Warning: This article contains spoilers.

O’Dessa, which was released on Hulu and Disney+ in March, is a sci-fi musical that takes place in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian society ruled by entertainment king Plutonovich (Murray Bartlett). It follows O’Dessa (Sadie Sink), a farm girl and talented “rambler” (musician) who travels to her world’s entertainment hub to recover a family heirloom. There, she meets her one true love, Euri (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), and must put her music to the test in order to save his soul.

The story of O’Dessa and Euri draws inspiration from the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, in which musician Orpheus descends to the Underworld to recover the soul of his deceased lover, only to lose her forever. These parallels are sometimes too on-the-nose—for instance, the characters’ names are all strikingly similar to those of their Greek counterparts, and Plutonovich’s entertainment kingdom is known as “Onederworld”—but, for the most part, the movie does a decent job of adapting their story to its post-apocalyptic world without losing sight of the tale’s heart.

Overall, O’Dessa’s primary issue is its heavy reliance on cliches. A lot of classic young-adult dystopian tropes are present, including, most egregiously, a prophecy declaring O’Dessa “the One,” which is left largely undeveloped. In a futuristic, science-fiction setting (which is only vaguely explained), this fantastical prophecy feels out of place and uncompelling, as the story’s only other mystical elements are a magic guitar and a cryptic prophet-slash-deity that only deigns to appear twice.

Additionally, the film’s conclusion happens far too fast to do the rest of the story justice. The story is missing the classic, suspenseful “walk back to Earth” that defines Orpheus and Eurydice’s tale, which makes the conclusion feel far less meaningful or significant. Viewers are also left without a proper payoff for the “Seventh Son” piece of the story, which asserts that O’Dessa’s magic guitar and musical abilities are direct results of her heritage, but is only ever revisited as an insignificant lyric in a song about halfway through the film.

However, though the bar is admittedly quite low, this is our favorite movie we’ve reviewed. Sadie Sink delivers strong acting and singing performances, and so does Kelvin Harrison Jr. The songs are entertaining and decently written—although, because the music is actually an element of the plot rather than a narration device, we do think the movie could have benefitted from recording live vocals rather than using a studio. The hairstyling and costumes were also incredibly well executed, taking bold choices that captured the characters well. Sadie Sink’s haircut was a particular high point. 

Overall, because we had a lot of fun watching O’Dessa, we believe it deserves a solid three stars. It may not be “the One,” but it’s certainly a chaotic, entertaining rollercoaster.