Now Playing In Theaters — Reviews Are In
The Odyssey
Based on the epic poem by Homer
Action Fantasy
Epic
R
173 Minutes
95% on Rotten Tomatoes (384 critics) — Nolan's highest-rated film to date.
Quick Facts
| Director | Christopher Nolan |
| Studio | Universal Pictures |
| Release Date | July 17, 2026 (US & UK) |
| Budget | $250 million |
| Opening Weekend | $264.1 million worldwide |
The Cast
| Matt Damon | Odysseus |
| Anne Hathaway | Penelope |
| Tom Holland | Telemachus |
| Zendaya | Athena |
| Robert Pattinson | Antinous |
| Charlize Theron | Calypso |
| Lupita Nyong'o | Helen of Troy / Clytemnestra |
What Critics Are Saying
"A film with thrilling ambition, boldness, seriousness, generosity and flair."
— The Guardian (5/5)
"A vast, thrilling, slightly aloof epic."
— Variety
"By some distance, the best of the year so far."
— The Daily Telegraph (5/5)
"Takes itself too seriously" and "sinks under its own bleakness."
— The Boston Globe (2.5/5)
About the Source Material
Nolan's film draws on Homer's Odyssey, the ancient Greek epic tracing Odysseus's decade-long journey home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy. Robert Fagles' widely read modern-verse translation renders the poem's wit and lyricism in accessible, contemporary language, with Bernard Knox's accompanying introduction offering scholarly context for both newcomers and longtime classicists. At its heart, the poem is less a war story than a meditation on endurance, cunning, and the long road back to the people who matter — themes Nolan leaned into heavily in adapting it for the screen.
Our Take
Three thousand years after it was first told, Homer's Odyssey just posted the biggest opening weekend of Christopher Nolan's career — and critics are largely backing up the hype. With a 95% score across 384 reviews, this is Nolan's best-reviewed film to date, and much of the praise centers on the same things fans expect from him: a massive, committed ensemble, practically-built monsters, and a refusal to play it safe with beloved source material. Not every critic is on board — a handful found the film's self-seriousness a slog rather than a strength, and classicists have raised real questions about how the adaptation reshapes Odysseus's ancient moral framework for modern audiences. But for readers who've long wanted a big-screen Odyssey worthy of the poem, this is about as close as it's gotten. Worth revisiting the Fagles translation before (or after) you go.
