With his new film The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan has once again proven himself one of very few still-active film directors whose name alone is a box office attraction. As with his clinically dialogue-driven historical piece Oppenheimer, a three-hour adaptation of an ancient Greek poem few moviegoers have read feels like a very hard sell in 2026. But in the hands of Mr. Nolan it becomes a wildly successful cinematic sensation about the power of storytelling and the resiliency of the human spirit.
Starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, and a slew of other recognizable names, The Odyssey chronicles the homeward journey of King Odysseus of Ithaca (Damon, in an unconventional but quite effective lead performance), after a twenty-year absence that included the Trojan War (the subject of Homer's other famous poem The Iliad). Queen Penelope (a superbly expressive Hathaway) has spent two decades raising their son Telemachus (Holland) while also fending off dozens of male suitors looking to assume the throne, among them the slimy, treacherous Antinous (Pattinson is extremely punchable in this role). The suitors mooch off the queen's generosity and bully Telemachus, hoping to lure him into a fight so they can be rid of him. Meanwhile Telemachus hopes to confirm whether or not his father is still alive, and assume the throne himself if Odysseus is indeed dead.
Parallel to this thread we learn of Odysseus's actual whereabouts - he's been kept on a remote island by the infatuated nymph Calypso - and through episodic flashbacks we witness his exploits after his and Agamemnon's forces overtook Troy. Odysseus's adventures include an encounter with a fifty-foot cyclops, an army of giants, a witch who turns his men into pigs, a visit to Hades to consult a blind prophet, a pair of sea monsters, and the wrath of multiple unseen Greek gods. But his journey ultimately leads him home where he must make things right.
One of the most compelling aspects of this film is how realistically Nolan depicts the story's fantastical elements, almost entirely without CG. Instead of cartoonish effects, he sticks to a grounded, practical presentation wherever possible, so we're never taken out of the story. The famous cyclops Polyphemus looks like a giant, deformed man with a sideways single eye, and depicted not so much as fearsome but as a little bit pitiful, brought to life via a spectacular animatronic and a vocal performance by Bill Irwin. The witch Circe (an always engaging Samantha Morton) feeds the starving men a revolting-looking meal and then actually molds them into swine, achieved through prosthetics and puppetry. The army of giants is seamlessly blended with the normal-sized men using forced perspective. The ship on which Odysseus and his men travel is a real, full-sized vessel on real ocean waters. This is classic filmmaking by a master, whose on-set mantra was "If it were easy everyone would do it."
Of course the performances are also key to making everything work, and Nolan's assembled a who's-who of accomplished actors to bring these ancient figures to life. Damon's grounded presentation as a flawed, deeply regretful hero helps sell his otherworldly adventures, Hathaway's Penelope is barely keeping up a brave face for her son while tortured over her husband's long absence, Pattinson's Antinous is conniving and cowardly in the Shakespearean tradition of characters like Othello's Iago, and Holland's Telemachus is brave but unsure of himself. Other standouts include John Leguizamo as Odysseus's faithful swineherd Eumaeus, Jon Bernthal as Agamemnon's brother Menelaus, and Elliot Page as a soldier named Sinon, whose sacrifice during the Trojan War haunts Odysseus throughout his journey.
Which brings me to the "controversy" surrounding a few of the unconventional casting choices. Online morons started a baseless rumor that Page had been cast as Achilles and then proceeded to whine about going from Brad Pitt in the 2004 film Troy, to the diminutive Page in this film. Nothing like making stuff up and then getting upset about it. But the more prevalent nonsense is about Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen of Troy, which has become a sticking point for online racists everywhere. "sHe WaS oNlY cAsT bEcAuSe ShE's BlAcK, tHaT's RaCiSt!!" Uhh no, she was cast because she's a great (Oscar-winning) actor (and stunningly beautiful). Had she been disqualified from the role because she's black, THAT would've precisely been racist, asshats. Fortunately these complaints have only been from a tiny internet contingent, and despite their loud temper tantrums this film opened to a massive $260+ million worldwide. These inept, basement-dwelling losers couldn't derail Barbie and they won't derail The Odyssey either.
So yeah, The Odyssey is a pretty fantastic spectacle with relatable human themes, brought to life as only Christopher Nolan can, with an emphasis on the potency of sharing stories and their ability to connect us as a species. Odysseus and Penelope lament that humanity seems to have lost its way but have faith that a great new civilization will rise again. In these psychotic times, one can hope.....
I give The Odyssey **** out of ****.
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