The Odyssey Review: Christopher Nolan Crafts a Colossal Epic

Not even the critical darling and fan-favorite Christopher Nolan is immune to the wrath of a faceless army chanting faux outrage through the grease-soaked tips of their fingers. Before The Odyssey even hit theaters, it fell victim to a vocal minority who declared it “woke” and historically inaccurate. Never mind the fact that giants and cyclopses have no place in real-world history. But no matter how loud the trolls shout, they’re unlikely to drown out the deafening sounds of gasping awe and rousing applause the film is sure to receive. That was certainly the reception it received in my screening. Seeing the Greek epic brought to life on such a massive scale and on a giant screen was the definitive way to experience it.

What is The Odyssey about?

Following the Trojan War, Odysseus (Matt Damon, The Martian), King of Ithaca, embarks on a perilous journey home. It’s a journey wrought with death and despair as the king and his men face off against witches and giants and battle the elements brought on by angered and vengeful gods. Meanwhile, his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises), and son, Telemachus (Tom Holland, Spider-Man: No Way Home), struggle to maintain order in their kingdom, uncertain of Odysseus’ fate and questioning whether he’ll ever make it home.

The Odyssey review

Few works of literature carry the weight and gravitas of Homer’s Greek epic poem, The Odyssey. It’s a story that demands a larger-than-life filmmaker and an incredible ensemble cast to pull off. As the cast list was assembled and announced, the running joke became that whether you were in the film or not was a judgment on the level of your celebrity. Seemingly every A-list actor and actress played a role. Ironically, the cast list is also what spurred much of the online vitriol. The only response that ultimately matters is the quality of the film and its performances. Nolan has seen it before. When he cast Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight, there was outrage, and now that Oscar-winning performance is considered the definitive portrayal of a comic book villain.

Elliot Page portrays Sinon, Odysseus’ cousin and a soldier of the Trojan War. It’s a minor character of major importance to the story. Page only has around five to ten minutes of screen time. In a film that runs nearly three hours, it’s not much, but within those fleeting minutes, Page delivers a heart-wrenching performance. He delivers his dialogue with a broken sadness that conveys the emotional core of the film in a scene that is pivotal to Odysseus’ character arc.

It’s remarkable how many career-best performances the movie offers. Matt Damon leads the charge in the central role, delivering a performance that balances Odysseus’ physical resilience with the emotional exhaustion of a man who’s spent a decade fighting to get home. Anne Hathaway elevates Penelope far beyond the passive role that wives and mothers often occupy in historical epics, bringing a desperation and intensity to the character that we’ve not seen from her. The cast list is too massive to dissect piece by piece, but there isn’t a weak link in the chain. Each performer devotes themselves to the material, and Nolan has an uncanny ability to bring the best out of his actors.

Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography brings the fantasy adventure to life with stunning beauty. Hoytema first collaborated with Nolan on 2014’s Interstellar. Since then, Hoytema has been essential to Nolan’s visual style, helping to define the filmmaker’s distinct vision and flair for making seemingly impossible scenes not only feel grounded and real but also gorgeously executed. Much of the film’s story takes place on large boats in the open sea, battling storms and crashing waves. These moments on the water are especially breathtaking to see. The boats look and feel authentic in the way they handle in the water and struggle through the violence of nature.

It’s fitting that Nolan would take on a story like The Odyssey. Homer’s poem is overflowing with the same themes that Nolan loves to explore, especially the passage of time. The story unfolds over ten long years, with flashbacks taking us back even further. It’s through these flashbacks that we see Nolan’s traditional non-linear storytelling unfold. That non-linear timeline has sometimes divided audiences, but the method is executed perfectly here. It’s not overused and is utilized in a manner that enhances the impact by emphasizing the overwhelming duration of the journey itself.

Is The Odyssey worth watching?

The Odyssey is a must-watch cinematic experience that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Rarely does a movie like The Odyssey come along. The sheer spectacle and scale are impressive, but Nolan’s masterful execution of the material takes it to another level. Admittedly, the film loses some steam in its final third, dragging several story beats out longer than necessary. Trimming those moments in particular by fifteen minutes would have vastly improved the pacing on the backend. Still, that’s a minor criticism of an otherwise astonishing achievement. Is it too bold to say that The Odyssey is the most epic movie ever made? Maybe, but it certainly feels that way in the moment.

The Odyssey releases in theaters on July 17, 2026.

The Odyssey Review: Christopher Nolan Crafts a Colossal Epic