‘The Odyssey’ review: Matt Damon leads all-star cast in Christopher Nolan’s towering IMAX adaptation of Homer’s epic poem

Dir: Christopher Nolan. US. 2026. 172mins

Befitting the monumental work on which it’s based, The Odyssey is a towering saga delivering a steady dose of staggering set pieces over its three-hour runtime. Christopher Nolan approaches Homer’s epic poem of love and war with a naturalism that gives the story’s fantastical elements a striking weightiness. In its chronicling of Odysseus’s arduous journey home following the Trojan War, the film deservedly flaunts its craftsmanship and scope – although this big-screen spectacle is not always as nimble emotionally or thematically. But, like Matt Damon’s haunted hero, viewers will have undertaken an overwhelming experience.

A naturalism gives the story’s fantastical elements a striking weightiness

The Universal release looks to be a commercial juggernaut, boosted by significant buzz and a slew of stars that includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron. Nolan is fresh off the success of Oppenheimer, which grossed $976 million worldwide and won seven Oscars and seven Baftas, and turned a despairing biopic into a box-office event. The Odyssey, which is the first film shot entirely on IMAX cameras, would seem to be a more traditional summer smash, probably proving especially popular in premium-large-format theatres.

Victorious after the 10-year-long Trojan War, the Greek king Odysseus (Damon) prepares to return to Ithaca, where his beloved wife Penelope (Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Holland) anxiously await him. But because Odysseus has been away so long many believe he has died, inspiring conniving suitors such as Antinous (Pattinson) to try to win Penelope’s hand in order to lay claim to the throne. Meanwhile, Odysseus must navigate a treacherous voyage across the ocean, encountering such dangers as cyclops, witches and vengeful gods.

Playing in IMAX, the film isn’t just visually sumptuous but powerfully immersive. As is Nolan’s custom, The Odyssey relies heavily on expert practical effects, which lend the grandiose picture a gritty realism missing from many mythological Hollywood epics of yesteryear. Production designer Ruth De Jong and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema emphasise the locations’ timeless beauty, ensuring that Odysseus’ adventures have a fablelike yet grounded quality. No matter the inexplicable horrors Odysseus and his men encounter on the way home, the obstacles feel as flesh-and-blood tactile as the Trojan soldiers they fought for many years.

A muscular, heavily-bearded Damon avoids playing Odysseus as a stereotypically chiseled, valiant champion of the people. Rather, Ithaca’s king is a hesitant, ageing man weary of war, although his journey home will present its own formidable set of challenges. (Ralph Fiennes took a similar approach in 2024’s The Return, which focused on Odysseus after he had made it back to Ithaca). Damon captures Odysseus’ vulnerability, but lacks the brooding intensity necessary to fully embody the character’s fire and torment. That said, he remains such an sympathetic onscreen presence that the warrior’s desire to reunite with his family provides The Odyssey with potent forward momentum.

Nolan has often experimented with unconventional narrative timelines, and The Odyssey incorporates a sophisticated structure that nests flashbacks within flashbacks — not to mention moving back and forth between Odysseus’s saga and Telemachus’s struggle to protect his mother. Oppenheimer demonstrated Nolan’s talent for juggling multiple complex characters and his follow-up similarly features a large ensemble, with Theron as the bewitching nymph Calypso and Zendaya portraying the enigmatic goddess Athena.

The acclaimed writer-director gives all of his actors moments to shine — including Nyong’o in a dual role as twin sisters — but because The Odyssey is stuffed with incidents, it’s inevitable that some in the cast will leave a stronger impression than others. Sometimes, though, only a few minutes of screentime are all that’s required: Samantha Morton is monstrously wicked as the witch Circe who lures Odysseus’s troops to her home, leading to the most terrifying sequence of Nolan’s career.

As Penelope desperately holds out hope that her husband will return — and her untested son seeks definitive proof that he is still alive — Odysseus not only battles mythical forces but also wrestles with his conscience. Provocatively, The Odyssey shares with Oppenheimer grave misgivings about humanity’s penchant for warfare; the two films fear the unimaginably destructive consequences of unchecked bloodshed. In a sense, Odysseus’s journey home is a protracted attempt to make amends for the carnage he has unleashed — not just in defiance of the gods but also against the societal norms that were torn asunder by his soldiers’ pillage of the known world.

If that redemption arc isn’t as compelling as Homer’s indelible set pieces — the unveiling of the Trojan Horse, Odysseus’s heartstopping meeting with the dead, and his climactic showdown with Penelope’s would-be suitors — it nonetheless questions the glorification of combat that has been passed down through stories since the ancient Greeks. Not that Nolan skimps on rousing action scenes. With Ludwig Goransson supplying a pounding score and Jennifer Lame editing the brawny sequences with a crisp, propulsive clarity, The Odyssey conveys the thrill of a classic adventure, while quietly suggesting that wars do not actually create heroes — merely emotionally and psychologically shattered survivors.