Dir. Grazia Tricarico (2024)
A female bodybuilder begins to find her ideal self becoming a separate entity from the body she currently inhabits.
Maintaining control over one's body is the eternal struggle of the modern age. With a McDonald's on every corner and a seeming inability to make healthy foods as inexpensive as unhealthy foods, maintaining a healthy weight and, God forbid, losing it is a practice that has led to a multi-billion dollar industry of weight loss books and diet plans. Ultimately, though, it comes down to control: in order to become what you desire to become, you must wrestle control of your body's desires and fight like hell to keep it. Director Grazia Tricarico's new film Body Odyssey displays this struggle to its extreme, a mind-over-matter exploration of the pursuit of perfection and the potential to lose that control at any moment.
Mona (Jacqueline Fuchs) is a bodybuilder who is preparing for a world championship competition. She works with her trainer Kurt (Julian Sands) to monitor every part of her life, from her exercise routine to her sex life. As Mona works to avoid the temptations of food, sex, and anything else that would prevent her from becoming the "best" version of herself, the urges threaten to overpower her sense of control. As the stress ratchets up to unbearable levels, Mona's body rebels and splits into its own, primal being outside of her control.
There are some truly breathtaking shots in this film from cinematographer Corrado Serri, and while every piece of the film is delivered with technical proficiency, his work stands out. Fuchs is great in the film in an incredibly complicated performance, exhibiting both inner monologue and outer struggle in a way that is surprisingly compelling. The complexity of the character works well for the story, and her ability to debate with herself greatly contributes to the film's success. The late Julian Sands is also excellent, a long-time character actor who gives audiences one last great performance.
Body Odyssey is a conversation about control and the unhealthy obsession with maintaining it even to your own detriment. Eventually, that which we seek to control controls us. The irony of having to continually put yourself into unhealthy situations in order to maintain "the perfect health" is explored to completion, as Mona is forced to take increasingly dangerous substances to further increase her muscle mass. It's more than just the muscles themselves, more than just the increasingly restrictive diet regimen. Mona has a continuous conversation with the part inside of her that wants to becoming bigger and better threatening to wrest the very control she has owned from its owner.
There's also quite a bit of commentary here about traditional beauty standards and the inability of others to look past the depth of our skin. Mona, and I'm sure Fuchs herself, must sit and listen calmly as others make jokes about how she looks, dismissing those jabs because she is in pursuit of her own standard. The dissonance between the two is part of what drives her temptations, even though she will never allow herself to acknowledge it. This is to say nothing about Mona's pursuit of excellence as a woman in a male-dominated tradition, a struggle in and of itself that half of the audience will not have experienced for themselves. Those that have, however, will immediately identify with Mona's secondary battle, as she seeks to be her own perfect version of herself while those who don't understand stare in horror and ridicule.
All that aside, the film does have its own difficulties. It's a bit heavy-handed, with a lot of its allegorical scenes becoming a bit too out-there for some of its audience. Traditional beauty standards or not, the segments of the film that focus on the workout routines, food schedules, and denial of human necessities can be hard to watch for those not already within this realm (which is most of the audience, I'm sure). It is, though, an interesting exploration of some pretty deep themes with some elements of psychological and body horror that are done pretty well. It's also committedly indie, never a crime in our book. For that alone, it's worth exploring for yourself.
Who this movie is for: Psychological horror fans, Body horror aficionados, Junk food lovers
Bottom line: Body Odyssey is an exploration of control and dedication while plumbing the depths of where both can eventually lead. Fuchs is great in her role, and the cinematography is nothing short of excellent. It's a bit slow, however, and at times a little longer on theme than it is on interest. It's a well made film with some great performances, and it's wholly dedicated to the message.
