‘The Odyssey’ (2026) Review

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I’m honestly starting to feel sorry for Christopher Nolan at this point, because he has raised the bar for his own films so high that The Odyssey not only had to encapsulate the grand scale of Homer’s epic poem, it also had to be as good as films like Interstellar, The Dark Knight trilogy, Dunkirk and, most recently, the Best Picture-winning Oppenheimer (2023). The man is a celebrity himself and, without a doubt, one of the best filmmakers of the 21st century. So The Odyssey had a stacked cast, a master filmmaker, and had to please literary critics who have been studying this story for years… no pressure.

Now, it is at this point in the review that I would like to suggest that you brush up on some of your Greek mythology before venturing into this one. So, for those of you who have not read Homer’s poem, the Percy Jackson books, or seen Disney’s rocking rendition of Hercules from the ’90s, here’s a crash course in less than a paragraph: Zeus = big boss man; Athena = goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare and crafts; Poseidon = god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and (checks notes)… horses…? Some of the other monsters, sorceresses and mythical creatures Odysseus encounters are relatively well known in pop culture, but to say more about who they are might give away a surprise or two.

The Odyssey, so titled after its hero, Odysseus, follows one man’s journey back home to Ithaca after his battle in the Trojan War. The journey – and the war – have taken several years of his life away from him, leaving his wife and son waiting two decades for his return. While Odysseus has been away, suitors have begun seeking his wife’s hand in marriage, hoping she will abandon any hope of her husband’s return. Some believe him to be dead; others refuse to give up hope. We pick up with Odysseus at the beginning of the film, washed up on an island with the nymph Calypso and no recollection of who he is.

It’s also worth remembering that Homer’s The Odyssey follows the events of an earlier epic poem, The Iliad. The Trojan War itself unfolds there, with many of the names and relationships being established before Odysseus’ journey home begins. If you’d like a refresher on some of the major players, the 2004 film Troy, starring Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Brian Cox, Sean Bean and many others, isn’t a bad place to start.

The cast, as I said, is stacked, with Matt Damon playing the title character – cue the “how many times are we going to watch Matt Damon try to make his way back home?” tweets already. His wife is played by Anne Hathaway, who hasn’t been this good in years. His son, Telemachus, is played by Tom Holland – so refreshing to see him not in a Spidey suit, and for people to remember that the guy has some serious acting chops. The list just keeps going, with A-listers and Oscar winners appearing in almost every scene.

Well… Nolan managed to stick the landing. The enormous task he and his crew had before them was well met: the film is an instant classic and an absolute masterpiece. From the cast to the crew, every single sliver of this production is crafted with such care and precision that it’s hard to fault. The cinematography is moody and stunning, the score is menacing and foreboding, and the special effects embrace the weirdness of Greek mythology without ever feeling cartoonish. Long-standing Nolan fans will know that he prefers practical effects over CGI, and it shows. The world feels lived in, real – even though one or two gods may be roaming it at any given time.

While my expectations were ultimately met, one thing I would recommend is not coming in prepared for a sweeping Greek epic similar to Troy. This is Christopher Nolan we’re talking about, after all, and the guy who gave you gritty, moody thrillers like Memento and The Dark Knight is not going to give you a traditional Greek hero. He’s going to give you a psychologically worn, deeply flawed hero in a gritty world where he has to fight tooth and nail to survive. Once I realised that was the film Nolan was making, I enjoyed it immensely.

Because I can’t help it at this stage – yes, I’m that guy – I subconsciously made my own assessment of its awards prospects. It’s sure to hit every technical category, including Cinematography, Original Score and Visual Effects, though I will say there is still that niggle about soft dialogue being hard to hear at times – IMAX cameras and tweaks to them be damned. The editing in the first hour is also quite jarring, switching between quick close-ups during dialogue scenes instead of simply allowing the audience to take the scene in as a whole – another downside to using those giant cameras, eh, Nolan? The cast will also pick up a nomination or two, with Damon and Hathaway being your most likely prospects, though don’t discount Samantha Morton as Circe or Tom Holland as Telemachus. Some standout moments include Odysseus and his men trapped in a cave, then in a house, and then in literal hell.

Nolan is a purist; his films are made for the cinema experience. So yes, you can wait for it to come onto Netflix or Amazon Prime or whatever your capitalist streaming service of choice is, but gosh darn it, the movies are still a sacred space where people experience something communal. So although it might bug you when the guy in front of you arrives late or the person behind you is chewing too loudly, remember that you are a part of cinematic history being made. Remember that sometimes carving out the time and money to actually invest in an experience – instead of some cheap moment that’ll just be interrupted by your cellphone screen every five minutes anyway – is actually worth it.