The Odyssey
2026, 172 mins, R
***1/2 out of ****
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Screenplay by Christopher Nolan. Based on Homer’s “Odyssey”
Produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan.
Cast: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page
Homer’s “The Odyssey” is a story that has been around for 7,000 years and keeps enduring despite its age. Originally sung and then written as an epic poem it has been widely read, translated, and studied by classicists, students and a variety of experts across centuries. The story of Odysseus and his arduous journey to return home to Ithaca is one that fully embodies the meaning of its title.
So now we get the grand cinematic retelling from Christopher Nolan who nails the character of Odysseus (Matt Damon) as someone who endures constant hardship after conquering the city of Troy with his Greek army. Haunted by the guilt he feels over the victory and savage acts that his men performed during the battle, he is also facing challenges to his memory as the captive of the Sun Goddess Calypso (Charlize Theron) who holds him captive as her lover for years. He doesn’t remember any of his former life in Ithaca, mainly that he has a loyal wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and young son Telemachus (Tom Holland) who both yearn for and anticipate his return despite the many years of absence.
In Ithaca, Penelope remains loyal to her husband but that loyalty is challenged by a crowd of suitors who wish to marry her for her wealth. She doesn’t want to take one of them, even though they plunder the kingdom’s wealth with a constant feast. Chief among the suitors is Antinous (Robert Pattinson) a nobleman who instigates, intimidates and manipulates Penelope, Telemachus, and the half-blind Mentor (John Leguizamo) in his attempts to seize control.
Nolan provides a challenging structure, as he always does, by telling the story in the form of a non-linear narrative. He flashes back and forward freely to give the story parallel weight as the drama unfolds. When Odysseus is regaining his memory we flashback to the travails of him and his men through rough seas and tales of their various encounters with a wide array of challenges thrown in their path by the Gods.
The sequences that stand out the most are their concurrences with the Giant Cyclops Polyphemus and the Goddess Circe (Samantha Morton) which both have a frightening and tense energy that borders on horror. The way he pulls these scenes off with practical effects, thunderous and atmospheric sound design, and ideal casting makes them all the more effective. The casting of an actor to play the Cyclops is particularly inspired as it gives the giant creature a realistic quality and some personality that otherwise wouldn’t be there in a CGI creation. Morton is also potent as a more homely version of Circe who uses her power to single-handedly dominate Odysseus’ men.
Nolan’s take on the tale is mostly about size as he creates big scenes with the monster IMAX format gives gigantic precision to the sequences described above and especially to the fall Troy. The erection of the giant horse, the massive army of Greeks, the fiery collapse of buildings all have an enormous quality to them. Nolan has taken a positively old-fashioned approach that relies on the real rather than the artificial in every technical aspect of the production. One of the more compelling aspects of the film is the score by Ludwig Gorranson which has a thundering and ethereal atmosphere that punctuates the film with an agreeable yet exciting beauty.
Where Nolan falls a little short is in his depiction of the female characters who were all much more prominent in the original story. Most of the actresses, Theron, Zendaya as Athena, and Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, really amount to little more than an appearance as they have very little to do despite having celestial and exquisite presence.
The performances range from good to terrific with Damon front and center as the subdued but stalwart Odysseus. He has a physical transformation and a sublimely restrained performance that gives the real sense that this man is truly enduring an odyssey. Hathaway is very strong as Penelope giving her a real sense of pride, loyalty, paranoia, and love. Holland is good if a little wooden as the determined Telemachus. Pattinson is favorable as the scheming bully Antinous. But the best performance in the film is by Leguizamo who literally makes you feel every word and emotion. Every scene he is in is a jewel.
But at the end of it all this Nolan’s achievement and it is truly glorious despite its flaws. No one else in the industry makes films like he does. He is among the few who has a genuine and expansive idea of what makes a true epic.
