The Odyssey (2026) Universal/Fantasy-Action RT: 172 minutes Rated R (violence and some language) Director: Christopher Nolan Screenplay: Christopher Nolan Music: Ludwig Goransson Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema Release date: July 17, 2026 (US) Cast: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, John Leguizamo, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, Corey Hawkins, Mia Goth, Logan Marshall-Green, Ryan Hurst, Himesh Patel, Will Yun Lee, Jimmy Gonzalez, Andrew Howard, Jovan Adepo, Jesse Garcia, Josh Stewart, Sean Avery, Anthony Molinari, Iddo Goldberg, Michael Vlamis, Benny Safdie, Bill Irwin, James Remar, Elyes Gabel, Kate Fuglei, Travis Scott.
Rating: ****
The wait is over. The Odyssey, the year’s most anticipated movie, is finally here. Does it live up to the hype it’s been getting for the past year? It sure does! It’s not only the best movie of the summer; it’s one of the best of the year. I predict we’ll be hearing a lot about it come Oscar time.
The Odyssey is a true epic in every sense of the word. It’s a brilliant, exciting, visually stunning adaptation of the epic poem by Homer. It’s been brought to life by Christopher Nolan, the man who successfully resurrected Batman and dropped us right in the middle of the Dunkirk evacuation before teaching us about the tortured physicist behind the first WMD. Now he takes us on a journey through Greek mythology is his telling of the tale about Odysseus and his long, long journey home after the Trojan War. He gives The Odyssey the treatment it deserves I’m happy to say.
Nolan, who writes and directs, takes a non-linear approach to The Odyssey. He divides the film’s nearly three-hour run time between three narratives. The first has Odysseus (Damon, The Bourne Identity) on an island with the nymph Calypso (Theron, Monster) trying to remember how he came to be there. She’s been feeding him lotus flowers in a deliberate attempt to keep him there, but she’s had a change of heart. She helps him remember his ordeal trying to get home to Ithaca after his victory at Troy. She also lets him recall the family he left behind twenty years earlier.
Back home in Ithaca, Odysseus’ wife Penelope (Hathaway, The Devil Wears Prada 1 & 2) is under a lot of pressure to remarry. Almost everybody believes he husband is dead leaving Ithaca without a king. There are many suitors jockeying for the position with the nobleman Antinous (Pattinson, The Batman) leading the pack. Penelope wants none of it and keeps stalling the guys who have basically taken over the home she shares with her and Odysseus’ son Telemachus (Holland, the Spider-Man movies). He eventually decides to strike out on his own to find out what happened to his father.
No adaptation of The Odyssey would be complete without an account of Odysseus’ adventure as he and his men face one obstacle after another trying to return to their home. Why are they having all this trouble? It seems the gods are angry with Odysseus for what he did in Troy. And, of course, there’s that nasty business with Cyclops (Irwin, How the Grinch Stole Christmas), the son of Poseidon. The whole time, the goddess Athena (Zendaya, the Spider-Man movies) keeps appearing to Odysseus to stoke his guilt.
The term “overpraise” doesn’t apply to The Odyssey. “Epic”, on the other hand, does. It really is that great. It’s also huge. It belongs in the same class as Lawrence of Arabia and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was filmed in IMAX 70mm and that’s exactly how it should be seen. It’s a grand-scale movie with a cast of thousands (as they used to say). The special effects are amazing. It’s CGI, but it doesn’t take you out of the picture like the CG imagery in the woeful Clash of the Titans remake in 2010. Scylla the sea monster looks especially impressive. The battle scenes are well orchestrated thanks in no small part to the deft editing by Jennifer Lame (Oppenheimer).
You don’t see too many movies with all-star casts anymore. That’s another reason I love The Odyssey. Nolan cast some interesting actors starting with Matt Damon. I’ll be honest. I didn’t think he could pull it off. I just couldn’t see him as Odysseus. Well, he crushes it. He adds depth to Odysseus playing him as more than just the hero of an old story. His Odysseus is a complicated man dealing with the psychological toll demanded of his “heroic” actions. He witnesses the slaughter of innocent people including woman and children. He believes he deserves the punishments meted out by the gods. I realize this is very 21st century, but it adds to rather than takes away.
The rest of the cast does stellar work, especially Pattinson as the vilest of all the suitors. He makes you hate him from the moment he appears on-screen. Hathaway does a fine job as Penelope, the queen who doesn’t want to believe she’s a widow. She has to hold onto hope that her long-absent husband is alive and on his way home. Holland gives a solid performance as the prince not quite ready to assume the throne.
The name cast also includes John Leguizamo (John Wick) as Eumaeus, Odysseus’ faithful servant; Samantha Morton (Minority Report) as the witch Circe; Lupita Nyong’o (A Quiet Place: Day One) as Helen of Troy and Elliot Page (The Umbrella Academy) as a young soldier. They all do a good job. Also, look closely for James Remar (48 Hrs.) who appears briefly in the scene in Hades.
WOW! I don’t know what more I can say about The Odyssey. It’s exciting and intelligent. It’s long but never boring. It includes the bit about the Trojan Horse which wasn’t in the poem, but whatever. It’s a cool scene. I absolutely LOVE this movie. You should definitely get out and see it.
P.S. I saw it in regular format because my local multiplex doesn’t offer IMAX. I’m planning to see it in IMAX 70mm next week. I’ll add to my review afterwards. Stay tuned.
