Bob Odenkirk Descends Into Neo-Western Chaos in Ben Wheatley’s Normal

Bob Odenkirk stars as a substitute sheriff who learns the town of Normal is anything but.

Bob Odenkirk Returns to Controlled Chaos in Ben Wheatley’s Neo-Western Normal

Magnolia Pictures has unveiled the first trailer for Normal, the latest genre-bending feature from the creative forces behind John Wick and Nobody. Starring Bob Odenkirk, the film marks another collaboration with Nobody writer Derek Kolstad and producer Marc Provissiero, this time filtered through the distinctly volatile lens of director Ben Wheatley.

Set in a seemingly quiet Midwestern town called Normal, the film follows Ulysses, a substitute sheriff attempting to reset his life after professional and personal damage. His new posting is supposed to be temporary and uneventful. That illusion collapses when a botched bank robbery exposes something far darker beneath the town’s surface. What begins as routine law enforcement quickly spirals into violence, paranoia, and escalating chaos, revealing that Normal is anything but.

The trailer leans hard into neo-Western tension and off-kilter energy, blending small-town unease with sudden, explosive action. There’s a tonal familiarity here for fans of Nobody, but Wheatley’s presence pushes the material into stranger, more unpredictable territory. The result feels less like a clean revenge thriller and more like a pressure cooker—where every character is one bad decision away from detonating the whole place.

Odenkirk stars alongside Henry Winkler and Lena Headey, anchoring a cast that suggests sharp character work amid the carnage. Kolstad’s script once again centers on a man with a buried past trying—and failing—to stay out of trouble, while Wheatley’s direction appears to embrace disorder, violence, and moral instability as core elements of the story.

Normal is produced by Marc Provissiero, Bob Odenkirk, and Derek Kolstad, in partnership with QWGmire, with a large slate of executive producers supporting the project. Magnolia Pictures is set to release the film in theaters nationwide on April 17, 2026.

The trailer signals a film that sits comfortably at the intersection of crime thriller, neo-Western, and dark genre chaos. Expect more from Normal as its release date approaches.