There are moments – many, many moments – in The Odyssey, one of the year’s biggest and most ambitious films, that leave you searching for words on a scale similar to that of the film itself. Christopher Nolan, now a multiple Oscar-winning filmmaker supreme, has spent twenty-odd years redefining what cinema can be. Still, even by his lofty, impossibly high standards, his latest feels like his most seismic achievement.
Towering in scale, overwhelming in its in-camera, IMAX-centric technical ambition yet emotionally intimate, The Odyssey isn’t simply another Nolan masterpiece – this is perhaps his true masterpiece. It is also one of the most defining cinematic experiences of the still-fledgling century. It isn’t difficult to see how Nolan got here. Dunkirk was Nolan honing his skills in turning place, time, and geography into suspenseful, human storytelling, whilst using IMAX to immerse audiences rather than merely telling a story. At the same time, the Academy Award darling Oppenheimer showed his emotional maturity, pairing his nous for breathtaking, awe-inspiring spectacle with piercing psychological and emotional depth.
This brings all those lessons together to help him form his own opus, his own journey from the ultimate filmmaker to homecoming hero of modern cinematic landscapes. Even his work on The Dark Knight Trilogy has its fingerprints on the story of Odysseus and on one of literature’s greatest works, a hero pushed to his limits but still rising to meet unique and unimaginable challenges. His films have been described by some – including Guillermo del Toro – as cinematic mathematics by a master architect who forms intricate puzzles for audiences to solve.
But with Oppenheimer and now The Odyssey, Nolan has reached a new level of storytelling, by turns his most mature and emotional yet. Rather than leaning on structural cleverness – he does use the non-linear storytelling so ingrained in his work, though – he sits back. He embraces the emotional heft of Homer’s timeless tale, letting the themes of identity, grief, temptation, the endurance of the human spirit, and homecoming resonate with a clarity and force that his experiences as a filmmaker have given him. Every character serves an emotional purpose, every epic battle has true power, and every narrative decision feels earned and earnest. This is Nolan, the storyteller, not the puzzle maker.
Shot entirely in IMAX on a scale that feels unimaginable while watching it, the film constantly finds new ways to make audiences feel minuscule by comparison. The towering frame fuels excitement and anticipation, stretching well beyond the horizon as we chase the setting sun; giants fill the screen with their might, battles feel glorious and unfathomable, and the screen we are watching on feels unreal and beyond our reach.
He is also blessed with yet another spectacular ensemble that has no fat on it, with everyone superb and purposeful. Led by an extraordinary Matt Damon, who delivers his career-best work as Odysseus, capturing both the warrior’s legendary resilience and the crushing emotional toll of a man forever haunted by the distance between himself and home. It’s a performance of enormous physical presence matched by extraordinary sensitivity.
Tom Holland is also in career-best mode, in his most “adult” role yet as Telemachus, bringing his youthful bravado with genuine maturity throughout, sparring with Robert Pattinson’s slimy weakling Antinous brilliantly, whilst sharing some great scenes with Anne Hathaway’s Penelope, his on-screen mother. Outside of the main cluster, it’s Samantha Morton as Circe and John Leguizamo as Odysseus’ loyal servant Eumaeus, who are the pick of the bunch: both quietly devastating in their roles; Morton’s frightening witch brings real terror to proceedings; whilst Leguizamo’s “wise old man” brings warmth and pathos to one of his finest performances.
Altogether, the cast ensures the world is populated with real people rather than mystical, otherworldly ones.
It feels like watching the greatest dream ever that you never want to end, such is its majesty. Nolan has always wanted cinema to be experienced rather than to become “content” – if there was ever a true expression of that sentence, this is it. It feels like we step into a film rather than just experiencing it. Bursting with life thanks to Ludwig Göransson’s propulsive score, Hoyte van Hoytema’s astonishing photography, and Jennifer Lame’s meticulous editing, it creates an experience that is as emotionally transporting as it is technically astonishing.
In the age of streaming, jumping-the-shark sequels and pointless (and expensive) remakes, The Odyssey stands as a defiant, powerful reminder of what the theatrical experience is – and can be. It demands the big screen, the loudest speakers and the collective awe of an audience truly transported. Immersive, unforgettable, utterly compelling, awe-inducing and simply magnificent on every level, this is arguably the most complete cinematic experience of the 21st century.
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In cinemas on July 17th / Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, John Leguizamo, Samantha Morton, Benny Safdie / Dir: Christopher Nolan / Universal Pictures
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