‘Odyssey’ review: Dir. Gerard Johnson [SXSW 2025]

As already seen in Muscle, Gerard Johnson is great at crafting intense character pieces, and Odyssey continues this legacy. Here he shifts focus from the world of bodybuilding to that of real estate. This world might not sound as fascinating as muscular bodies, but when you have a character as interesting as Odyssey’s lead, Natasha (Polly Maberly), it becomes hard to look away from. 

Natasha is the owner of a small London estate agency, but a quick look into her lavish lifestyle and the cracks are evident. Despite her outward façade, Natasha’s life is a mess. She has a coke habit and is in substantial debt. As her life continues to crumble and she struggles to remain afloat, Natasha is tasked by loan sharks to look after a kidnap victim. Now, not only does Natasha have to hide her lack of cash flow from her staff, but also her criminality. 

Right from the outset Natasha is a tricky character to properly pin down. During the first third of the film, Natasha barely seems to breathe as she jumps from one scenario and problem to another. Her ever broadening breadth of obstacles quickly becomes seemingly insurmountable. That the audience has to race to keep up with her on-screen antics keeps them on the back foot with her, and Natasha is a character that will ruffle some feathers. 

Likeability in a character is never key, but Natastha will certainly test the resolve for some. Interestingly, her most heinous crimes arrive far before she crosses paths with the loan sharks. Instead her villain moment comes when she decodes real estate methods to her trainer sales agent. It’s a peek behind the curtain of what certain jargon really means, and her callousness at manipulating her clients for her own financial gain will get some viewer’s guards up. Watching Maberly traverse the gymnastics of Natasha’s life is riveting. Her performance has a brilliant duality to it as she projects her character’s outward confidence whilst allowing the audience to see her more vulnerable side too. 

The journey that Natasha, and by proxy, the viewer, are taken on is one that has been seen before. Characters having to perform duties for loan sharks and similar to get themselves out of a pickle, is nothing new to film narrative. Odyssey’s point of difference however, comes in that its protagonist is female. So many crime stories build themselves around men, and even Johnson is guilty of focusing almost solely on men in his previous work. Shifting the gender of the lead is such a basic manoeuvre, but it’s one that reshapes Odyssey into something more than the same old situations. It also brings in an element of gender dynamics and politics as Natasha tries to assert herself in this criminal world owned by men.  

In another change-up to the usual crime thriller formula, Johnson takes his time with Odyssey. Before Natasha is placed into her nightmare moral conundrum, Johnson builds up her world, surroundings, and status. Odyssey does not have a blistering pace, instead it moves along slowly, gradually building up intensity. The approach is justified, as is Johnson’s affinity for quiet. Whilst during her day to day life Natasha is enveloped in the noise of the city, once night falls, a quiet seeps in. This compliments the building tension and helps position the viewer to the edge of their seat as they wait to see if, and how, Nastasha can get herself out of her plight. 

After the success of Muscle, audiences have been eagerly awaiting Gerard Johnson’s next film and in Odyssey he does not disappoint. Featuring some clever story moves and a strong lead performance, Odyssey uncovers just how dark and cutthroat the world of real estate really can be. Simultaneously a cautionary tale to prospective home buyers and renters, and a peek into the criminal underbelly of London, Odyssey makes for riveting viewing. 

Odyssey was reviewed at SXSW 2025.