The Odyssey Movie Review (2026)
An epic adventure chronicling Odysseus’s years-long voyage across seas filled with monsters, gods, and impossible choices, The Odyssey is an ambitious and beautifully crafted film, though its emphasis on individual episodes sometimes prevents the emotional momentum from fully taking hold.
When my son was in elementary school, he took Latin for 6 years. In addition to the language itself, he learned tons of Greek mythology that he would come home and teach us. I’ve always found it interesting, but there is so much mythology that it’s one of the things I hope to learn about when I retire one day. As it happens, though, in the last six months I’ve reviewed two Chicago theatre productions about the Trojan War. I learned a lot during those two shows, and I feel like those tidbits helped me get acclimated to this movie.
The Odyssey focuses on Odysseus, a Greek King of Ithaca. During the Trojan War, he drafts boys and men into battle and, leaving his Queen Penelope and young son Telemachus, along with house slaves, to care for their kingdom, he departs by ship and is gone for 20 years. During this time, the Greek army wins the war, Penelope doesn’t know if her king is alive and is pursued by suitors, and Odysseus finds himself on a beach with Calypso, who has cared for him. He no longer remembers his name, his history, or his family, but it is brewing just beneath the surface. He slowly relays the awful events that he remembers as he and his men attempted to make their way back to Ithaca.
This is a solid mythological adventure that is an excellent vehicle for a director like Christopher Nolan (Inception, Oppenheimer, The Prestige) and had every right to do well at the box office. It was filmed exclusively on IMAX cameras, and with Nolan being known for avoiding CGI at all possible costs, learning more about the effects after the movie makes them that much more notable.
I have heard lots of people rave over this film, and there are many things to appreciate, but I’m going to take this strictly from an audience member’s perspective.
Right off the bat, the cinematography, visual techniques, and adherence to authenticity are remarkable. Between costumes, Penelope’s loom, various ships, and the castle, you see the love and work that went into the choices (however period they may or may not be – I am not a historian, they just look old and possibly period).
At the same time, the movie could have used an opening informational scroll like the one at the beginning of Star Wars. I spent the first half hour trying to figure out who each character was, figure out the names that were mentioned for characters I didn’t think we’d met yet, and get a feel for what was happening. I have never read The Odyssey, but I have some cursory knowledge of various stories, and I was putting in some work, which took me out of the story a bit.
I found the color palette interesting, as there is almost no vivid color in this movie. There is a thematic use of maroon red (in the armor headpieces and Penelope’s clothes, for example) and bright white and blue in the lotus flowers, but that’s about it. Everything else (other than one sequence with King Agamemnon) lives in browns, golds, greys ,and blacks.
While this is one epic saga born from Homer’s books, it is very episodic, so each vignette feels as if it is its own section. With some choppiness from one quest to the next, I was consistently interested, but never developed an emotional attachment to any of the characters, the events that took place, or the movie itself.
Each sequence is fascinating to experience, though. The Trojan Horse, which is probably the most famous story from this saga, is built beautifully. I’m not sure how the men were able to build it from the wood they either had on the ships or found on a beach, but it is amazing to look at. I also love that they had you experience what it was like for the men inside the horse while they were hiding. I don’t think that’s ever been done before, and it’s been a curiosity for many – or at least for me. I wanted to know how that could work, and this is one valid explanation.
Matt Damon carries the movie well, but I did, at times, feel like I was watching Matt Damon, an actor I like. Anne Hathaway was very Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland was very Tom Holland, and Charlize Theron was very Charlize Theron. That’s not to say that they weren’t well cast, I just had a very difficult time not seeing the actor and work they’d done previously while in these parts.
John Leguizamo and Elliott Page both captured my attention differently from things I’ve seen them in previously, but my favorite cast member was Samantha Morton as Circe. She is the kind of actor that doesn’t fit in a box, so the right parts have to present themselves. And as a witch who is hospitable to a fault, she is the person I can’t stop thinking about.
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, but it’s not without its flaws. It lives in a world where Gods and Goddesses are both real and affecting, so showing grace is a social norm. You never know when Athena might walk in as a beggar, and you don’t want to be the person who has shunned her. Of everything that this movie gives to its audience, that may be the part I love the most.
Runtime: 172 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Available: Currently in theaters
