Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey follows Odysseus (Matt Damon), the legendary King of Ithaca, who embarks on a long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War. Throughout his voyage, he is forced to confront the whims of gods, mythological monsters, and trials that stretch both his cunning and his humanity to the breaking point.
Christopher Nolan has been responsible for making many incredible films in his decades-long career as a filmmaker, but now he was undertaking probably one of his biggest challenges yet with this adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, one of the greatest Greek mythology epics in history. I am someone who is obsessed with mythology, including Greek mythology, so when I heard that Nolan was going to be directing an adaptation of this story it immediately became one of my most anticipated films of this year. After a long wait, I was able to see the film on the big screen, and it was truly phenomenal beyond words. Nolan’s The Odyssey is a masterful adaptation of the great mythological epic, meeting all my expectations while also vastly exceeding them in ways I never imagined. Nolan stays true to core themes and majestic nature of the original story while simultaneously making it completely his own with his creative approaches. He beautifully retells the tale about a lost and broken warrior in a long journey home involving war, love, horror, and defying impossible odds that is crafted to complete perfection, thanks to phenomenal performances, writing, action, practical magic, and many technical marvels. This film has become not just one of my favorite films of this year but easily my favorite film of Christopher Nolan’s entire filmography.
Similar to Nolan’s previous film, Oppenheimer, this film features a very stacked cast consisting of several Nolan film veterans and newcomers who all give 100% dedication to their respective performances. Every cast member gets their time to shine no matter how big or small their role is in this film, and there are some definitive standouts amongst them all. Matt Damon takes on the very challenging task of playing the leading role of Odysseus, and yet he played the role masterfully, delivering quite possibly his best role in many years. Damon fully embraces the character’s cleverness and inventiveness from the original story while simultaneously giving the character a lot of tragic humanity in his grand journey home that puts every fiber of his being to the test.
Odysseus is often portrayed as a great god-like hero in Greek mythology and pop culture, but through Damon’s performance and Nolan’s writing, they make this portrayal of Odysseus feel more human and complex, which I absolutely loved. And while the character is given a lot more depth than expected, the film does retain the character’s most notable traits from the original story, like how he triumphs over monsters, adversaries, and obstacles using cunning, disguise, and strategic restraint rather than just physical power. There is no question that Matt Damon will silence those who doubted his casting in the role with his masterful performance.
Playing a vital role for the film’s emotional core is Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland, playing as Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, respectively, in two truly career-best performances for both of them. The two of them deliver very heartbreaking and moving performances as these two characters who are trapped in their own kind of hell at home as they painfully wait for Odysseus to return home from his long journey. The theme of faithfulness is beautifully anchored by these two characters who stay devoted to Odysseus and protect his estate from greedy suitors despite his lengthy absence and their own self-doubt.
Being a Nolan veteran, Anne Hathaway delivering a phenomenal performance was an absolute given, and she truly nails the role of Penelope, showing both her character’s strengths and her weaknesses that evolve over the course of the film, much like how Odysseus does on his daunting journey.
Tom Holland is the biggest newcomer to the world of Nolan’s filmmaking, yet he ends up proving himself worthy of being in it in his very strong performance as Telemachus, who takes part in a small yet powerful coming-of-age journey.
Their greatest opposition comes in the form of the most villainous and sleaziest suitor of the lot, which is Antinous, played by Robert Pattinson. Robert Pattinson continues to prove himself as the king of range with his performances in recent years, but I always found some of his most impressive work came from when he played villains, including this one. Antinous is a villain driven by greed and obsession, but he absolutely knows it and relishes in it to the point that he thinks he can get away with anything in the absence of Odysseus. Robert Pattinson delivers another truly outstanding and spiteful villain that you actively root to see his downfall.
This film features a number of truly amazing supporting performances from various cast members of different talents that all get utilized appropriately and without ever feeling wasted, even when some of them get short amounts of time on screen. Himesh Patel, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Benny Safdie, Corey Hawkins, Mia Goth, Ryan Hurst, James Remar, Josh Stewart, Bill Irwin, and Logan Marshall-Green all give incredible and dedicated performances for their respective characters but there were three other supporting performances that I felt shone the most amongst the large cast. The biggest among them is John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, Odysseus’s faithful servant and blind swineherd. John Leguizamo has always been an incredibly talented actor who has deserved more significant roles, but finally he gets one in this film and delivers quite possibly his best performance in his entire career. Leguizamo brings both wisdom and heart to his performance as Eumaeus, making him a significant standout you can’t help but love as he really steals the spotlight every time he is on screen. He adds more emotional weight and light amounts of levity to the story, making him a truly welcome addition.
Samantha Morton also manages to stand out hugely in her brief but highly memorable role as Circe, the witch and goddess from the island of Aeaea. In this film, we get to see Circe in a much darker and haunting portrayal compared to anything I’ve seen before, especially when she delivers what I consider to be the most traumatizing scene in the film, brought to life through Morton’s fantastic performance and incredibly graphic practical effects.
And then finally, there is Zendaya as Athena, the goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft, who both protects and haunts Odysseus on his journey. She may not have that much screen time in the film, but her presence plays a large part in Odysseus’s journey both physically and mentally as a heartbreaking twist involving the form she appears in to him tells everything about the horrific guilt and burden he carries with him on his way home.
This adaptation basically follows the exact story of the Odyssey from start to end, but it is told in a non-linear narrative and has a few creative additions added in to give it more emotional depth and impact. As mythologically epic as it is with its gods and monsters, the story remains grounded, which helps to drive the emotional core of the film forward and enhances the overall fantasy epic feel of the story on the big screen. It also manages to perfectly capture all of the themes of the original story, mostly involving loyalty, love, greed, horrors of war, and nature, but most of all defiance in the face of impossible odds.
In the world of the Odyssey, the lives of mortals are heavily shaped by the gods, but both the original epic and this film emphasize that while fate establishes ultimate destinations, human choices and free will are what truly determine how characters reach those ends. It is all well executed in the writing of this adaptation while also managing to feel like multiple genres combined into one grand saga, including elements of gritty survival, larger than life fantasy, and surprisingly horror. I never considered any part of the Odyssey to be considered scary but Nolan decided to go full throttle horror with certain sequences in the film, including scenes with the infamous cyclops Polyphemus, the giant Laestrygonians, the deceptive witch Circe, and even the Shades of the Underworld. These sequences make the journey feel like they have way more stakes and further reinforce the idea that Christopher Nolan needs to make a horror film because he would be really good at it.
This film might be a primarily character-driven narrative but it is not short on action sequences that are brutal to the bone and feel massive in size and scale. The most vicious and perfectly choreographed action comes mostly in the massacre of Troy, the battle of the Laestrygonians, and the final act fight, which are all beautifully built up and executed masterfully. Nolan has always been known to be a technical genius when it comes to his films, pushing the boundaries of cinematography and practical effects to their limits, and that is exactly what he does with this film. This is the first film to be shot entirely on IMAX’s 70 mm film cameras, which enhance the film’s cinematography to insane levels of visual beauty and make the epic feel even more grand in size and scale. Nolan uses as many practical effects, sets, costumes, and on-set locations as possible to make this film feel so alive, including going as far as to have a 60-foot-tall puppet made for the Cyclops rather than relying on CGI for it. Practical effects and clever camera trickery are also used for the sequence involving Circe’s “magic” that was simultaneously genius and horrifying, making it a truly unforgettable moment in a film full of unforgettable moments. There were a few moments that I believe could have been CGI, but at the same time I’m not even sure, given how practical most of the film is.
The sound editing is absolutely stellar in this film from start to end, as is the score, which is masterfully composed by Ludwig Göransson. From his musical work in Marvel, Star Wars, Oppenheimer, and Sinners, Ludwig Göransson is on a generational run with his music, and he keeps it going with the truly epic score he gives to this film that goes soft in the quiet, tender moments and then goes loud and proud as it ramps up during the actions and thrills. The battle in the final act easily has the best track in the film that I couldn’t help but be addicted to as it gets the adrenaline pumping.
The Odyssey has been adapted several times over the years in various forms of pop culture but Nolan’s take on the mythological epic is a true crowning achievement in his career as a director, delivering what I consider to be the best adaptation of Homer’s work to be made to date. At the beginning, I was concerned about the film due to small moments of modern dialogue and the strange casting choice of Travis Scott as a Bard, but those concerns were quickly diminished the moment the film began to pick up the pace and started diving deep into the grand world of Greek mythology that I love so dearly. This is a film that deserves to be witnessed on the biggest screen possible and experienced the way it should be. And remember everyone, this film is based entirely on mythology, not real history. Learn the difference. I’m going to give The Odyssey an A+ = 100.
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