Normal Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Normal Blu-ray Movie Review

Minnesota not-so-nice.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 23, 2026

Riding on the momentum of 2023's inexplicably popular Meg 2: The Trench, director Ben Wheatley returns to action-comedy with Normal, whose lead character likewise hinges on expectations from a previous film. Two, actually: Nobody and its recent sequel, both which star Bob Odenkirk as an everyday guy pushed to violent extremes by outside forces. This time around Odenkirk plays "Ulysses", an interim sheriff who's just arrived in Normal, Minnesota as a temporary replacement for the previous one after his untimely death, which has made an orphan of teen Alex Gunderson (Jess McLeod). Acting sheriff Ulysses' introduction is prefaced by an opening in Japan where a nine-fingered man is sent to Normal by his Yakuza boss for reasons yet unknown, suggesting a violent showdown is inevitable.

This shoehorned opening feels oddly out of place, and in hindsight it robs Normal of additional intrigue that could've been built during the first 40 minutes where we get to know several people in and around Normal, Ulysses included. Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler) is a big talker and kind of an asshole. So is Blaine Anderson (Ryan Allen), a deputy who already assumes he'll have Ulysses' job after his eight-week term ends. Second deputy Mike Nelson (Billy MacLellan) is a goofball with a loud leather jacket and no self-awareness. Moira (Lena Headey) is the local barkeep who sees Ulysses as something of a kindred spirit. Lori and Keith (Reena Jolly & Brendan Fletcher) are outsiders passing through Normal with their dog, maybe. Then there's Alex, who feels like an outcast and desperately needs a father figure. Speaking of the late sheriff Gunderson, his death -- a heart attack brought on by hypothermia -- is quickly signed off on by the local coroner, and everyone but Ulysses regards the matter as an open-and-shut case. This seems slightly out of character for a normally passive and easygoing guy but something about Normal makes him feel... not normal.

I'll refrain from spoiling the exact circumstances that lead up to and catalyze Normal's tipping point, but let's just say that shit gets real right around the halfway mark. Under the circumstances (and even with that opening semi-spoiler in mind), this film does a pretty good job of keeping the audience as surprised and confused as Ulysses is once Normal's facade begins to crumble. From here, the lightweight small-town drama morphs into all-out warfare and, to the credit of Odenkirk, his solid performance helps this transition to feel about as seamless as possible. Ulysses' cool-under-fire presence makes him a hero we can easily get behind and, though some of the later action sequences are more than a little far-fetched in their execution (much like Nobody and its spiritual predecessors, Taken and John Wick), they're all mostly part of the fun since Normal generally tends to keep its tone pretty light.

While the end result works more than it doesn't, Normal has a few nagging flaws that keep it from being the Shane Black-style extravaganza that it wants to be. The script is extremely uneven, and some of the supporting performances are weakly filled out by actors who sound like they're swearing for the first time in their lives. The frequently over-the-top violence and bloodshed, as cartoonishly entertaining as it can be, is routinely telegraphed well in advance which, like that pesky opening, inadvertently spoils the surprise. Finally, its too-short runtime could've been expanded a bit to make room for more character development; this is especially true of Alex who, as much as I appreciate the unique relationship with de facto dad Ulysses, is instantly transformed into an ultra-badass after only a few lines of advice. (Alex's late father was the previous sheriff, of course, but this still feels like too much too soon.)

My last two complaints are unusual, and ones that I don't think I've ever used as criticisms for a film before. Normal simply does not feel like a small town in Minnesota, as almost no trace of a genuine atmosphere is attempted besides for one plot point involving ice fishing, a few half-hearted accents, one bad CGI moose, and the former sheriff's last name. The second is poor lighting, which makes several scenes appear drained of color, deep shadow, and highlights; this makes it tough to search the frame, which is often blanketed by filters to sloppily make up for these shortcomings. Keep in mind that some of these problems are slightly alleviated by Magnolia's Blu-ray which, unlike the separate 4K disc, has no problematic HDR presentation that exacerbates is less impressive visual choices.

Normal Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Magnolia's 1080p/SDR presentation for the native 4K Normal surprisingly advances on the separate 4K disc, at least proportionately, and this is due to an HDR layer that renders the overall image much darker and murkier than it needs to be. In contrast, the brightness levels here are much closer to, well, "normal" in that white levels are more apparent and certain fine details don't get lost in an overwhelming sea of soupy gray. While there are still a few oddities here and there due to this film's excessive color filtering, it strikes a more consistently pleasing balance overall and, on small to medium-sized displays, should look pretty good. Of course the tradeoff is a lower bit rate and less efficient encoding, which result in trace levels of black crush and macro blocking in Normal's darkest moments, but these are largely kept under control as the total amount of content on this single-layered disc is roughly two hours. All things considered, I might be slightly overrating this disc at a 4/5, but it's just nice to actually be able to see things more clearly.

Normal Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Aside from not being a dual-layered disc, my only issue with this Blu-ray is that it doesn't have the 4K-exclusive Dolby Atmos mix alongside its DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. Luckily, the latter effort holds up as a more than acceptable "substitute" that features great channel separation and a soundstage that opens up nicely during the film's much more chaotic second half. Dialogue is clean and sound effects -- from the mundane to the bombastic -- are crisp and punchy when needed, and the original score and soundtrack is nicely supported as well. Overall, it's a fine effort that inevitably comes in behind its Atmos counterpart... but if six channels are all you have, you'll be pleased as punch.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature only.

Normal Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork; there's no slipcover, but a few bonus features are included in the form of short cast and crew interviews. (As a sidenote, these all look to be heavily compressed with lots of banding, almost like something you'd see on YouTube a few years ago.)

• Making of Normal (13:41) - I almost stopped this immediately after producer Marc Provissiero calls Normal "the best fucking movie you'll see in a generation", but this nonetheless turns out to be a decently constructed piece about the film's inception and production with plenty of candid comments from the cast and crew.

• Ben Wheatley: Storytelling (2:18) - The director sits down for this bite-sized interview about storyboards.

• Bob Odenkirk: Normal and "Ulysses" (1:46) - This one's self explanatory, and again a bit too short..

• Derek Kolstad: The Characters (3:49) - The film's writer talks briefly about... well, you know.

• Henry Winkler: "Mayor Kibner" (2:00) - Likewise, I probably don't need to explain this.

• Marc Provissiero: The Team (2:00) - The long-time producer and collaborator with Bob Odenkirk returns for another bite-sized piece about the fruits of their labor and even talks potential sequels. Sorry, bro.

Normal Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ben Wheatley's Normal is another everyday-guy-turned-badass role for Bob Odenkirk, who does an admirable job of anchoring both extremes during a film that actually surprises at critical moments. Other areas don't work quite as well including its production design, folksy narration, and a handful of questionable supporting performances, and some of the telegraphed violence soon grows predictable. It's ultimately worth a watch and some viewers may appreciate things that I missed out and, though Magnolia's Blu-ray presentation isn't perfect (single-disc, no Atmos audio), it actually offers a proportionately better visual presentation than the 4K disc in their separate UHD combo pack.