From telling stories of Dark Knights, Magicians, and those who split atoms, THE ODYSSEY is the best film of Nolan’s career and redefines what a film epic can be.
THE ODYSSEY (2026)
★★★★★ OF ★★★★★ stars
Among film fans, Christopher Nolan is one of those rare filmmakers where it can be argued that they have never made a bad film. From his earliest works like Memento and Insmonia, to the epic THe Dark Knight Trilogy into his era of original IP epics like The Prestige, Inception, Tenet through towards his recent World War 2 epics like Dunkirk and the Oscar winning Oppenheimer, that’s the resume of a master in his craft. With his adaptation of Homer’s THE ODYSSEY, hitting theaters this weekend, Nolan really punctuates that resume with this nearly three hour film filmed entirely in IMAX 70MM that takes those signature beats from his films like non-linear narration, character driven storytelling and the grandeur of scale in his cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema’s lens, Nolan makes the story of Odysseus and his return to Ithaca from the year’s long Trojan War resonate and seem real as Matt Damon captures the sense of loss – both personal and of time dedicated to a pointless war driven by pride rather love and the value to be found in the latter rather than the former.
Damon’s Odysseus, bound by duty to raise an army for his lord King Agamemnon of Mycenae (Benny Safdie) to recapture Helen (Lupita N’yongo) the wife of his brother Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) from Paris, the Prince of Troy behind its siege proof walls, is reluctant to leave his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) as he knows the war will take years and is one from which he may never return. She gives him her pin and he sets off honorbound with his troops, knowing the war will be a tremendous cost of lives, time and honor. At its conclusion, Odysseus sets off on his own way back to his home Ithaca with his men, refusing to follow Agamemnon and Menelaud anymore, a decision of hubris that will cost him and his men years and a greater cost of their lives. At its heart, THE ODYSSEY is a examination of man and their changing relationship with a world where the rule of law and honor are changing and the importance of loyalty and love and personal honor and how we can become what we most fear if we let go of those core values.
Nolan’s casting in this movie is one of its strengths, using a variety of his standard players from his past films here in roles tailored to their strength. Hathaway is the emotional core of the filkm as Penelope, a role that could largely have been thankless as a prized widow who holds the key to Ithaca, but Hathaway makes her a strong figure whose loyalty for Odyssesu drives much of the film. Roberth Pattinson plays the film’s erstwhile villain, Antinaus, who skipped on the Trojan War by sending Sinon (Elliot Page) in his place and now conspires to win Penelope and the kingdom of Ithaca for himself as him and other suitors bleed the kingdom dry due to forced nightly feasts Penelope is forced to hold in deference to Zeus’ Law, where a god may appear as a mortal and thus all are worthy and equal under the eyes of the kingdom. John Leguizamo also shines as Eumaeus, Odysseus’ longtime blind servant, and Tom Holland drives the film’s action as Telemachus, the son that Odysseus has never known. Charlize Theron stars as Calypso, a woman who helps mend Odysseus and whose love for him makes her reluctant to let him go. Samantha Morton really lights the screen up as Circe, one of the film’s more nuanced and complex characters and whose scene really draws you into the dire straits that Odysseus finds himself in. By far one of the film’s best scenes involves her and Damon’s Odysseus, who himself is giving a career best performance that will likely be remembered come Oscar time. The film’s best set pieces are numerous including a journey into the heart of Hades with a memorable performance by James Remar as Tiresias, a blind seer who tells Odysseus the true cost of his homecoming.
But by far the film’s greatest strength is that it is engaging. Despite the film’s runtime, it keeps you hooked throughout with strong performances and fantastical creatures from Cyclops, giants, sirens and werewolves. It’s a true epic and one that lets Nolan channel the skills he’s honed in 20 years of making fantastical genre fare. The Odyssey is his grand epic and it is one to behold on the biggets screen possible.
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