Christopher Nolan has always managed to make the impossible possible with his films. And in his thirteenth feature, the director goes even further. He takes us back 3,000 years to experience perhaps the most impossible story ever written: the Homeric Odyssey. The epic adventure with gods, monsters, stormy seas, and triumphant homecomings has captivated filmmakers for centuries, and now Nolan manages to bring it back, making the audience witness it with the force that few other films have ever achieved.
This is a spectacular, technological, and emotional film. It is the first feature ever shot entirely using IMAX cameras and arguably the most immersive spectacle of Hollywood this century. At the same time, the picture is somewhat easier to admire than to watch a second time on a lazy Sunday, making it less rewatchable than most of Nolan’s features.
Matt Damon’s Odysseus: Less Swashbuckler, More Shell-Shocked Survivor
Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, who ends the Trojan War with the wooden horse maneuver and fights his way back home through dangerous seas. Damon looks somewhat fatigued and serious, which is a good thing, as this version of the hero is much less bold and adventurous than usual. Odysseus is intelligent and ethical, but morally complicated, being haunted by the consequences of his shrewdness. Damon successfully conveys a survivor’s weariness and makes it interesting.
Gods, Suitors, and Spider-Man: The Cast Is Stacked
Nolan surrounds Damon with a stellar cast. Anne Hathaway plays Odysseus’ wife Penelope, the queen left behind while suitors surround her husband’s throne. Hathaway plays the character convincingly, conveying a lot, not verbally, sometimes with clothing choices. Tom Holland, known for being Peter Parker/Spider-Man, gives a very strong coming-of-age performance, completely abandoning his previous image and unusually playing a young man. Robert Pattinson takes on the role of the suitor Antinous, who wears golden armor yet aspires to be as courageous as true men.
Other great actors in supporting roles include Lupita Nyong’o, who plays the twins Helen and Clytemnestra, and fyi, Lupita has a face that can launch a thousand ships; Charlize Theron, who plays Calypso, the nymph who falls in love with Odysseus; Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena; and Samantha Morton, who plays Circe, the witch. John Leguizamo brilliantly plays the swineherd Eumaeus.
No Green Screens Allowed: Six Countries, Real Ships, Real Storms
All of that is nice, but what makes The Odyssey stand out among its peers is the director’s emphasis on physicality. For the third time collaborating with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, Nolan shot the film in six different countries – Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland, and the USA, looking for extreme landscapes and severe weather that the original audience of the poem could imagine. Fall of Troy is shot using a 2.5-acre set with 2,000 extras, using thousands of LED pyrotechnics to light the set with the light of fire. Odysseus’ sailors really row a real ancient ship on the real sea. When the winds and rains hit the actors on Iceland’s black beach, you can feel it.
How Do You Whisper on an IMAX Set? Nolan Invents a New Camera to Find Out
As van Hoytema calls the picture an “intimate epic”, the latter defines the film’s greatest accomplishment. The scope is absolutely massive, but the camera always focuses on the person inside it. This closeness is already a technical feat itself. Using IMAX cameras, which were too loud for close-up dialogue scenes, was difficult until now, so Nolan asked the IMAX company to develop a new camera model called The Keighley, which does not interfere with actors. Long conversation between Damon and Hathaway in the Ithaca palace sets becomes the heart of the film thanks to this invention.
Lyres, Gongs, and Bowstrings: Göransson’s Score Earns Its Own Documentary
Ludwig Göransson deserves a separate mini-documentary for the score. He uses instruments such as the aulos, lyre, and many gongs, creating a distinctive three-note motif resembling Odysseus’s bowstring. The score is absolutely unique and perfectly corresponds to the film’s four-hour musical world, not resembling either an ancient museum score or the usual noise of a blockbuster.
Costume and makeup designs by Ellen Mirojnick and Luisa Abel meet the clarity of IMAX picture head-on, appearing absolutely realistic, as if taken from the earth rather than created for the screen.
So Close to Perfect: Why This Monument Loses a Few Points
But why 97 and not 100? The answer is that, although monumental, The Odyssey is definitely more of an experience than a film to be rewatched. Nolan’s best works invite repeated viewing and contain many secrets, such as the puzzle boxes in Inception or the epic moral chaos of The Dark Knight. Those films offer additional discoveries on repeat viewings, while the power of The Odyssey is revealed better on the first viewing and in the theater in full IMAX scale. Without the atmosphere, some of the film’s magic disappears. It is a monument meant to be visited, not lived next to. The themes of hospitality, homecoming, and long survival are strong, but at times the narrative’s episodic nature slows the momentum.
The Verdict: An Unforgettable Odyssey, Even If You Only Take It Once
This is a minor flaw in the monumental film that achieves nearly everything it set out to do. Nolan wanted to show that the oldest story in Western culture can still overwhelm a modern viewer. That grand in-camera spectacle and technological innovations can coexist without defeating one another. And he succeeds in nearly everything. The Odyssey is a truly amazing film from the opening titles to the credits, and it proves that Nolan knows how to create films with ambition and soul and to use artists at the peak of their craft.
It may not be Nolan’s film to be seen several times, but it is definitely one not to be forgotten.
