There are musicals. Then there are rock musicals. Specifically rock musicals that like to call themselves “rock operas.” While I can’t find the specific difference between the two, other than rock operas originally were meant as storytelling concept albums, only meant to be staged as an afterthought, it seems the definition has evolved past that. While I love musicals written in the more traditional form, there’s something about a rock opera, especially in film form that has always captured my attention. I mostly blame accidentally watching Rocky Horror Picture Show as a child on repeat (without my parents knowing!) For me a good rock opera film is everything captured in Rocky Horror: camp, melodrama, dark humor, avant-garde aesthetic, and most of all, great music.
I may not have seen all of them, but I definitely think it’s a genre that’s not overdone yet. So yeah, when I see a teaser for a film that literally calls itself a “rock opera”, such as the just released O’Dessa, I’m going to get excited. Sadie Sink stars as the title character, a 19 year old farm girl living in a vaguely dystopian future where the world is poisoned by a mysterious fuel source called Miasma, and only one major city remains in civilization. When her mother dies, O’Dessa begins her journey as a “rambler” (their word for traveling bard), with full belief she will fulfill her prophesied destiny as the one who’s song will bring hope to humanity. Along the way, she’ll be inspired by true love, and hindered by a lot of bad guys.
One of the most important aspects of a musical is the music and this is one of the shining lights of this film. Geremy Jasper and Jason Binnick really hit it out of the park with this one. The Southern rock/blues heavy soundtrack didn’t have a single disappointing song. That being said, Geremy Jasper might have bit off more than he could chew with everything else. As a co-composer, writer, and director, it seems like he cared more about making a banging soundtrack than making a fully cohesive story.
It’s important to note that films like this; Rocky Horror Picture Show, Repo The Genetic Opera and to a lesser extent, Hedwig and the Angry Inch had one thing in common that this film lacks; originating from the stage. These films were able to audit story during stage rehearsals, creating a plot line while retaining camp. O’Dessa seems to attempt to emulate this without doing the due diligence, causing the story to suffer, creating something more akin to The Apple, but less original. Something that was also distractingly missing was any form of comedy. For camp to exist, you need comedy. Not blatantly parody, but some comedic moments to lift the material out of the realm of pretension.
It’s definitely not all bad. Every actor in this film blasted through the cringe and created amazing performances, especially Sadie Sink. O’Dessa successfully creates a tone that is fairly consistent. Every department of the film did a phenomenal job with what they had in the script. Unfortunately, said script was just a collection of decent-to-good ideas that was barely sewn together correctly like a patchwork quilt.
While O’Dessa definitely was a disappointment on a film level, I can’t bring myself to say I disliked it. It was very entertaining from beginning to end, and dare I say enjoyable for the most part, despite its glaring flaws. I think only time will tell if fellow lovers of the rock opera genre will judge it harshly, or see it as the next potential cult classic. While I don’t personally think it has every ingredient to become one of these for this generation, it’s difficult for me to know for sure. After all, most of the most beloved rock opera films weren’t understood by critics either.
