Director Christopher Nolan brings his grand-level filmmaking to the most classic of stories with The Odyssey (2026). Set in the era of gods and war, the film mostly stays true to the ancient tale. Matt Damon dons a beard and armor to portray Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca and strategist on the battlefield. Although succeeding in the Trojan War, getting home proves to be his biggest challenge. His long sea voyage will endanger his men. They will encounter the hungry Cyclops that devours them in the darkness of his cave. They’ll be mutated by the transforming spells of the deceptive witch Circe. It’s a dismal trek that tempts the most dangerous of mythical figures.
At the same time, Odysseus’s son Telemachus, played by Tom Holland, is trying to maintain order in Ithaca. It’s not going well. His mother, Penelope, portrayed by Anne Hathaway, is losing hope after so many years without her husband. Her despair has led her to consider accepting a marriage to the violent Antinous, played with ambition and a sneer by Robert Pattinson. As Telemachus seeks information on the father he barely knew, he ends up learning more about how complicated he was. The power of myth and politics swirl in this towering adventure, leading to some intense battles and showdowns.
Christopher Nolan approached this story in the same way he did Oppenheimer. Rather than tell it straightforwardly, Nolan favors a non-linear tale told from various perspectives. This darting between key events works well for his style of storytelling. It’d be so easy to stage these grand battles and fantasy creatures without much consideration for the characters being brutalized. Thankfully, the time-jumping allows for a more contemplative film.
There’s plenty of time to spend with Odysseus to understand his plight and his faults. The humility and regret become more apparent on the character’s weary face, worn from battle and the loss of too many soldiers. His expression becomes far more meaningful when considering how far he has come. He doesn’t just deliver dry declarations of grief, but displays them internally and externally. His visions of men dying within the Trojan Horse and slaughtering the city of Troy weigh heavily on his soul. Vividly showcasing that regret makes him that much more engrossing. It also paints a more remarkable picture of Telemachus as he learns of his father’s legacy.
Another benefit of Nolan’s non-linear style is its brisk pacing. At nearly three hours, rarely is there a wasted moment. There’s a consistent tone that helps provide a more complete picture of the film’s most exciting moments. That thoughtful nature makes it easier to indulge in Nolan’s expected level of high-quality production. Scenes of Greek soldiers being obliterated by giants and navigating rough waters are all brilliantly staged and incredibly intense. Fitting the epic framing is Nolan’s penchant for IMAX cinematography. The vastness of the endless ocean and intimidating islands has incredible scale.
The film is comparable to other epics beyond the presentation vistas occupied by dozens of soldiers. Christopher Nolan also writes the screenplay in a similar fashion, weaving the story of a man changed by his adventure. Consider Lawrence of Arabia, where T.E. Lawrence defies the dismissive nature of the British and Arabs to write his own destiny. While he defies their orders to assert his independence, he also bitterly hits the limits of what he can change. Odysseus experiences much of the same as he goes against nearly unstoppable forces while coming to terms with who he cannot save. While this aspect is baked into the original story, Nolan doesn’t hold back in evoking these powerful emotions of humility.
Matt Damon perfectly encapsulates this draining journey with an aged face that struggles to accept what he has lost. His war with humans and creatures never loses sight of how it deeply changes his perspective on the world. Even the most understanding goddess, Athena, portrayed in the film by Zendaya, does little more than watch from a distance and recognize the limits of man. There is more pity than ambivalence in her eyes as she tries to understand why Odysseus continues his quest after losing so much.
In addition to serving well as an epic, the darkness carries the film into the realm of horror. The scenes of the Cyclops in the darkness of a cave were genuinely horrifying, with well-composed visual effects. The design of the monster doesn’t try too hard to make him look grotesque, relying more on his scale and eerily human appearance. Circe, played with protective scorn by Samantha Morton, has a fascinating way of transforming men into pigs. Her spell involves a level of body horror that was shocking for such a picture, yet fitting for the tone. With an R rating, Nolan isn’t afraid to plunge this IMAX epic into the depths of darkness that makes it resonate all the more. That said, he also favors a rather explosive conclusion.
The Odyssey might be an old story, but Nolan breathes some new life into this foundational piece of literature. There’s a certain bravery it takes to adapt this story and make it your own. In the same way that Martin Scorsese directed The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Nolan’s movie aims less towards accuracy and more towards the importance of the story itself.
This is a massive cast with many actors, including Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, and John Leguizamo. Nolan directs these actors in a manner that makes their performances come off as more natural than stiff. They’re not crowded out by the visual effects or feel like props amid the astounding production design.
In the same way many storytellers and filmmakers have drawn from Homer’s story, Nolan also makes this movie more of his own expression of a hero’s journey. It’s as much a thoughtful exploration of man’s challenge against gods and himself as it is an intoxicating spectacle built for the big screen.
