July 16, 2026 10 min to read

The Odyssey

Is the Odyssey Christopher Nolan's best film yet?

Review: Christopher Nolan. The writer and director of so many classic greats, chooses to follow up the movie that won him his first Best Director Oscar by telling the epic of all epics - The Odyssey. Because of the legacy and historical nature of this story, so much was riding on the movie on meeting the expectations of Homer’s original story along with the expectations of the follow up to Oppenheimer.

To cut to the chase, Christopher Nolan does it again, making a movie that is genuinely gorgeous to watch. Since they shot the whole film on location in Greece, Morocco, and Italy, every set piece was real, every boat sailed on was actually sailed on, and every journey across these vast locations were actually made. Each scene comes to life, whether it is the scene with Polythemus in the cave, the actual voyages sailed on, the journey to Circe, the passing through the sirens, the meeting with Hades, and the sacking of Troy. The way all of these sets looked and were used were just marvelous, bright, vibrant, and authentic, doing their best to immerse you in the story.

I could go on and on about the way the movie looked, how well it was directed, and how well it was acted, but what really shocked me in the movie is how it didn’t fully buy me in. I really struggled to get bought in on the emotional core of the movie, so the movie to me, despite being gorgeous to watch, was just The Odyssey. What makes it worse is that I wasn’t even a fan of Homer’s version of The Odyssey to begin with.

Before watching the movie I knew this was going to be a struggle for me, as I remember not being the biggest fan of the story from school, but I was hopeful this movie could not only spark my interest with the story, but help me fall in love with it, but that ended up not happening, which was extremely disappointing.

The emotional core of the movie is made up of 2 parts. The first part is Odysseus returning home to his wife, son, and dog, with them patiently awaiting their return. The second part is the impact of keeping and breaking Zeus’s law (treating others with the same kindness and respect you would wish to receive, under the theological belief that strangers may be gods in disguise). The first part was the part that really worked for me, as by the time the end of the movie comes around, reunions do occur, and Christopher Nolan does such a fantastic job at making these reunions feel so meaningful. While this part worked for me, it’s the 2nd part that didn’t, and it was this part that ended up being the real emotional hook at the end of the movie. I understood how the pieces were connecting, and how they were trying to bring the mistakes of the past to be made whole in the future/present, but it landed completely flat for me and I felt absolutely nothing. Because of this, by the time the movie ended, all I really thought was “That was it?”, which really disappointed me.

As an additional item that really threw me off at the beginning was the pacing and editing. Because the movie was shot completely in 70mm IMAX film, in order to project the movie on 70mm IMAX projectors, they had to get the movie under 3 hours long which had them be very aggressive on the editing, especially at the beginning of the movie. Not only does it start a little slow, it also jumps everywhere with the edits, and it was really throwing me off, especially for a Christopher Nolan movie. While this was a persistent issue in the first 15-25 minutes of the movie, once the story started picking up the editing issues definitely went away, having the rest of the movie be immaculate.

Overall, it really does seem like I am dogging on the movie more than I am praising it, but the movie does have so much good in it. There are so many stand out scenes that I could talk about (the island with Circe, the Sirens, every sequence depicting the Trojan Horse and the sacking of Troy, and Odysseus’s return to Ithaca to take on the suitors) that were jaw dropping cinema, but I also feel that every other person writing a review is going to say the same positive things about these same scenes, so I didn’t want to be redundant. That being said, the ending didn’t land for me, and at the end of the day it’s just The Odyssey. I wish I could have bought in on the story more, but even seeing the movie in beautiful IMAX, I was still left a little disappointed, making this one of my least favorite Christopher Nolan films.

Rating: 3.5/5

Additional Thoughts: I have now seen the movie a second time, and I have additional thoughts to add to my review.

• The best set piece of the movie is Troy. Not only does this set piece contain the best sequences of the movie, I think the Troy set is one of the most impressive and coolest sets constructed for a movie in a long, long time, and I loved how they built it just to destroy large chunks of it and set so much of it on fire. Troy also has my favorite frame of the movie - Agammemnon standing at the gates of Troy right as the men in the horse were finally able to open them.
• The scene after Odysseus and his crew leave island where Apollo’s cattle are grazing is one of my favorite scenes in a long, long time. The fact they were able to destroy a ship with minimal lighting, showing the pain and struggle of those aboard with just flashes of lightning was incredible, and it’s one of the reasons I love seeing movies in IMAX.
• While I loved the Cyclops sequence, especially how they were able to set up the scene for the actors using a 60-foot puppet, I never felt the fear or urgency the scene demanded. They got in and immediately had a plan to get out, having me feel like there was no real struggle for them to escape.
• The score of the movie is good, but I didn’t find it to be great. To me, a great soundtrack generally has to (1) transform the scene the music is being played in and transport you to that world and (2) has to be a genuinely good time to listen to individually on Spotify (which is important to me since I listen to music soundtracks while at work to focus). The movie does a great job at #1, perfectly transplanting you into the world of ancient Greece with various sounds and melodies Ludwig was able to concoct, but as for #2, I only found a few of the songs to really rock my world while watching the film, and I found only 2-3 songs to be worth a listen on Spotify (after listening to them all again). Because of this, I found this to be my least favorite of his Nolan movie soundtracks (I much prefer Oppenheimer and Tenet), wishing I found more songs I would love to listen to while working.
• Zeus’s Law is still definitely the moral compass of the movie, guiding most decisions throughout, even through to the end. After the first viewing of the movie, while apparent to me, the idea of breaking Zeus’s Law and needing to live with the consequences of breaking it, never seemed to sink into my mind or my soul throughout watching, leaving the ending a little blander than I would have wanted. On this second showing this idea came together better at the end than my first watch, but it still wasn’t in a way that really impacts me. I still fully understand that the conclusion of the movie is Odysseus putting himself in exile to mourn the loss of his fallen soldiers and to atone for the mistakes he made at Troy by breaking the Law. The fact that he was the one who initially broke the Law by not only suggesting the Trojan Horse but also piloting the campaign into Troy, putting his men and his people in danger (and eventual death), and causing a great calamity of fear and turmoil throughout Greece does not hit me to my core. It doesn’t move me, nor does it resonate with me, as it does with others. If you are a deep thinker and love getting deep into thought about life, consequences, love, honor, and how societies can truly be impacted based on the various decisions by key individuals, I truly see how an ending like this gives you so much to nibble on. There is so much brought up regarding this idea that I see why and how people are chomping at the bit to see this movie another time or two just to get have these ideas/themes imbued into their minds and in their hearts. As for me, I’m not a deep thinker. so for me, having an ending that was pushing the viewer to have a deep interaction with the major themes being discussed throughout the movie (especially Zues’s Law) is the reason that the ending never truly connected with me. Instead of having this feeling of satisfaction I get with so many movies (nearly all of Nolan’s filmography), my initial reaction to the ending was “That was it?”, with my reaction the second showing being “I get it even more now, but it’s not for me.”
• I didn’t bring this up in my initial review, but the acting in the movie is top notch from everyone, but I also thought there were several lines written that the actors had to say that were just cheesy, and I think Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson got most of these lines.
• Overall, my score and overarching thoughts on the movie as a whole this second showing still aligned with my opinions and thoughts after the first showing. While there may be outliers, the story at the end of the day is just The Odyssey, so I think people who don’t care for Greek mythology or don’t care for the story of The Odyssey in the first place are not going to adore this movie as much as others (this is the category I fall in). Additionally, since the story is the archetype adventure and mythological story, the story and characters do not stand out or feel original, as so many other stories and characters have been based on this, making even a rendition of the original story (i.e., this movie) feel like a story that’s been told and heard a thousand times, not feeling as epic or grand as it actually is.
• As for where I think this ranks against all of Nolan’s other films, it’s still personally one of my least favorite movies of his. While I still think this is a good movie, I’d still prefer to watch the 10 movies he released prior to this one (Insomnia through Tenet).