The Odyssey

Even for an established blockbuster director like Christopher Nolan, an Oscar sweep (Oppenheimer) creates immense anticipation for whatever comes next, setting a dauntingly high bar. The level of online discourse surrounding The Odyssey ahead of its release is almost unmatched by any other 2026 film.

In a notably ambitious marketing move, social film platform Letterboxd implemented a digital punch card that allows users to track the six formats in which the film is being screened, encouraging them to collect them all, ie watch The Odyssey in cinemas six times. By asking audiences to demonstrate their commitment to the film, the entire conversation risks shifting the basis of repeat attendance from genuine enjoyment to brand loyalty and acquiring a badge of participation. Fans are eager to invest a three-figure sum in multiple cinema tickets, before they’ve even had the chance to determine whether they even like the movie.

Then there is another camp that imposes rather bizarre expectations of historical realism onto a Hollywood adaptation of Greek mythology that features Cyclops, sirens and sea creatures. Rather than questioning the use of English as the film’s spoken language or the remarkably white teeth of the castaway soldiers, the detractors’ primary concern unfathomably lies with the diversity of the cast’s skin tones.

Two points are worth noting. Homer’s The Odyssey is essentially a collection of millennia-old legends (fairy tales!), and Nolan’s adaptation is, of course, a Hollywood production. After all, Mr All-American, Matt Damon, is playing Odysseus, the king of Ithaca (his casting was not subjected to the same scrutiny as Lupita Nyong’o’s, despite his own apparent distance from the conventional image of a Greek warrior). Rather than disrupting immersion, Damon’s body of past performances – be it Private Ryan, who is the subject of Steven Spielberg’s rescue mission, or Jason Bourne, who awakes with no memory of his life as a secret agent – work in favour of selling him as the primordial tragic hero.

The feature opens in Ithaca years after those who survived the Trojan War have returned home, and people’s hopes of Odysseus coming back begin to fade. The royal halls are overrun with suitors, who pressure Penelope (Anne Hathaway) to remarry as her husband’s absence threatens the stability of the throne. Their son Telemachus (Tom Holland), now of age, ventures out on his own journey to seek answers about his father’s fate.

A slight departure from Nolan’s usual readiness to throw viewers directly into the action, the feature opens with a more dialogue-driven scene setting. While it may surprise those eager for the director’s signature grand visuals, the approach feels entirely appropriate for an adaptation of lore that has been passed down across centuries and survived primarily through the power of words. As Telemachus encounters witnesses who recount his father’s heroic deeds, the adventures that defined Odysseus’s journey start to play out in vivid sequences. The Odyssey earns its images rather than overwhelming viewers with spectacle, and the audiovisual grandeur expected from a filmmaker of such craftsmanship emerges organically.

Although certain segments embrace the aesthetics and atmospheric buildup of horror, the film’s most unexpected force lies in an emotional blow that challenges its hero narrative, much like the moral reckoning at the heart of Oppenheimer. It may be a tale as old as time, and yet it is strikingly relevant in today’s world, where mistrust of strangers seems greater than ever.

The cast list alone has long revealed the movie to be brimming with talent. Only a production of such calibre could relegate actors like Shiloh Fernandez (2013’s Evil Dead, White Bird in a Blizzard) or Josh Stewart (Criminal Minds, Dirt) to the status of extras. Amid the stellar central performances of Damon, Hathaway, Holland and Robert Pattinson, it is the sheer efficiency with which the supporting actors make their mark in the brief minutes they appear on screen that stands out. John Leguizamo delivers a fantastically understated performance as Odysseus’s most loyal servant, and Elliot Page pours so much heart into his role that it’s impossible not to be moved. Contrary to the common criticism of Nolan’s female characters, Samantha Morton and Zendaya lend compelling emotional weight to the story of men at war, leaving a lasting impression.

In The Odyssey, Nolan operates with exceptional modesty and restraint, as he does not pursue spectacle for its own sake. His approach demonstrates great respect for Homer and for the power of storytelling, while implementing his particular vision of events with devastating emotional impact. The culmination of Nolan’s career-long deconstruction of traditional heroism is a cinematic odyssey in every sense of the word, a journey no cinephile should miss.

Selina Sondermann

The Odyssey is released nationwide on 17^th July 2026.

Watch the trailer for The Odyssey here: