July 19, 2026
FILM: THE ODYSSEY
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
STARRING: MATT DAMON, TOM HOLLAND, ANNE HATHAWAY
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
So, this is the film everyone has seemingly been waiting for: Christopher Nolan’s big follow-up to his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer. If you’re not aware, it is based on Homer’s classic epic poem, The Odyssey, about the great Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his twenty-year high seas journey fighting in the Trojan War and then attempting to get back to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland.) The story is full of big battles, strange encounters with mythical figures, and grave circumstances for his ship’s crew. As Nolan has become an international director of great acclaim and financial success, it’s somewhat a surprise then that he would mostly indulge in the excesses of Odysseus’s major battles at the expense of some of the story’s finer details. Sadly, some of these sequences are just that: big action scenes without a lot of context. Still, Nolan eventually moves beyond the spectacles into something richer than what is typically found in the average summer blockbuster.
For audiences unfamiliar with the tale, the film’s early scenes do provide a fair amount of exposition setting up the story and characters. From there though Nolan assumes a viewer familiarity with some of the specific conflicts and legends associated with the narrative. For instance, there is the story of Odysseus and his men hiding in a Trojan horse before their invasion of Troy. Their reasons for being there and, for that matter invading Troy, could have used some explanation. Similarly, there is a confrontation with a one-eyed Cyclops that feels more like a set piece for a horrifying scene than a necessary thread to the rest of the story. (It also goes on much longer than necessary.) Additionally, there are a few characters that surface without much introduction, particularly Charlize Theron as Calypso who drugs Odysseus and keeps him captive for several years. Similarly, the story of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) and his murderous wife Clytemnestra (Lupita Nyong’o) is present but their tragic circumstances are not given enough detail to make their purpose in this story clear. All of this amounts to my biggest issue with the film: I’ve read The Odyssey but why does Nolan assume everyone else has?
There are other narrative challenges here too. Like he did with films such as Oppenheimer, Dunkirk, and Memento, Nolan presents the story out of chronological order which can be, especially in the case of the latter two films, well suited to the story. The only real clue that time is crisscrossing is seeing Matt Damon’s hair go greyer during certain later scenes in the narrative timeline. We don’t necessarily need a subtitle saying “10 years later” but a little more clarity would help.
One choice Nolan has also made is to strip the actors’ performances of the traditional British affect that has been so much a part of Hollywood’s portrayal of classic stories. Instead all of the actors create very relatable versions of their characters with modern accents. We might feel we know Tom Holland’s Telemachus or Jon Bernthal’s Menelaus because they aren’t over performing the roles. They feel like character types we might meet in our everyday lives (minus the swords and costumes) making the film more accessible than perhaps other classic on screen stories with similar characters.
A possible exception may be Matt Damon who is interesting as Odysseus but almost too low-key for much of the film. He doesn’t come across as the charismatic leader many see him to be. He’s actually a little dull to watch. That is until some of the later scenes when Odysseus arrives home as a beggar and has to confront Penelope’s suitors. Damon masters the emotional intensity required of these scenes.
Tom Holland has become a very good actor and his performance here feels genuine as Telemachus. Anne Hathaway is tough and emotional as Penelope, creating an almost feminist version of the ancient character. There are also several other noteworthy good performances such as John Leguizamo as the visually impaired shepherd Eumaeus, Robert Pattinson playing it up as one of Penelope’s many suitors Antinous, Samantha Morton as bewitching Circe, and Elliot Page as doomed Sinon. Zendaya, on the other hand, doesn’t do much as the goddess Athena. She doesn’t command much presence in any of her scenes. While fans might be thrilled to see her in the film I’d imagine some would have no idea who or what she is trying to portray.
The Odyssey is already getting a lot of Oscar buzz and certainly some of the technical elements will be rewarded but the film as a whole is far from the definitive version of this story. While the latter sequences are pretty powerful there is still too much emphasis on making this a Hollywood blockbuster than in offering context and depth to some of the richer thematic elements of the story.
The Odyssey is playing in theaters everywhere.
FILM: THE ODYSSEY
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
STARRING: MATT DAMON, TOM HOLLAND, ANNE HATHAWAY
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
So, this is the film everyone has seemingly been waiting for: Christopher Nolan’s big follow-up to his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer. If you’re not aware, it is based on Homer’s classic epic poem, The Odyssey, about the great Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his twenty-year high seas journey fighting in the Trojan War and then attempting to get back to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland.) The story is full of big battles, strange encounters with mythical figures, and grave circumstances for his ship’s crew. As Nolan has become an international director of great acclaim and financial success, it’s somewhat a surprise then that he would mostly indulge in the excesses of Odysseus’s major battles at the expense of some of the story’s finer details. Sadly, some of these sequences are just that: big action scenes without a lot of context. Still, Nolan eventually moves beyond the spectacles into something richer than what is typically found in the average summer blockbuster.
For audiences unfamiliar with the tale, the film’s early scenes do provide a fair amount of exposition setting up the story and characters. From there though Nolan assumes a viewer familiarity with some of the specific conflicts and legends associated with the narrative. For instance, there is the story of Odysseus and his men hiding in a Trojan horse before their invasion of Troy. Their reasons for being there and, for that matter invading Troy, could have used some explanation. Similarly, there is a confrontation with a one-eyed Cyclops that feels more like a set piece for a horrifying scene than a necessary thread to the rest of the story. (It also goes on much longer than necessary.) Additionally, there are a few characters that surface without much introduction, particularly Charlize Theron as Calypso who drugs Odysseus and keeps him captive for several years. Similarly, the story of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) and his murderous wife Clytemnestra (Lupita Nyong’o) is present but their tragic circumstances are not given enough detail to make their purpose in this story clear. All of this amounts to my biggest issue with the film: I’ve read The Odyssey but why does Nolan assume everyone else has?
There are other narrative challenges here too. Like he did with films such as Oppenheimer, Dunkirk, and Memento, Nolan presents the story out of chronological order which can be, especially in the case of the latter two films, well suited to the story. The only real clue that time is crisscrossing is seeing Matt Damon’s hair go greyer during certain later scenes in the narrative timeline. We don’t necessarily need a subtitle saying “10 years later” but a little more clarity would help.
One choice Nolan has also made is to strip the actors’ performances of the traditional British affect that has been so much a part of Hollywood’s portrayal of classic stories. Instead all of the actors create very relatable versions of their characters with modern accents. We might feel we know Tom Holland’s Telemachus or Jon Bernthal’s Menelaus because they aren’t over performing the roles. They feel like character types we might meet in our everyday lives (minus the swords and costumes) making the film more accessible than perhaps other classic on screen stories with similar characters.
A possible exception may be Matt Damon who is interesting as Odysseus but almost too low-key for much of the film. He doesn’t come across as the charismatic leader many see him to be. He’s actually a little dull to watch. That is until some of the later scenes when Odysseus arrives home as a beggar and has to confront Penelope’s suitors. Damon masters the emotional intensity required of these scenes.
Tom Holland has become a very good actor and his performance here feels genuine as Telemachus. Anne Hathaway is tough and emotional as Penelope, creating an almost feminist version of the ancient character. There are also several other noteworthy good performances such as John Leguizamo as the visually impaired shepherd Eumaeus, Robert Pattinson playing it up as one of Penelope’s many suitors Antinous, Samantha Morton as bewitching Circe, and Elliot Page as doomed Sinon. Zendaya, on the other hand, doesn’t do much as the goddess Athena. She doesn’t command much presence in any of her scenes. While fans might be thrilled to see her in the film I’d imagine some would have no idea who or what she is trying to portray.
The Odyssey is already getting a lot of Oscar buzz and certainly some of the technical elements will be rewarded but the film as a whole is far from the definitive version of this story. While the latter sequences are pretty powerful there is still too much emphasis on making this a Hollywood blockbuster than in offering context and depth to some of the richer thematic elements of the story.
The Odyssey is playing in theaters everywhere.