The Odyssey Review: An Epic In Every Way

When Oppenheimer released, few could anticipate how well the movie would be received commercially and critically. Universal took a gamble on the project and paid off in spades. Naturally, when you have a success of that nature, there’s a desire to repeat it. The biggest problem is that the story of Oppenheimer reached its natural endpoint. To run it back, Christopher Nolan decided he needed to go bigger. He needed to do The Odyssey. 

At first glance, The Odyssey doesn’t exactly come off as a continuation of the themes discussed in Oppenheimer. It’s based on an epic poem that was written by Homer, sometime in 8th century BC, and follows Odysseus – the king of Ithaca – and his disastrous journey home after the Trojan War. It’s one of the oldest pieces of literature and spans some 24 books. That’s an awful lot of story to condense into a 3-hour movie. In the case of The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan the director might’ve been outdone by Christopher Nolan the scriptwriter. Nolan adapts Homer’s epic poem and molds it into a story that perfectly fits the themes he’s been chasing throughout his filmography. There’s elements of Dunkirk, Interstellar, and yes even Oppenheimer. It’s a sequel to all of those movies, and then some.

The Odyssey sits among Nolan’s very best work and reminds all of us that no one is making movies like he does. 

In Ithaca, twenty years have passed since the king Odysseus (Matt Damon) sat on his throne. Due to their fervent belief in the gods and their duty to honor Zeus’s Law, Odysseus' wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and her son Telemachus (Tom Holland), entertain countless suitors interested in taking the Queen’s hand in marriage. Chief among the suitors is Antinous (Robert Pattinson) who is tired of playing games and has accelerated his plans to become the next king. There are few who believe that Odysseus still lives, but the desire for some kind of closure keeps Ithaca and its Queen frozen in time. 

Meanwhile, Odysseus still lives but his life with Calypso (Charlize Theron) is missing something. He starts recounting the events that led to this moment including his plan to sneak into the city of Troy, and the disastrous journey home that took the lives of many. The movie covers all the monsters and supernatural beings that were described in Homer’s text from Polyphemus the Cyclops, to Circe the Sorceress, and even Scylla, a six-headed tentacle-monster that lives in a cave. Each of these monsters is scarier than the last.

Ahead of its release, there was a lot of superfluous chatter about the casting choices of The Odyssey. Two prominent discussions focused around actors Lupita Nyong’o and Elliot Page and their roles in Nolan’s epic. Both performers did great work in supporting roles and it's great to have such a diverse cast in this epic. There’s plenty of opportunity for the aforementioned actors to put up great work, but frankly I was more impressed by three supporting performances. John Leguizamo is terrific as Eumaeus, Odysseus’s servant and mentor of sorts to Telemachus, while Himesh Patel carries the emotional weight of all of Odysseus’ crew as Eurylochus. Patel becomes the face the audience looks for among the men and he must carry that weight throughout the movie. Making the most of her brief time on camera Samantha Morton is chilling as the witch Circe. Her time in The Odyssey delivers some disturbing body horror to say the least. 

I had the opportunity to see The Odyssey in IMAX 70MM in one of the few theaters capable of projecting it in that format. That IMAX 70MM format is the sweet spot Nolan has been pursuing with all of his films. It’s amazing to see how much advancement has been made since shooting small sections of The Dark Knight in the format, to shooting The Odyssey in its entirety. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema has been Nolan’s trusted collaborator since 2014’s Interstellar and his work is vital to Nolan’s mission. Van Hoytema knows how to work with these large format cameras and undoubtedly Nolan’s pictures have a distinct look to them. I find myself appreciating the large format when the camera is showing the sheer scope of the world the filmmakers have created, but those feelings are at odds with how I feel about the more traditional close-ups. Those have also felt odd, even going back to Dunkirk, and I found an article that explains why that is. I suppose the tradeoff of shooting in a large format (perfect for an epic of this nature), means that other parts of the movie look strange. There are plenty of moments to applaud with Van Hoytema’s approach to The Odyssey epically when Odysseus and his men are trapped in the cave of the Cyclops. I’m not sure what kind of trickery was used to get that quality of shot in such low light, but it's incredible nevertheless. 

Similar to Steven Spielberg and his collaborations with composer John Williams, Nolan has frequently enlisted the services of composer Ludwig Goransson since 2020’s Tenet. I’ve been eagerly anticipating Goransson’s score for The Odyssey and I wasn’t disappointed. Nolan and Goransson utilized instruments that would’ve been available during the time period the The Odyssey takes place in. It’s oftentimes haunting, invoking the feeling of Greek musician Vangelis memorable score for Blade Runner.  

Matt Damon said recently, “Movies like this are not getting made anymore. To do this without a green screen, the way that David Lean would have done it, I don’t know anybody, with the exception of Chris [Nolan], that’s even trying to do that.” While Nolan would go on to reject the notion that movies of this size and scope are near extinction, it still feels momentous that something like The Odyssey was accomplished. Everything about the production is exemplary from the costume design, to the sets, and the human element. Much has been made about A.I. and its advancements, but no matter how much CGI was used in the end product of The Odyssey it still feels like something that was made by human hands. 

Despite explaining how much I admire and appreciate everything that went into making The Odyssey great, it doesn’t reach the same heights as Oppenheimer. Odysseus and Oppenheimer both end up as men who’ve faced great punishment for their war crimes, a connection Nolan makes apparent by visiting Troy multiple times in his adaptation. Maybe it's the difficulty of adapting such a large story into one film, but these revelations Nolan is trying to push through don’t work as well the second time. Not to mention there’s so many times during this three hour journey where Odysseus and his team are running back to their boat in haste like they belong in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

Solely as a marvel of filmmaking, The Odyssey stands tall as a worthy adaptation of the epic poems it was based on. It’s exceptional from the cinematography, soundtrack, and casting all the way down to costume designing and makeup effects. Nolan has certainly made a movie that demands to be seen in the theaters. Even if it doesn’t reach the same heights as his Oscar winning masterpiece, there’s very little here to quibble over. The Odyssey is incredible filmmaking of the likes we may never see again. It’s a true epic in 2026, who thought that was possible? [A-]

The Odyssey is now playing in theaters everywhere.