TL;DR – The Odyssey is a rare blockbuster that combines spectacle, emotion, and myth in equal measure. It left me awestruck, unsettled, and completely engrossed from beginning to end.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

The Odyssey Review Introduction

There are many foundational myths across the world, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, Kebra Nagast, and Beowulf, to name a few. Each is written in a style of myth and history in a way that evokes the human condition. Today we look at Christopher Nolan’s dive into this world, taking on the unenviable task of bringing The Odyssey to the big screen.  

So, to set the scene, it has been twenty years since Odysseus (Matt Damon) left on the command of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) to siege Troy and return the ‘kidnapped’ Helen (Lupita Nyong’o) to Menelaus (Jon Bernthal). However, it has been eight years since the city fell to the Trojan Horse gambit, and Odysseus has still not returned home to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland). This has been enough time for new suitors to start sniffing around, trying to gain the kingship of Ithaca via marrying Penelope. She has held them off for years, even as they use Zeus’ Sacred law to bleed her dry with banquet after banquet. Penelope holds on, partly because she knows they will kill her son as soon as a new heir is born, but also because deep down in her heart, she knows that Odysseus is alive out there somewhere.