# O'Dessa
**O'Dessa** is a 2025 American post-apocalyptic rock opera film written, directed, and co-composed by Geremy Jasper, starring [Sadie Sink](https://www.edgepedia.org/sadie-sink) as a farm girl who leaves her family land to recover a cherished heirloom and save the soul of the man she loves[1](https://www.searchlightpictures.com/odessa). It was produced by [Searchlight Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/searchlight-pictures) with RT Features and Department of Motion Pictures, and released as a Hulu Original in the United States and on Disney+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 20, 2025[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025) • [3](https://press.hulu.com/schedule/march-2025/) • [4](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/searchlight-pictures-odessa-to-stream-march-13-exclusively-on-disney-plus).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Geremy Jasper, who also wrote the songs with composer Jason Binnick[1](https://www.searchlightpictures.com/odessa) • [5](https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/2/13/geremy-jaspers-odessa-going-straight-to-hulu) |
| Cast | Sadie Sink (O'Dessa Galloway), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Euri Dervish), Murray Bartlett (Plutonovich), Regina Hall (Neon Dion)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025) |
| Premiere and release | World premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival; streaming on Hulu from March 20, 2025[6](https://www.sxsw.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Press-Release-SXSW-2025-Film-TV-Festival-Slate-Announcement-FINAL.pdf) • [3](https://press.hulu.com/schedule/march-2025/) |
| Format | Musical, 1h 46m (106 min), rated PG-13 in the United States[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025) |
| Music | 16 original songs written and produced for the film[5](https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/2/13/geremy-jaspers-odessa-going-straight-to-hulu) |
| Production | Searchlight Pictures with RT Features and Department of Motion Pictures; producers Michael Gottwald and Noah Stahl[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025) |
| Reception | 38% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (56 reviews) and 51% on the audience Popcornmeter[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and setting
The film is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which a toxic, flammable substance called plazma has poisoned the landscape[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/odessa-2025). O'Dessa Galloway (Sadie Sink) is the seventh in a family line of wandering musicians known as ramblers. When her mother dies, she inherits her father's guitar, burns down the family house, and sets out for Satylite City, a dangerous urban center described to her as "a depraved and sinful place"[5](https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/2/13/geremy-jaspers-odessa-going-straight-to-hulu) • [7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/odessa-2025).
The guitar is stolen and pawned on the road, and chasing it brings O'Dessa to Euri Dervish ([Kelvin Harrison Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/kelvin-harrison-jr)), a musician who works for Neon Dion ([Regina Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/regina-hall)), the chief enforcer of the media boss Plutonovich ([Murray Bartlett](https://www.edgepedia.org/murray-bartlett)), who rules the airwaves from a private island and punishes dissenters for the entertainment of crowds[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/odessa-2025). O'Dessa and Euri fall in love, and to save his soul she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test[1](https://www.searchlightpictures.com/odessa). As the story develops, the farm girl becomes a rebellious symbol of hope against oppression, working to recover an heirloom that could save the world as she knows it[8](https://thedirect.com/article/odessa-star-sadie-sink-talks-about-the-rock-operas-insane-16-songs-sxsw-red-carpet).
## Production
Jasper, whose first film was the 2017 rap drama *Patti Cake$*, conceived O'Dessa roughly twenty years before its release, originally as a stage show about a young woman with a pompadour and a guitar[9](https://www.filmreviewdaily.com/news-and-features/writer-director-songwriter-geremy-jasper-talks-odessa). He has described the film as a collage of his influences, citing *The Wizard of Oz*, *Star Wars*, and [David Lynch](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-lynch), and combining [Americana](https://www.edgepedia.org/americana) with European fairytale surrealism[9](https://www.filmreviewdaily.com/news-and-features/writer-director-songwriter-geremy-jasper-talks-odessa). The character's father draws on [Johnny Cash](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnny-cash), with elements of David Bowie, Elvis, Woody Guthrie, and PJ Harvey feeding into the protagonist[10](https://radiowise.uk/from-rap-dream-to-rock-dystopias-interview-with-geremy-jasper/).
**Music and shooting.** Jasper wrote the screenplay and, with his long-time collaborator Jason Binnick, wrote and produced 16 original songs for the film[5](https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/2/13/geremy-jaspers-odessa-going-straight-to-hulu) • [9](https://www.filmreviewdaily.com/news-and-features/writer-director-songwriter-geremy-jasper-talks-odessa). [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began in Croatia in May 2023[11](https://www.thewrap.com/sadie-sink-odessa-searchlight-rock-opera/). Sadie Sink was cast in the lead in January 2023; Jasper said she got a copy of the script, heard some of the music, related to the piece, and embodied the character so that the songs felt spontaneous[11](https://www.thewrap.com/sadie-sink-odessa-searchlight-rock-opera/) • [12](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/casting-insights-geremy-jasper-on-the-casting-of-odessa/).
The film world premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival[6](https://www.sxsw.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Press-Release-SXSW-2025-Film-TV-Festival-Slate-Announcement-FINAL.pdf). The release shifted to streaming: it debuted as a Hulu Original in the United States and streamed on Disney+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with both dates announced as March 20, 2025[3](https://press.hulu.com/schedule/march-2025/) • [4](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/searchlight-pictures-odessa-to-stream-march-13-exclusively-on-disney-plus). Some trade coverage in February 2025 reported a March 13 Hulu premiere date, while Hulu's own schedule and Disney's UK press release list March 20[5](https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/2/13/geremy-jaspers-odessa-going-straight-to-hulu) • [3](https://press.hulu.com/schedule/march-2025/) • [4](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/searchlight-pictures-odessa-to-stream-march-13-exclusively-on-disney-plus).
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 38% Tomatometer from 56 reviews and a 51% Popcornmeter score from more than 500 audience ratings[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025). The site's critics consensus says Sadie Sink rises above the material in a rock opera that loses purpose and steam on the way to its finish[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025). Reviewers singled out the visuals and music while faulting the plotting: Empire's Ben Travis gave it 2/5, writing that it gets tangled in its own mythology with a romance that never sizzles, and other critics described the plot as simple and the dialogue heavy-handed but the visuals wild and the music solid[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025). The Upcoming praised the stylized, cyberpunk-infused Satylite City, with its brutalist structures and 1980s music-video lighting, while judging that the film never fully commits to one mythological framework[13](https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2025/03/20/odessa-movie-review/).
## References
1. [O'Dessa, Searchlight Pictures official site](https://www.searchlightpictures.com/odessa)
2. [O'Dessa (2025), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/odessa_2025)
3. [March 2025 schedule, Hulu Press](https://press.hulu.com/schedule/march-2025/)
4. [Searchlight Pictures' 'O'Dessa' to stream March 20, exclusively on Disney+, Disney UK Press](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/searchlight-pictures-odessa-to-stream-march-13-exclusively-on-disney-plus)
5. [Geremy Jasper's 'O'Dessa' Going Straight to Hulu on March 13, World of Reel](https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/2/13/geremy-jaspers-odessa-going-straight-to-hulu)
6. [SXSW 2025 Film & TV Festival Slate Announcement (PDF)](https://www.sxsw.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Press-Release-SXSW-2025-Film-TV-Festival-Slate-Announcement-FINAL.pdf)
7. [O'Dessa (2025) plot summary and cast, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/odessa-2025)
8. [O'Dessa Star Sadie Sink Talks About the Rock Opera's 16 Songs, The Direct](https://thedirect.com/article/odessa-star-sadie-sink-talks-about-the-rock-operas-insane-16-songs-sxsw-red-carpet)
9. [Seventh Wanderer: Geremy Jasper Talks 'O'Dessa', Film Review](https://www.filmreviewdaily.com/news-and-features/writer-director-songwriter-geremy-jasper-talks-odessa)
10. [From rap dream to rock dystopias: interview with Geremy Jasper, Radiowise](https://radiowise.uk/from-rap-dream-to-rock-dystopias-interview-with-geremy-jasper/)
11. [Sadie Sink to Star in Post-Apocalyptic Rock Opera 'O'dessa' for Searchlight, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/sadie-sink-odessa-searchlight-rock-opera/)
12. [Casting Insights: Geremy Jasper on the Casting of 'O'Dessa', Casting Networks](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/casting-insights-geremy-jasper-on-the-casting-of-odessa/)
13. [O'Dessa | Movie review, The Upcoming](https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2025/03/20/odessa-movie-review/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 2010s and 2020s › Released 2021 to 2026*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license