Kolstad and co-produced by Odenkirk, the film swaps small-town politeness for sudden, operatic violence and a streak of deadpan comedy. Festivalgoers at the Paramount will find out whether Wheatley’s taste for both micro-budget oddities and large-scale set pieces pays off in front of a Texas crowd.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Wheatley told The Austin Chronicle that he shot Normal back-to-back with his other project “because they exist in different ecosystems” and that he is “very envious of the studio directors of the Forties and Fifties.” He also stressed the film’s practical approach to on-screen mayhem, explaining, “when we flip a car, we flip a car,” and saying the action is built from cause and effect rather than CGI. The profile positions Normal as another sharp turn in Wheatley’s unpredictable career.
SXSW slot and U.S. premiere
Per SXSW, Normal is slotted into the festival’s Narrative Spotlight lineup and will receive its U.S. premiere during the fest. The pick reflects SXSW’s appetite this year for crowd-pleasing genre titles that blur comedy and action, with Normal grouped alongside several other high-profile entries pitched squarely at mainstream audiences…