Looking at an epic poem being adapted for the big screen by this generation’s most celebrated director for a modern audience really does feel like a terrific example of old meeting new. The Odyssey is certainly an ambitious play for anyone looking to take on Homer’s ancient Greek epic. With that in mind, here we have a filmmaker who can pretty much team up with anyone he wants and deliver something that feels wholly his own, yet still capture what it must have felt like to see these epic studio films from the 1950s. While not afraid to make sensible modern choices regarding casting and how to incorporate specific themes into this adaptation, let alone the handling of major visual effects, there’s no point where The Odyssey is not also looking to function as a crowd-pleasing blockbuster. Thrilling, dramatic, romantic, gorgeous, immersive, and so on, director Christopher Nolan continues to deliver evocative films that earn plenty of superlatives without feeling hyperbolic. But to make it simple – The Odyssey is a real trip.
Set after the events of the Trojan War, some of which were detailed in Homer’s The Iliad, the story chronicles the long trip it took for Odysseus (Matt Damon), Greek king of Ithaca, to return home to his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and son, Telemachus (Tom Holland). During this treacherous voyage, he will encounter mythical beings such as nymphs, witches, and deadly monsters that all prolong his journey home. At the same time, we also see the queen and her son deal with the state of Ithaca without its king, meaning they must contend with the many suitors who want to take Penelope as their wife and rule the island, most notably Antinous (Robert Pattinson), who knew Odysseus as a boy.
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What becomes clear right away is how focused this film is on storytelling. The movie literally opens with rapper Travis Scott playing a bard who retells the story of Odysseus’s role in winning the Trojan War. From there, Telemachus largely serves as our point-of-view character, and some of the film focuses on him hearing stories of his father’s adventures from others. Even Odysseus’s direct travels, known only to him, are told largely through flashbacks, as he relays not only the events that occurred but also the challenges he faced regarding his own humanity, his introspection on the war he fought in, and other significant matters.
This area of historical fantasy through ancient Greece, often referred to as “Classics,” has clearly been a popular subject for adaptation over many decades, but The Odyssey really does feel like a true portrait of mythmaking brought to cinematic life. No, that doesn’t mean this story can replace the actual text and what to get out of it (despite still being oddly relevant), but rather than have a straightforward, linear take on this story, Nolan has devised an adaptation that takes advantage of having an a variety of characters, different ideas to invest in, and knowing how to use unconventional narrative choices in a manner that maintains excitement for an audience.
It’s also a great way to highlight the ensemble cast as we watch simultaneous journeys unfold, requiring an assortment of interactions. Not hurting is just how well this film is cast. Jon Bernthal is quite good as Menelaus, the once-beleaguered king of Sparta, who has now settled back down in his kingdom with his wife, Helen (Lupita Nyong’o). Doing plenty with her limited screen time, Nyong’o also portrays Helen’s sister, Clytemnestra, the wife of King Agamemnon (Bennie Safdie), who is far less inclined to hold back her true feelings about her husband.
John Leguizamo delivers stellar work as Eumeaus, a blind yet faithful servant of Odysseus and his son. Having long been a fan of Leguizamo, what may seem like a traditional sort of mentor-like figure is made better by the veteran actor’s clear abilities and the way he fits with those around him. Samantha Morton gets a meaty role as Circe, the witch with dastardly plans in mind for Odysseus’ shipmates. She is afforded far more humanity when it comes time for her to explain herself. Charlize Theron’s Calypso is tasked with tricking Odysseus into staying away from home longer than anticipated, allowing the two actors to converse in intriguing ways about their relationship with humanity, whereas Zendaya’s Athena offers protection but in a manner less obvious than what more extravagent godlike power may look like.
Not to be outdone, all of the leads deliver as well. Damon is never afraid to let bigger performances around him earn their share of accolades while also being so natural in his own work that he makes it look easy. Here, in a leading role, he gets to do some of his greatest work by inhabiting this wanderer who balances rash and tough decisions that affect both himself and his men. Hathaway is as good as she ever is, letting her confidence do just enough to hide her vulnerability as a woman reckoning with a significant loss that she cannot explain.
Holland has to carry a lot more of this film on his back than expected. It’s enough to remember that his exceptional work as a teenager in 2012’s The Impossible was what first brought him widespread attention. He’s doing well, capitalizing on that talent in a major motion picture not rooted in an ongoing franchise. And finally, there’s Pattinson, continuing to excel in Nolan’s work by playing a sleazy villain with depths one can understand. Still, he’s the kind of character you love to hate, but also a reflection of many of the inexplicable leaders currently running society.
Looking at what Nolan’s interested in thematically by making The Odyssey¸ it’s not too hard to see what he’s after (and that’s without coming anywhere near the nonsense culture wars this movie has been pushed into by some). There’s, of course, the notion of homecoming and family, as we deal with a middle-aged man trying to return to his loved ones and the obstacles that hold him back. With that in mind, the story wisely doesn’t paint Odysseus as being flawless. Given his abilities as a strategist, he isn’t necessarily arrogant, but being something of a natural trickster doesn’t always allow him to see all the potential consequences of his actions.
At the same time, many of the film’s characters evoke “Zeus’s Law,” and the story consistently shows what happens when it comes to hospitality and reciprocity. The actions taken by some against those deemed stranger varies in staggering ways, and we are constantly getting a look at what that leads to. It’s punishment, more often than not, given how cruel the men of the world can be. However, all that cruelty is not always seen without guilt. It’s an area I wish the movie lingered on more, given the richness of just some of these sequences featuring notable characters.
Similarly, while the adaptation of the story is quite strong in accounting for what’s found in Homer’s poem and in using only so much material from other sources, such as Virgil, to fill in some gaps, there are some cumbersome areas in the dialogue. As much as I can appreciate getting past the silly, unwritten rule that epics need to be performed with highfalutin British accents, it doesn’t make the film feel any less redundant at times when characters restate their purpose or objective. It’s as if the film is attending to audience members more accustomed to streaming, purposely overexplaining itself to those only half-paying attention at home. Given how straightforward the story is, at just over 160 minutes, it’s these sorts of areas that could make an admittedly incredibly well-paced film feel even tighter.
Honestly, even if I had more gripes to dig into, they are all outweighed by having a studio in this day and age let a filmmaker operate at this level, having done more than enough to earn it, knowing that the benefits are getting to see the kind of high-quality spectacle one hopes to get from a top-tier blockbuster. With that in mind, getting into the spectacle itself, there’s very little I could say here that should be surprising at this point. The Odyssey comes from an Oscar-winning director who has shown nearly as much ambition as James Cameron (let alone adventurous filmmakers from the golden age of cinema) when it comes to developing new techniques, cameras, and other ideas to best capture their vision on the biggest screens possible.
Thanks once again to cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and everyone involved in production design, location scouting, and more, this is an enormous-looking film that benefits from the way it fully realizes this world and delivers spectacle with in-camera special effects, blended perfectly with all the CG. On top of that, Jennifer Lame’s editing does a fine job of matching Nolan’s choices for tackling such an involving and lengthy narrative. There’s a flow here that matches the non-linear storytelling, along with the effort required to keep an audience engaged across multiple journeys, experiencing a variety of emotions thanks to the way this IMAX 70 mm footage is cut together.
As noted, this is a fantasy film with monsters and other wild ideas on its mind, yet true to Nolan’s tone, it offers a fairly grounded take on how these things would work. It means having events that, from some perspectives, could be seen as unimaginable occurrences still rooted in natural weather patterns. However, we also get a 60-foot cyclops, achieved with practical effects, or a nightmarish transformation sequence, handled practically with some trick photography and the proper use of digital manipulation. Still, there’s a tactile feel to all of it (including the real boats built for the movie along with the huge Trojan horse dragged into the city of Troy), which speaks to what can be accomplished with proper use of tools.
The initial announcement that Christopher Nolan would be following up one of his peak successes, Oppenheimer, with an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey felt like one of the greatest flexes one could ever make. You have a director at the top of his game being given a huge blank check by a studio that has every reason to allow this venture and the knowledge that, at the very least, something interesting will come of it. Now having seen the results, a spectacular new take on an old story that I happen to love, I’m thrilled to not only have felt enthralled by this whole enterprise, but supremely excited to know it will keep delivering more of its nuances were I to revisit it as well. Unlike Odysseus, who does not need to keep his voyage going any longer than it needs to, I’m happy to continue on with a filmmaker so willing to find unique ways to explore, and The Odyssey, for all that has made it what it is, continues showing the benefit of being on this journey with Nolan.
The Odyssey opens in theaters and IMAX on July 17, 2026.
