Nobody is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Ilya Naishuller and written by Derek Kolstad. The film stars Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, and Christopher Lloyd, and follows a man who helps a young woman on the bus being harassed by a gang of thugs, only to become the target of a vengeful drug lord. Odenkirk and David Leitch are among the film's producers.
Nobody was theatrically released in the United States on March 26, 2021, by Universal Pictures. The film has grossed $56 million worldwide and has received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the action and Odenkirk's performance.
Plot[]
Hutch Mansell is a seemingly ordinary man; he has two children with his wife Becca and has an unremarkable job as an office worker in his father-in-law Eddie's metal fabrication company. The tedium of his life is slowly grinding on him.
One night, an armed man and woman break into his house, and his son, Blake, tackles one of them. Hutch is reluctant to intervene and allows the thieves to leave. The incident causes everyone to think he is a failure. Hutch contacts his half-brother Harry on a hidden radio in his office and explains that he held back because the burglars were desperate, scared, and using an unloaded gun.
Later that day, his daughter, Sammy, asks for help finding her missing kitty cat bracelet, wondering if the thieves took it. Without saying a word, he goes to see his elderly father David and borrows his old FBI badge and gun to track down the burglars. He finds their apartment and threatens them, but when he discovers their sick baby, he leaves, frustrated and guilt-ridden. The bus he takes home is suddenly stopped by a gang of thugs and Hutch takes out his frustration by savagely beating them under the pretense of protecting a young woman. At home, he realizes he hasn't been actively communicating with his family and is inspired by his renewed self-esteem to reconnect with them.
Harry then sends him to see a man referred to as "The Barber", who provides Hutch with information about one of his victims: he is the younger brother of Yulian Kuznetsov, a notorious Russian crime lord. In retribution, Yulian sends a crew led by his right-hand man Pavel to capture Hutch at home. However, Hutch hides his family and kills most of the attackers before Pavel tases him into unconsciousness and captures him. Finding a fire extinguisher in the trunk of a car he is locked in, Hutch uses it to crash the car, killing Pavel and his remaining crew. Then he sends his family away to safety before setting his house on fire to destroy any evidence.
It is then explained that Hutch is a former "auditor," an assassin employed by intelligence agencies to kill people (implied to be rogue agents of those agencies) who were considered untouchable. After letting one of his targets go free, Hutch found him a year later, reformed and happily living with his new family. Wanting a life akin to his, Hutch decided to retire against the wishes of his superiors and may have over-corrected his personality to fit his new life as a family man.
After buying Eddie's company with a stash of gold bars, Hutch burns the Obshak money Yulian was protecting for the mob, along with Yulian's art collection. Yulian angrily pursues Hutch to the factory with his men, where David and Harry show up to help eliminate the gangsters using a variety of weapons and deadly traps Hutch had set up. They kill all of the gunmen until only Yulian is left. Out of ammo, Hutch charges him with a Claymore mine attached to a pane of bulletproof glass and detonates it, killing Yulian. After ensuring that his father and brother escape, Hutch is arrested only to be quickly released with no charges filed.
Three months later, while buying a new house with Becca, Hutch receives a call suggesting that his services are still required. In a mid-credits scene, Harry and David are shown driving to an undisclosed location in an RV filled with guns.
Cast[]
- Bob Odenkirk as Hutch "Nobody" Mansell, a former government assassin for the CIA
- Connie Nielsen as Rebecca "Becca" Mansell, Hutch's successful wife
- Aleksei Serebryakov as Yulian Kuznetsov, a Russian Mob boss guarding Obshak, who is targeting Hutch and his family
- RZA as Harry Mansell, Hutch's half-brother
- Christopher Lloyd as David Mansell, Hutch's father and a retired FBI agent
- Gage Munroe as Blake Mansell, Hutch's teenage son
- Paisley Cadorath as Sammy Mansell, Hutch's daughter
- Michael Ironside as Eddie Williams, Hutch's father-in-law and boss
- Billy MacLellan as Charlie Williams, Eddie's son and Hutch's brother-in-law
- Colin Salmon as The Barber, Hutch's former government handler
- Araya Mengesha as Pavel, a Russian Mafia soldier employed by Yulian
- Aleksandr Pal as Teddy Kuznetsov, Yulian's younger brother
- J. P. Manoux as Darren, a corrupt Pentagon official
- Daniel Bernhardt as Bus Goon
Production[]
In January 2018, it was announced Bob Odenkirk had joined the cast of the film, with Ilya Naishuller directing from a screenplay by Derek Kolstad. Odenkirk also served as a producer on the film, alongside David Leitch. Kolstad serves as an executive producer, along with Marc S. Fischer, Annie Marter and Tobey Maguire. STX Entertainment was set to distribute the film. In April 2019, Universal Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film from STX. In October 2019, Connie Nielsen and Christopher Lloyd joined the cast of the film.
Principal photography began in Los Angeles in September 2019. Production resumed in Winnipeg, Canada, in October 2019. Filming lasted 34 days.
Release[]
Theatrical[]
Nobody was originally scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on August 14, 2020, by Universal Pictures. After being repeatedly rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was ultimately released in theaters on March 26, 2021
Home media[]
Main Article:Nobody/Home media
The film released digitally via premium video-on-demand on April 15, 2021. The digital release came out on June 8, 2021 and the DVD and Blu-Ray release came out on June 22, 2021.
Reception[]
Box office[]
As of July 8, 2021, Nobody has grossed $27.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $29.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $56.7 million, against a production budget of $16 million.
A week prior to its United States release, Variety estimated the film would gross around $5 million in its opening weekend, compared to debuting to around $15 million in a pre-COVID marketplace. The film made $2.5 million on its first day, and went on to debut to $6.7 million, topping the box office. 62% of the audience was male, with 56% being under the age of 35. The film fell 56% to $3 million in its second weekend, finishing third.
Critical response[]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 84% of 250 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Nobody doesn't break any new ground for the genre, but this viscerally violent thriller smashes, shatters, and destroys plenty of other things – all while proving Bob Odenkirk has what it takes to be an action star." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100 based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 83% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 69% saying they would definitely recommend it.
The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore praised the film's "enjoyably absurd violence" and wrote: "Taking itself much less seriously than the Taken series and its predecessors, it's a wish-fulfillment romp just as ludicrous as any of them but more fun than most." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing: "Most impressive of all is Odenkirk, who looks and sounds nothing like an action star until it's time for Hutch to become an action star, and we totally believe this physically unimpressive, normally mild-mannered guy as a simmering cauldron of rage who could take that teapot over there and kill ya with it."
Future[]
In March 2021, Derek Kolstad stated that there is potential for a crossover between the John Wick franchise and Nobody despite being made by Lionsgate and Universal, respectively. Both were created by Kolstad and produced by Leitch who is married to Nobody co-producer Kelly McCormick. It would be done in a small and subtle, Easter egg-reference manner, not as a franchise or cinematic universe. Later that month, director Ilya Naishuller commented on the potential crossover, noting that different studios made the respective films, "That’s all I’ll say. I mean, everything’s possible. Stranger things have definitely happened, but… yeah.” In June 2021, it was revealed that Kolstad was in the process of writing the sequel, although it had yet to be green lit by the studio.
In December 2022, McCormick announced that a sequel was officially happening, with principal photography scheduled for 2023.