The Odyssey (2026)

The Odyssey (2026) 🐎🏺

One Book To Rule Them All

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

Christopher Nolan has tackled superheroes, space, dreams, magicians, World War II, and the father of the atomic bomb. Now he takes on one of the oldest stories ever written: Homer’s The Odyssey.

One thing I should mention before getting into this review: before this movie was announced, I honestly had no idea The Odyssey was based on a book. I only found that out recently. So I wasn’t walking into this film comparing it to Homer’s original work. I was basically experiencing this story for the first time, and honestly, I think that made the experience even better.

The story follows Odysseus, King of Ithaca, after the Trojan War. His goal should be simple: sail home to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. Unfortunately for him, the gods have other plans. His journey becomes a twenty-year nightmare filled with monsters, mythical creatures, impossible choices, betrayal, guilt, and the consequences of decisions that never truly leave him.

One thing I really appreciated is that this movie never pretends Odysseus is some perfect hero. He lies, he makes terrible decisions, he knowingly sacrifices men, and throughout the film you can see the weight of those decisions slowly crushing him. Nolan doesn’t make a movie about a flawless legend. He makes a movie about a broken man trying to get home.

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Character Rundown

Matt Damon absolutely delivers as Odysseus. This isn’t the fearless action hero you’d expect. He’s exhausted, traumatized, constantly making impossible choices, and by the end of the movie you genuinely feel every year he’s spent away from home. I never questioned his performance once.

Anne Hathaway was excellent as Penelope. Even though she’s separated from Odysseus for most of the movie, she still has a strong presence throughout. She’s intelligent, patient, and refuses to give up hope despite everyone around her telling her to move on.

Tom Holland surprised me as Telemachus. Instead of making him some perfect young warrior, he’s inexperienced and has to grow into becoming a leader. Watching him slowly gain confidence over the course of the film was satisfying.

Robert Pattinson… wow. I absolutely hated Antinous.

That’s a compliment.

The man has zero redeeming qualities. He’s manipulative, arrogant, corrupt, cruel, abuses Argos, wants the throne, wants Penelope, wants Telemachus dead, violates every code of hospitality imaginable and generally spends the movie making you want to see someone punch him in the face.

Thankfully, Odysseus eventually does much worse than that.

Corey Hawkins as Polybus is just as awful. The feast scene alone made me want this guy gone. Between how he treats Odysseus in disguise and everything involving Argos, I was practically cheering when he finally got what was coming.

Elliot Page does really well as Sinon despite limited screen time. His role isn’t huge, but it’s incredibly important emotionally. The draft lottery, the Trojan Horse and especially the Underworld sequence all give his character far more impact than his screen time would suggest.

Jon Bernthal is great as Menelaus despite only appearing briefly. Benny Safdie leaves an impression as Agamemnon. Charlize Theron is mesmerizing as Calypso, Samantha Morton makes Circe incredibly disturbing, and even Travis Scott… well… he’s basically just the narrator.

Seriously.

People made such a huge deal about Travis Scott being cast.

He’s in about two scenes for maybe ten seconds total.

That’s it.

Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, doesn’t have much screen time as Agamemnon, but he definitely leaves an impression. I also loved Nolan’s design for the character. The massive armor and imposing helmet make Agamemnon look absolutely intimidating whenever he’s on screen. Even with limited dialogue, his presence alone commands attention

Bow however theres the pther side of things, some the casting does just come off weird.

Elliott Page? Again hes great with whats he’s given, however the part i mentally laughed at and had trouble buying into is Elliott Page character being a solider, im like, sorry what? Soldier? You look like a boy!

Ans thats the problem his physical look looked less like a man and more like a boy, and tell me how many boys were out there in the Greek war? Because bet there wasnt any.

Also Jon Bernthal? Sure who doesnt like him but to me he just kinda came off as a less violent Punisher.

Zendeya? Looked like she just walked off set of Dune.

Travis Scott? Even though has 30 seconds of scene, still stands out like a sore thumb. Also say what you will about Travis Scott, and trust me theres a whole lot to say. I won’t deny, he wasn’t bad in this role, he indeed did his best.

I know wasnt I praising these people before? Yes but theres a double edge sword here when it comes to these actors as well, I saw actors with asterisks because Travis Scott isnt an actor.

Benny Safdie does a great job as Agamemnon. But if you’re one of those history scholars who needs every tiny detail to be historically authentic… I don’t know how immersed you’re going to be when an ancient Greek king starts talking like a guy you could run into at Starbucks. Then again, everyone in this movie speaks modern English, so I guess that ship has sailed.

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Pacing

The opening hour is probably the slowest part of the movie. Nolan spends quite a bit of time setting up Troy, the lottery, the Trojan Horse and Odysseus’ early journey.

Once the Cyclops appears though?

The movie almost never slows down again.

Every island introduces something new. The Cyclops. Circe. The giants. The Underworld. Scylla. Calypso. Meanwhile Telemachus has his own journey searching for answers, which eventually collides with Odysseus returning home.

Despite being a very long movie, I was invested almost the entire time.

Also characters say the F word multiple times in this film, uhhhhh just like Homer wanted abs aimed for? Right? Eh who knows, maybe if your a scholar, you can tell me.

Also sure I like how grounded nolan made the story. But that can be too fault as well. Because we never see the gods in this movie, it’s like plz remind me. Isn’t this supposed to be a Greek mythical story? The only thing mythical in this movie that I can spoil right now. Because it was in the trailer, is that there is a cyclopse.

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Pros ✅️

Visually this movie is absolutely stunning.

The scale is ridiculous.

Whether it’s Troy burning, the giant Trojan Horse, the Cyclops, Scylla rising from the sea, Circe’s island or the final battle inside the palace, Nolan constantly makes everything feel massive.

I also loved that this movie refuses to glorify war.

The fall of Troy isn’t portrayed like some heroic victory.

You see innocent civilians dying.

Homes burning.

Women dragged away.

Greek soldiers committing atrocities.

Odysseus sees all of it, and later admits how much those memories still haunt him. That conversation while disguised as an old servant was honestly one of my favorite scenes because he’s basically confessing his own guilt without revealing who he really is.

The Trojan Horse sequence was fantastic. I’ve seen countless versions of the horse over the years, but I’ve never actually seen what it would’ve been like inside the thing. Watching the soldiers trapped together in those horrible conditions made the entire idea feel much more grounded.

The Cyclops looked fantastic.

Instead of feeling like a fantasy creature, he almost felt like some ancient horror that happened to exist.

Circe’s transformation scene genuinely caught me off guard too.

I wasn’t expecting full-on body horror.

The Underworld was another highlight, especially seeing Agamemnon and Sinon again.

The final act is phenomenal.

The bow challenge.

Argos recognizing Odysseus.

The reveal.

The arrow through all twelve axes.

The palace battle.

Odysseus mowing through the suitors like John Wick.

Everything paid off beautifully.

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Cons ❌️

The beginning is a little slow.

I also wish the Cyclops had spoken a little more. Bill Irwin was great with what he had, but I would’ve loved a bit more conversation before everything fell apart.

My biggest criticism though…

The dog scenes.

Look…

I know what Nolan was trying to accomplish.

But seeing Argos abused throughout the movie, the other dogs killed, and everything surrounding that subplot honestly makes this movie difficult for me to rewatch.

It’s incredibly effective.

It’s also incredibly depressing.

My biggest criticism honestly isn’t even with The Odyssey itself.
I think people have put Christopher Nolan on way too high of a pedestal over the years, and I don’t think it’s completely deserved. Don’t get me wrong, he’s directed some absolutely incredible movies. Batman Begins, Oppenheimer, and now The Odyssey are all among my favorite films he’s made.
But then there’s movies like The Dark Knight Rises and Tenet, which I’m personally not a fan of.
Even The Odyssey, as much as I loved it, isn’t perfect. It has a slower opening, a few pacing issues, and some scenes I wish had been expanded. That’s why I don’t see Nolan as some flawless filmmaker. He’s an excellent director, but like everyone else, he makes movies that work for me and movies that don’t.

To prove my point even more, the tickets for this movie started going on sale a year ago last summer, before this movie even came out, yeah a full year ahead of release! I think there’s a problem here, I aint buying my tickets a full year out.

Sorry, that’s just ridiculous. “Congratulations! You have your ticket. Now… just wait 365 days.” I get wanting to build hype, but that felt more like a publicity stunt than something that actually benefited moviegoers.

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Final Thoughts

Christopher Nolan somehow managed to adapt one of the oldest stories ever written while still making it feel like a Christopher Nolan movie.

This isn’t some flashy fantasy adventure where the hero always does the right thing.

It’s a story about guilt.

War.

Loss.

Family.

Survival.

And whether someone who’s done terrible things can ever truly come home again.

By the time Odysseus finally strings his bow and sends that arrow through all twelve axes, the payoff is enormous because you’ve watched everything he endured to earn that moment.

The bittersweet ending, with Telemachus becoming king while Odysseus and Penelope leave Ithaca together for exile, was the perfect way to end the film.

This isn’t my favorite Christopher Nolan movie.

But it’s definitely one of his very best.

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Rating

9/10

🥇 Batman Begins

🥈 Oppenheimer

🥉 The Odyssey

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⚠️ SPOILER WARNING ⚠️

Everything below discusses major spoilers.

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Spoilers

I loved that Odysseus wasn’t portrayed as some flawless hero. He knowingly sacrifices six men to Scylla, lies to Sinon, witnesses the horrors of Troy and carries that guilt for decades.

Robert Pattinson’s Antinous and Corey Hawkins’ Polybus were absolutely despicable human beings. By the time Polybus spat chewed-up meat into Odysseus’ bowl and Antinous mocked him before shoving the draft stick back into his hands, I was counting down the minutes until they died.

The reveal during the bow challenge was incredible. Everyone fails. The disguised old man stands up, strings the bow with ease, fires one arrow through all twelve axes, and Polybus immediately realizes:

“You’re Odysseus… aren’t you?”

🏹

Arrow through the head.

Perfect.

The palace battle was excellent. Eumaeus trapping the traitor in the weapon room only for him to smash through the ceiling with an axe was both tense and unintentionally funny. Telemachus finally killing the traitor was satisfying, and watching Odysseus carve through the remaining suitors was an incredible payoff.

I also loved Odysseus’ final confrontation with Antinous.

> “When you go to Hell… tell Sinon the deed is done… and I’ve returned the stick.”

That little draft stick coming back at the end was such a clever callback to the beginning of the movie.

Finally…

The movie almost got me.

When Odysseus collapsed into Penelope’s arms, I genuinely thought Nolan was about to kill him.

Then Penelope cries that he can’t die…

…only for Odysseus to clarify:

> “No… not death. Exile.”

🤣

For a second there, I really thought Nolan was about to rip my heart out.

Instead, he gave us a bittersweet ending that felt true to the journey.

Christopher Nolan does it again. This now sits comfortably as my third favorite film he’s ever directed.