The Odyssey movie review by Movie Review Mom

MOVIE TITLE: The Odyssey

This epic sword-and-sandal film opens in IMAX theaters on July 17, 2026

RATING: R

LENGTH: 173 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: Casting = C-, True to source material = C, epic spectacle = A

Featured Product About This Movie: Homer’s The Odyssey

I didn’t read the book in high school either, but now is our chance!

We can grab a copy on Amazon at https://amzn.to/4wIervm

The fact that this story from 3000 years ago can still grab our attention must mean something, right?

IN A NUTSHELL: Director Christopher Nolan takes on the granddaddy of all road trips in this sweeping, mythic action epic. Ten years after the Trojan War ends, King Odysseus still hasn’t made it home to Ithaca. While he is stranded across the sea dealing with monsters and vengeful gods, a rowdy crowd of suitors takes over his palace, trying to pressure his loyal wife, Penelope, into marriage. Told in a non-chronological puzzle style, the film explores the heavy toll of war, patience, love, and what it truly means to find your way home.

Already, the film has won the “Most Anticipated Film” award from Astra Midseason Movie Awards. This mega movie FEELS like a summer blockbuster. It LOOKS like a movie that will call people back into the theaters.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Violence: Being an R-rated war and mythology epic, there are intense battle sequences, sword fighting, and bloody deaths. The monster encounters (like the Cyclops) can be very frightening for younger viewers. There is an enormous dead-body count, a creepy witch, people drinking blood, and violent deaths. This is NOT a movie appropriate for children.
Language: Some strong language is used throughout the film.
Sensory Alert: The film features intense sequences with flashing lights and booming audio that may affect photosensitive or sound-sensitive viewers.
Sexual Themes: Suitors aggressively pursue a married woman, and there are references to infidelity and seductive goddesses holding men captive.

THEMES:

The psychological trauma of war and PTSD
Loyalty, family devotion, and perseverance
Hubris and the consequences of defying a higher power
Identity and emotional homecoming
Marriage and love

THINGS I LIKED:

The Technical Achievement: Christopher Nolan shot this entirely on brand-new IMAX film technology, and the scale is absolutely jaw-dropping. The vast landscapes and practical sea effects look magnificent on the biggest screen possible.
The Cast: You’ll notice that I have “Casting” listed as both things I liked and things I didn’t! The casting choices were…interesting. The casting includes potential Oscar winners and complete bombs. Matt Damon brings a very grounded, weary vulnerability to Odysseus, making him feel like a real soldier dealing with immense trauma rather than just a cardboard superhero. Because the movie was filmed with IMAX cameras that had to be reloaded every 3 minutes, some of the editing feels choppy, yet the entire cast did a great job keeping their intensity and focus in every scene.
The Unique Structure: Using different characters as narrators to jump back and forth through time mimics the classic framing of Homer’s original poetry beautifully, albeit often confusing.
Standout Supporting Role: I’ve been a fan of Anne Hathaway forever. Congratulations on her pregnancy; she’s 43 years old! Tom Holland does a wonderful job capturing the desperation of a young prince looking for his father, and Zendaya commands the screen with absolute majesty every time she appears as the goddess Athena. She should have been cast as Helen, the face that launched 1000 ships, though. For what it’s worth though, I do understand why Christopher Nolan would want to cast Lupita Nyong’o. Besides the fact that she’s already an Academy award-winner, the Greeks thought the black women of Ethiopia were the most beautiful, noble, and physically striking people in the world.
Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography is exceptional. Everything looks sweeping and epic, yet we also get incredible close-ups.
Musical Score: Ludwig Goransson’s original music underscores the emotion of the scenes well.
Sound Mixing: What blew me away was the sound mixing that literally rumbled through the theater where I watched the movie. From Zeus’ thunderclaps to the clanging of steel swords, even the occasional silence reverberated through the audience.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

One of my sons is an expert in Greek mythology and literature, so I think his list of things he didn’t like about this movie would be quite long. In fact, he didn’t even want to go see this movie, simply based on the trailers and memes all over the internet. I’m definitely not as familiar with the source material as he is. The spectacle of it all on the Big Screen really is something. There IS good here, although I know many people will poke holes all over it. There ARE holes to be poked, but people who want to give the movie a score of zero are just being ridiculous and unfairly dismissive.
CASTING: Christopher Nolan, what on earth were you thinking? Some will say he was brave for making his casting choices. Others might even say he was brilliant for doing so because it sparked so much conversation and debate long before the movie even came out.
Pacing Issues: Despite being almost three hours long, the film tries to cram so many mythological episodes into its runtime that some iconic encounters feel rushed. On the other hand, Act 1 almost made the girl sitting next to me in the IMAX theater fall asleep. I wonder how many people will watch this movie more than once. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was well done, but I wouldn’t sit through that one again either.
The Dialogue Accent Choice: Hearing ancient Greek heroes speak with very casual, modern American drawls occasionally broke the historical immersion. Sometimes, I couldn’t even understand what was being said.
Story: Because the film isn’t shown in a linear fashion, viewers will have a hard time piecing the story together in the beginning. The scenes with Charlize Theron were too vague to really understand what was happening there. I highly recommend viewers do a little research to get a quick summary of the high points of the story before they watch the movie. Even better, I hope viewers will now be drawn to the book! You can get The Odyssey by Homer on Amazon at https://amzn.to/4wIervm
Emotion: I wanted to get all of the feels and cry, but I didn’t. I don’t know why. Several characters cried on screen, so that should have gotten me going. I watched the faces of everyone leaving the movie theater I was in. They all had blank looks on their faces like they were still trying to process what they had just seen. Everyone was surprisingly quiet. Interesting, right?

FUNNY LINES:

“You’re pining for a daddy you didn’t even know.” – Antinous (Robert Pattinson) mocking Telemachus

INTERESTING LINES:

“Couldn’t you have shown some mercy?” – Odysseus (Matt Damon) pondering the cruel cost of his journey
“My dad is coming home.” – Telemachus (Tom Holland) maintaining faith against all odds

MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE:

Troy (with Brad Pitt): https://amzn.to/4w9ndm8
Oppenheimer (For Nolan’s masterful handling of non-linear timelines and heavy psychological burdens)
Dunkirk (For the sheer, overwhelming scale of survival against impossible odds)
The Return (2024) (For a more intimate, focused look at the final chapters of the exact same story)