The Odyssey-2026
Director Christopher Nolan
Starring Matt Damon
Scott’s Review #1,542
Reviewed July 23, 2026
Grade: A
Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey (2026) is a breathtaking spectacle that feels cinematically invigorating and inspired.
It’s movie magic at its finest.
Fortunate to see this film in an enormous IMAX theater, it’s the perfect and recommended way to see a film of this scale. A crowded and energetic audience is also suggested to connect with the overall moviegoing experience.
My hat goes off to Nolan, who has gotten asses back into empty theater seats in recent years where they belong.
It was thanks to his 2023 film Oppenheimer, which won Best Picture, that cinema became a mandatory part of moviegoing enjoyment again, along with the progressive Barbie (2023).
In the story, Odysseus (Matt Damon), king of Ithaca, embarks on a perilous journey to return home after the Trojan War, after many years away from his land and loved ones.
Crossing the Mediterranean Sea with his fellow soldiers, they soon find themselves battling not only the elements but an array of deadly obstacles and mythical creatures that await the men along the way.
In clever and intriguing form, the story traverses a few different timelines.
It is told in non-linear fashion, from early romantic sequences between Odysseus and his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), to the backstory of his son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), and nemesis, Antinous (Robert Pattinson).
We immediately learn that Odysseus has been away for years, but what happens during those years is mysterious and aching to be slowly unraveled.
Other characters like Menelaus (Jon Bernthal), Helen of Troy/ Clytemnestra (Lupita Nyong’o), Athena (Zendaya), Circe (Samantha Morton), Calypso (Charlize Theron), various nymphs, and others are featured as Odysseus and Telemachus’ stories are explored.
Additionally, lands and worlds like Hades, a distinct realm where individuals go after death, and Aeaea, an island inhabited by the villainous Circe, are featured.
Having some knowledge of Greek Mythology is extremely helpful, as it can be quite difficult to keep track of who everyone is and how their history is part of Odysseus’s.
My two favorite sequences are when Odysseus’s men desperately land on Aeaea, fraught with severe hunger. Circe, who seems motherly and kind, delights in preparing steamy stew and other delicious food for them.
As they greedily chow down, they begin to cough and choke, turning into pigs. Circe turns wicked, vowing revenge on the men for an apparent attack on her sister years earlier.
The final thirty minutes of The Odyssey features a grandiose and daring fight sequence after Penelope declares she will marry whoever can string Odysseus’s bow and shoot an arrow through a row of axe heads.
The suitors all fail, but Odysseus succeeds and reveals his identity to her, culminating in a reunion. The hall erupts in battle, Odysseus slaying the challenging suitors.
The sequence features thunderous sound effects that, to me, sounded like footsteps running along a jogging path increasing in their intensity and momentum as the fight turns darker and bloodier.
Way back to the films The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010), directed by Nolan, I vividly recall being enamored with those similar sound scores.
To say that The Odyssey is a spectacle is an understatement.
It proves with technical precision and grandeur that there’s no filmmaker quite like Nolan to reignite an ancient adventure and that there’s no limit to magnificence and perfection in cinema.
Lush seas, gritty battles, and mythical creatures abound in this opus.
Still, the film also has quality acting and a bit of heart too, so the story is never overwhelmed by the technical stuff, which is always a fear in blockbusters of this nature.
Damon, Hathaway, Holland, and Pattinson get top acting praise from me.
Terrific chemistry exists between Damon and Hathaway, specifically, making their passionate and dedicated love story remarkably believable.
I’ve heard complaints about the film being too ‘woke’, a derogatory term tinged with racism and homophobia. Nolan wisely makes the film inclusive, featuring a trans actor (Page) and several black and brown actors.
The Odyssey (2026) offers action, adventure, battles, and all the other trimmings expected from an epic action film shrouded in fantasy and magic.
But on an entirely different level.
It also offers tenderness, humanity, connection, and heart that exceed expectations all around.