Movie Review - Universal's The Odyssey

Defy the gods.

The Odyssey is a 2026 historical fantasy action film directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Christopher Nolan, produced by Universal Pictures and Syncopy, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is based off of Homer's epic poem of the same name. The film stars Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway.

"Don't look for gods in men; you'll always be disappointed." - Odysseus

Plot

After Agamemnon's epic victory in the Trojan War, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, seeks to return home. When an encounter leaves the gods furious at the battle-worn king, he is forced to navigate treacherous seas and dangerous monsters in the hopes of returning home before his wife remarries and the throne of Ithaca is handed over to someone else.

The Sweet

Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors, and, after he won Best Picture with Oppenheimer, I was pretty sure whatever his next film was was going to be my most anticipated movie of the year. When he announced that he would be tackling the story that provides the basis for Western storytelling as a whole, I was over the moon. The Odyssey seemed like a monumental adaptation to take on, but if anyone was built for it, it was Nolan.

The thing that makes The Odyssey an unbelievable cinematic experience is how well it grounds this fantastical, mythical epic in a reality. Everything about this movie feels authentic...because it is. Nolan shot the movie in real locations with real props, real action, and as little CGI as possible. It would be so easy to make the cyclops in this film a CGI monster, but Nolan's insistence on grounding it in reality and building an actual sixty-foot puppet makes the whole sequence with Polyphemus more visceral and enthralling. The practical filmmaking does wonders for this film, because it is this mythological voyage through monsters and magic, but it all feels real.

The other thing that made The Odyssey feel so real besides all of the practicality was the way in which the story was presented to us. Obviously, there are monsters and witches and magic galore in this movie, but they all feel natural in some way, shape, or form. There's an absolutely horrifying sequence involving men turning into pigs, and the way it's done isn't with sparkles or spells being cast - it's a gruesome, practical body horror sequence that doesn't feel like magic. It feels like you are watching something unfold that somehow could happen in real life, even though it's men turning into pigs.

The way the gods are treated in this film also makes it feel grounded in our reality. As soon as you introduce gods as these primordial figures, you lose any connection to our reality. The way the script treats the gods, though, is so clever. They are ambiguous. If they appear or are mentioned, it's through psychological and physical manifestations. Poseidon's wrath is felt because the sea seems against Odysseus, not because an actual glowing man with a trident comes down from Olympus and yells at him. Athena is the only goddess to make a physical appearance, and even she is treated in a way where her physical existence is left in question. It's such an interesting way to treat the Greek gods in a story that revolves around them.

The movie also feels appropriately epic. The Odyssey is pretty much the epic of all epics, and it feels like the gargantuan, three-hour runtime of this film does the enormous scale and size justice. The film has a vastness to it that really fits the journey we are on. Maybe it's because of the amount of time spent on the ocean, but you feel the weight of the decades-long journey Odysseus takes and the grueling hours at sea. You feel how massive each island with these various monsters is. The Trojan War sequences are like the historical Greek mythology versions of the battle at Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Everything has this vast, larger-than-life feel to it that appropriately fits the tone and story of The Odyssey.

Christopher Nolan's specialty is making these epic blockbusters that span incredible amounts of time and have massive, earth-shattering stakes...but then imbuing them with deep, resonant themes about lost relationships and the sacrifices we as humans make. The Odyssey feels like his best version of that since Interstellar. It's all about Odysseus trying to come home to return to his family and his kingdom, but in the process, he must face all the horrors that he performed as a soldier in the Trojan War. It's themes are so rich and dense that it feels like it'll take a second or even third viewing to fully grasp exactly what Nolan is trying to convey with this story. The moral ambiguity of the gods and of the Greeks in ancient times is one of the most discussed topics in history, and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey makes sure to include those ideas in its rendition of this classic tale.

I also think one of the best things aboutThe Odyssey is how well it works at various genres. It works as an epic war film about the cost of being a soldier. It works as this mythological fantasy with creatures and magic galore. It works as a horror movie, with some deeply unsettling imagery and sequences that will make your skin crawl. It works as a personal family drama about a father trying to return home to his wife and son. And, even at the end, it works as an awesome action film with a sort-of revenge twist that is immensely satisfying. Whatever you are looking for, it will deliver in some way.

And it goes without saying, but the performances in this movie are top-notch. There is not a single person that gives a bad performance here. The reason that the contemporary dialogue works and doesn't feel out of place given the mythic, ancient setting is because the actors are believable in these roles regardless of the way they phrase their sentences. Matt Damon is my personal favorite actor of all time, and, while I don't think this is his best performance, it feels like classic great Damon operating at a high level. Anne Hathaway is, to me, the standout. She plays this grieving queen who also has an unrelenting strength and faith in her husband's return, which just allows Hathaway to give a layered, deeply moving performance. Robert Pattinson is the final actor that I'll give extra praise to, because his ability to play these characters that you come to absolutely despise is uncanny. His version of Antinous is a sniveling coward, and I completely hate him.

I also think the ability to turn an epic poem from 850 BCE into a star-studded, emotionally satisfying blockbuster that is accessible for nearly everyone who wants to watch it is a feat that deserves more credit. Of course, The Odyssey is one of the most well-known works of literature and has been around for as long as almost any writing ever, but it's also so old, so dense, and so from a different time that the fact that it translates this well to the modern day is a testament to how great of a filmmaker Christopher Nolan is. Yes, the source material is classic and timeless, but it takes a genius behind the camera to update it for modern audiences and make it this good.

Pretty much everything about The Odyssey is exactly what I hoped it would be. This is a true cinematic event in every sense of the word. Never in my life have I considered driving three hours to go see a movie, but I've talked with my friends about going to the closest 70MM IMAX to go see the film again and get the truest, best cinematic experience possible. I am not the first person to say this, but it feels like we are witnessing film history in real time. In twenty years, people are going to talk about how they saw The Odyssey in theaters, and that's awesome.

The Sour

As much as this is a great movie, it's not perfect. There are a few tiny things that bothered me.

First of all, I am not a huge fan of the way Nolan shoots action. The fact of the matter is that Nolan's films are more focused on intelligent stories, epic stakes, and deep, thoughtful characters than they are on action. The Odyssey has plenty of action scenes, and they are fine. They are entertaining to watch, but in a movie that's so mind-blowing and so groundbreaking in the precision with which it was made, the action is mediocre. And that can feel a little bit disappointing when you are watching it.

I also think that the way the story is framed is unnecessarily confusing and slightly underdeveloped. The movie really begins with Odysseus at the end of his journey retelling his story to Calypso (played by Charlize Theron), and it feels like we didn't really need to do that. I am all for Nolan messing with as non-linear story and giving us his typical puzzle box narrative, but it doesn't feel like it helps the movie here and I actually think it undermines the Calypso story by having her appear like once every hour to remind us that Odysseus is telling her this whole thing. When you get the ultimate reveal of what's going on on her island, it doesn't really hit as hard because we haven't had the time to develop her relationship with Odysseus.

The film also has two parallel narratives: the main one is obviously the titular odyssey, while the second is Telemachus (Odysseus's son) dealing with all of the suitors who want to take Penelope's hand in marriage. I think both plot lines are great, but it's sort of jarring when we shift back and forth between them. Odysseus's journey home is this epic, grand quest to return to Ithaca...and all of the stuff with Telemachus and Penelope basically takes place in one room and is just people sort of yelling at each other. The drama of the Telemachus plot line is actually very well done and when you move into the third act, everything crescendos very nicely, but it just makes the pacing feel a bit rocky when you go from an epic showdown with a cyclops to Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson beefing for twenty minutes.

Final Thoughts and Score

The Odyssey is everything I hoped for and more. It's an epic, emotional, and completely unforgettable journey helmed by Christopher Nolan's masterful direction, showing that he is still at the complete top of his game.

I am going Sweet here. Age range is 14+.

SWEET N' SOUR SCALE

Sweet (Great) Savory (Good)

Sour (Bad)

Moldy (Terrible)

"The Odyssey"

Fun Factor: 9.5/10

Acting: 9/10

Story: 9.5/10

Characters: 9/10

Quality: 10/10

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Rated R for moderate violence and action, language, frightening themes and images, thematic elements

Released on July 17, 2026

2 hours and 53 minutes

Matt Damon as Odysseus

Anne Hathaway as Penelope

Tom Holland as Telemachus

Robert Pattinson as Antinous

John Leguizamo as Eumaeus

Zendaya as Athena

Himesh Patel as Eurylochus

Samantha Morton as Circe

Charlize Theron as Calypso

Jon Bernthal as Menelaus

Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra

Elliot Page as Sinon

Benny Safdie as Agamemnon

Bill Irwin as Polyphemus

Corey Hawkins as Polybus

Mia Goth as Melantho

Ryan Hurst as Mentor

James Remar as Tiersias

Travis Scott as Phemius