Movie Review: The Odyssey (2026)
Running time: 172 minutes
Director and screenwriter: Christopher Nolan
Producers: Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan
Main cast: Matt Damon (Odysseus), Tom Holland (Telemachus), Anne Hathaway (Penelope), Robert Pattinson (Antinous) and Zendaya (Athena)

First, the basics. The story is based on Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem The Odyssey — no pressure or academic baggage for Christopher Nolan to contend with, then!
Following the end of the Trojan War, the Greek king Odysseus (Matt Damon) begins the long and perilous voyage home to Ithaca. His journey brings him up against violent seas, mythical creatures and a series of physical and moral tests. Meanwhile, his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) struggle to protect their home and kingdom from increasingly aggressive suitors, without knowing whether Odysseus will ever return.

Yet, if there is a finer contemporary director capable of tackling such an ambitious project, I would be hard-pressed to name them. Nolan has always been fascinated by driven characters who cross a line from which there is no easy return. In The Prestige, Inception and Oppenheimer, ambition unlocks forces that cannot simply be put back in the box — often with unforeseen and strange consequences.

In The Odyssey, he takes that familiar preoccupation back to its mythical roots. Its hero is not splitting the atom, invading dreams or perfecting an impossible magic trick, but undertaking a journey in which ingenuity, endurance and obsession carry an increasingly heavy price.

The Odyssey is epic not merely by name. It was made for an estimated $250 million, and the best compliment I can pay it is that its 172-minute running time never feels overlong. I was gripped by the outstanding storytelling, the surprises in the plot and the committed performances of the leading actors.

If you like plenty of bang for your buck, just appreciate the remarkable cinematography. This was the first feature film shot entirely using IMAX film cameras, with Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema favouring real locations and practical effects to give the voyage genuine physical weight. A worldwide box-office haul of approximately $1.46 billion so far suggests that audiences may agree with my favourable verdict.

Critics in the UK have praised the movie for different reasons. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian admired its “thrilling ambition, boldness, seriousness, generosity and flair”, while Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent was also complimentary: “It is also Nolan’s best work to date. It deserves to be the film that defines him.”

In the US, the critical response was largely positive. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called it “one of the most Nolan of Nolan spectacles”, while Guy Lodge of Variety described it as “a genuinely grand, gutsy vision”. In contrast, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called it “structurally clumsy” and described certain passages as “dull interludes”.

I think Mr Rooney may have been having a bad day, as I find it very hard to fault The Odyssey. If you are being picky, you could say that some of the accents are a little awry and that the film occasionally becomes bogged down in exposition. Yet, to me, there are no superfluous scenes. The relationships are developed sensitively, whether between Odysseus and Penelope or between Odysseus and his soldiers.

Matt Damon does a sterling job as the conflicted and confused hero, but the support is strong too. Anne Hathaway’s Penelope gives the film its emotional centre. Her determination to resist the suitors occupying her home makes Odysseus’s return about far more than survival.

Tom Holland gives the story further emotional heft as Telemachus, growing up beneath the shadow of an absent, legendary father. Robert Pattinson’s Antinous is the most dangerous and calculating of Penelope’s suitors, bringing tension and menace to the Ithaca side of the story.

One of the strongest features of the movie is its succession of awe-inspiring set pieces. The fall of Troy and the Trojan Horse turn the familiar legend into a vast, tense military operation. Odysseus’s ingenious plan unfolds amid fire, smoke and huge IMAX landscapes, establishing both his brilliance and the moral cost of victory.

The encounter with the Cyclops is surprising, edge-of-the-seat stuff. Odysseus and his depleted crew find themselves trapped against a physically overwhelming creature in a sequence that combines horror, brutal action and tactical ingenuity.

Yet we are never overloaded with empty spectacle. The spectacular action is always in the service of relatable and universal themes: the importance of family, love and loss, alongside the nature of identity and ambition. All of this is served up against an ancient and intriguing backdrop. Top class.
Now I need to have an adventure of my own — to see if there are any seats available for my return trip to the multiplex to enjoy it again. Wish me luck.
Score: 10/10