Movie Reviews

Christopher Nolan’s movie eschews the gods in favor of telling a surprisingly human version of “The Odyssey,” with everyman Matt Damon as its anchor.

By Kevin Slane

July 16, 2026 | 12:25 PM

4 minutes to read

Early in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” viewers are brought to a windswept beach, where Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his men are concealed inside the infamous Trojan horse. It’s a surprising opening note in the film; the well-known legend is barely referenced in Homer’s poem, which begins 10 years after Odysseus and his men have sprung from the equine statue and sacked Troy.

This is far from the only choice Nolan makes that sets his “Odyssey” apart from the original work. But the size, the spirit, and the spectacle of the original remains intact, even when the director (who also wrote the screenplay) digresses from the source material. There are giants, sirens, soldiers, and suitors; swords, sandals, storms, and Cyclops. Each set piece is stunning, particularly in Nolan’s preferred IMAX format, and you could easily enjoy the film solely for its beautifully realized practical filmmaking.

But somewhere in the second half of “The Odyssey,” all of these little tweaks crystallize into a revelation: Nolan has Trojan-horsed viewers into watching a wholly contemporary “Odyssey,” one more concerned with the humanity of Damon’s marooned hero than the legends of gods and monsters.

Like many prior Nolan films (“Memento,” “Interstellar,” “Inception,” “Tenet”), “The Odyssey” utilizes a non-linear narrative to play games with time. Odysseus and his men set off from Troy, deciding to break from Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) and the rest of the Greek army by taking a “shortcut.” (Famous last words, whether on a family road trip or sailing the Aegean Sea.)

Back at home in Ithaca, 10-odd years in the future, his son Telemachus (Tom Holland) and his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), are hosting the world’s worst dinner party, filled with greedy suitors who won’t leave until Penelope is married to one of them. It isn’t really 10 years, though; it’s 20, as Odysseus spent the first 10 years away from Ithaca pillaging and conquering on behalf of the Greeks, which we occasionally see in flashbacks like the Trojan Horse scene.

“How long have I been here?” Odysseus muses, as he munches the mind-altering lotus flower given to him by the nymph Calypso, played by an ethereal Charlize Theron. (Spoiler alert: He’s been there a long time.) It’s a great credit to Nolan that at nearly three hours long and with three temporally distinct narrative threads, “The Odyssey” rarely drags, even when Odysseus and his men seem stuck on a neverending journey.

In the thousands of years that “The Odyssey” has been retold, re-translated, and reimagined, Odysseus has always been regarded as a trickster. It would be inconceivable in Greek mythology for a human to defeat the many gods by strength alone, so supreme cleverness was often the answer. In Emily Wilson’s heralded 2017 translation of Homer’s poem, however, Odysseus is initially described not as someone who relies on “tricks and twists” but as “a complicated man.”

Nolan has followed Wilson’s lead, casting Odysseus as more of an everyman. He’s adept with a bow, married well, and is initially well-liked by his men. But while he has his share of clever ideas, he also makes mistakes, and his pride is nearly his downfall. In one of the most memorable scenes, Odysseus and his crew escape the cave of the massive Cyclops (Bill Irwin) by disguising themselves as sheep. But once they have already escaped, Odysseus shoots the beast with an arrow (allegedly to honor his fallen comrades), angering Poseidon the sea God as well as his remaining men, particularly his first mate, Eurylochus (a fantastic Himesh Patel). 

There is no greater everyman in Hollywood than Damon, and the actor is in fine form. He’s affable, but can be hot-tempered; he’s principled, but he contradicts his moral code at the drop of a hat (or crested helmet); he’s stoic, but in private conversations with a vision of the goddess Athena (Zendaya), he second-guesses every decision he makes.

It’s that mortal quality that gives “The Odyssey” its thematic heft, which is slowly revealed the farther Odysseus and his men travel on their journey. In the best of the trials they face, the witch Circe (Samantha Morton) transforms Odysseus’ men into pigs, justifying the dark magic as merely showing the world “what they really are.” 

Setting aside the practical effects at play, which are unlike any I’ve seen before, the scene foregrounds the nagging voice in Odysseus’ head. What if it’s not the gods (surprisingly absent outside of Athena) who are preventing his journey home? What if he’s not ready to return after spending 10 years doing what Greek soldiers do, all supposedly to defend the honor of Helen of Troy (Lupita Nyong’o), who is regarded as the rightful property of Odysseus’ Spartan counterpart Menelaus (Jon Bernthal)?

There is an undercurrent of dread throughout “The Odyssey,” whether riding the high seas with Odysseus or back at home in Ithaca with Telemachus and Penelope. Characters regularly invoke “Zeus’ law” (i.e. the golden rule), but also bemoan an unseen “sea people” that have led to its degradation. Characters like leading suitor Antinous (a deliciously slimy Robert Pattinson) wield Zeus’ law to suit their own ends, while the honorable Eumaeus (John Leguizamo) imagines Zeus’ law will once again be upheld upon Odysseus’ return.

Once you strip away the truly spectacular sea monsters, witches, and undead soldiers rising from the dirt at the gates of Hell, “The Odyssey” is still a human tale of fallibility. Odysseus is held up as a paragon of virtue by his faithful countrymen, but chooses to spend his days eating a lotus flower rather than return home and face his wife, son, and subjects.

Much like Nolan’s most recent protagonist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Odysseus must contend with being the architect of human suffering, whether it’s the nuclear bomb or a Trojan horse. Lucky for audiences, his journey of self-forgiveness is a cinematic epic unlike any in recent memory, one that ranks among Nolan’s greatest works.

Rating: **** (out of 4)

“The Odyssey” will be released in theaters July 17

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