Review: The Odyssey (2026)

Christopher Nolan has somehow made a film that feels impossibly huge while never losing sight of the people at its centre, and feels like the movie he’s always been destined to make. The Odyssey is packed with some of the most jaw-dropping sequences he’s ever put on screen, but none of it feels like spectacle for spectacle’s sake. Every giant battle, storm, and mythical encounter serves Odysseus’ long, painful journey home.

You can really feel Nolan’s obsession with doing things for real. The practical filmmaking and IMAX photography give everything a weight that CGI-heavy blockbusters just can’t replicate. It feels tactile, massive, and completely immersive.

Matt Damon is phenomenal. He brings a quiet exhaustion and vulnerability to Odysseus without ever sacrificing the larger-than-life presence the character demands. Anne Hathaway is excellent as Penelope, giving the emotional backbone of the film, while Tom Holland continues to prove he’s capable of much more than people often give him credit for. Robert Pattinson, Himesh Patel, Samantha Morton, and John Leguizamo all make the most of their screen time too. Pattinson especially oozes with jealousy and hatred that you can totally feel.

Ludwig Göransson’s score is another winner. It blends ancient and modern influences into something that feels completely its own, and the sound design is unbelievable. Nolan finally seems to have found the balance between overwhelming you with sound and knowing when silence is the more powerful choice. 

Hoyte van Hoytema, having shot Nolan’s Dunkirk, Interstellar, Tenet and Oppenheimer, has finally outdone himself on the cinematography level. This film is GORGEOUS.

I grew up loving films like Gladiator, Braveheart, The Last Samurai, and Troy, and this scratched that exact itch while somehow feeling even grander. We don’t get many old-school epics anymore, especially ones this uncompromising in their vision.

This is the kind of blockbuster that reminds you why going to the cinema still matters. See it on the biggest screen you can find, it’s absolutely mesmerising on IMAX. 

Side note (and this is all I’ll say on the matter): put aside the dogshit rhetoric idiots who haven’t seen the film have been espousing. Whether it’s the racial views, the use of Elliot Page (spoiler, he doesn’t play the character assholes on the internet have led you to believe) or the historical accuracy - the movie transcends all of that. In my opinion, if your worldview is that small and limits your ability to enjoy a film so many people worked so incredibly hard on (and, in this case, delivered on its massive promises), you’re a moron. 

I’ll be thinking about this movie for ages.

10/10.