OLYMPIA

Olympia opens with a quick story about the battle between immortal Titans and the Olympians over whether humans should remain as slaves to the powerful Titans. After defeating and imprisoning the Titans, the Olympians were slowly forgotten by the human race, and their kind mysteriously disappeared. The Titans, though defeated and forgotten, are not entirely gone, however, and they’re waiting for the day when a pair of siblings, one with the power to release the Titans and one with the power to keep them imprisoned, decide the fate of humanity.

The film then moves to Olympia, CA for the tale of farm girl and wannabe dancer Harley (Caslin Rose). She heads to the local Olympia University with her brother Josh (Stephen McCain) for an audition where she wows the dance instructor with her fluid moves which, while surprising to the other dancers at the audition, is no shock to Harley; see, she seems to have the power to manipulate the wind.

While at the university, she runs into an old friend, Dakota (Carolyn Stotesbery), and catches the eye of the resentful-about-being-a-spoiled-rich-kid Warren Ellingson (Skyler Maxon). Meanwhile, seemingly bad boy Reese (Chris Grant Wenchell) is moving around the different social dynamics, making deals and handing off different items, effectively manipulating the school into giving Harley a scholarship.

Simply, there’s a lot going on, and I’m leaving out more than half of it. The students of Olympia University, whether they know it or not, all appear to have something extra to their characters. While Harley is obviously aware of her ability to manipulate the wind, she doesn’t know to what end that talent is applicable. Only the enigmatic Reese seems entirely aware of what’s going on with everybody, and utilizes that knowledge to manipulate things behind the scenes. What his ultimate motivation, or goal, however, is not known.

Olympia is a mix of a little bit Sky High with a dash of Hancock mythos and some choose-your-favorite teen high school drama. It’s easily the type of content I could see on television, and the spin on the familiar tropes is just interesting enough to keep me engaged. The filmmakers showed with Fight Night Legacy that they know how to put together a pilot, and while this is a decidedly different style, their skills continue to translate to quality.

That said, the edit can get a little herky-jerky at times; in its attempt to cover a lot of characters and ground, we get glimpses of people and events that would no doubt pay off better down the road in the longer series. Within this particular edit, however, while it is understandable to try to set up as much as possible, it isn’t as smooth as it perhaps could be, had Olympia been slightly longer to accommodate OR had it disregarded certain short sequences altogether.

Overall, Olympia has that supernatural teen drama vibe that has been all the rage for years, and I’m certainly intrigued with where the plot is going. I don’t know if I would’ve found my way to it had it not been sent to us for review, as the simple synopsis is not in my wheelhouse, nor do I think I’m necessarily the core audience for a show like this, but I’m glad I got to check it out. Another quality pilot from P3 Productions.

This film was submitted for review through our Submission for Review system. If you have a film you’d like us to see, and we aren’t already looking into it on our own, you too can utilize this service.