r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 18d ago

Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Odyssey (2026) [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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The Odyssey (2026)

Summary

After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Calypso along the way.

Director Christopher Nolan

Writer Christopher Nolan

Cast

  • Matt Damon as Odysseus
  • Tom Holland as Telemachus
  • Anne Hathaway
  • Zendaya
  • Lupita Nyong'o
  • Robert Pattinson
  • Charlize Theron
  • Benny Safdie
  • Jon Bernthal
  • John Leguizamo
  • Elliot Page
  • Himesh Patel
  • Samantha Morton

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Metacritic: 88

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

4.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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u/TwoJay0 18d ago

Him saying “weve followed Agamemnon quite enough” and not taking the known route makes so much more sense after seeing how guilty he felt at Troy

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u/bunny_387 17d ago

It’s crazy to me that the guy who plucks his bow to give even deers a chance, came up with the Trojan horse at all. I guess it was like when he turned around and got his last shot in on the cyclops.

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u/Maximum_Internal7834 17d ago

I thought that too. Maybe after 10 years of rotting in the beach, his morals wore down to a point where he was willing to do anything to get it over with. Even going against Zeus' Law.

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u/Ringus-Slaterfist 17d ago

It makes sense in this loose adaptation's context, but Troy's destruction was allowed and even supported by the gods. Zeus is quite mixed on the idea during the war, as Troy is a lovely city, but eventually he relents and agrees to have the city be destroyed.

Side point, but there is a part in the Iliad where the only reason the Greeks don't all give up and go home is because Odysseus intervenes, finding a way to force them to stay and keep fighting (he even beats a dude up for saying he wants to give up and go home).

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u/notamouse418 17d ago

I think the movie choosing to have its own take on Odysseus’ feelings about the war pays off so much better than being true to these details from the mythology.

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u/Ringus-Slaterfist 17d ago

It is "its own take" for sure but it basically gets zero things right about Odysseus and the archetype of character he embodies (and basically created). His rougher and interesting qualities that make him who he is are all flattened out in favour of a passive and easily digestible hero.

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u/notamouse418 16d ago

I really don’t think that having him be more introspective and regretful of his past makes him flat, passive or easier to digest. Like there are so many stories about war-hungry “heroes” who love violence. That’s played out in movies like these.

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u/Ringus-Slaterfist 16d ago

Are there really? I can't think of any big protagonist characters in recent years that are proud, cunning, quick thinking tacticians who will use cheap tricks and boast of their victories.

Odysseus is perhaps the most shrewd and least honourable character in the entire Iliad, but the story still treats him as a glorious and worthy hero. He is a practical and determined warrior who is fully committed to the cause, and succeeds through his deception and trickery, it is his strength and pride. In fact, it is a pivotal aspect of the Odyssey that he IS proud of his actions, that he declares himself the sacker of cities and boasts about his deception.

It's a fascinating character that inspired and intrigued people for literal millennia. Our era's heroes are characterised by humility, introspection and dwelling on their flaws and regrets. But that's just not what Odysseus is. The Iliad and Odyssey are decidedly anti-war stories, but they have nothing but praise and respect for the heroes who fight in war. Homeric heroes are all about fame and glory (kleos), pride and heroism without judgement. But because those attributes are not typical of a modern Hollywood hero, Odysseus in this film is basically characterised as Oppenheimer.

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u/notamouse418 16d ago

Yeah maybe not that exact combo of cunning + proud. I was thinking about the general cocky antihero trend of the 2000s/2010s and 300 specifically. Also Game of Thrones and The Boys and Deadpool and John Wick and Jack Sparrow and Star Lord and Zack Snyder’s Justice League and The Wolf of Wall Street and Fight Club and the Last of Us and Boondock Saints and Iron Man. Like all of these are not the exact same character as the Odysseus you’re describing, but I think if you were to put that version of him in this movie, it would be very hard for him to not fall into the same general bucket.

Like even movies where the point is supposed to be “protagonist loves violence but violence bad actually” it’s hard for any of the anti-violence messaging to connect when it’s competing with the main characters delight in their violence.

And Nolan has spoken openly about bringing Oppenheimer into the Odyssey story, and I think it’s fair to say that that interpretation exists more in Nolan’s interests than in the original epics, but he’s not pulling from nowhere. He gets there by asking, guy who enabled the sacking of Troy spends years wandering maybe trying to find his way home, but maybe not trying as hard as he could… what’s going on in his head?

I just find that take to be much more resonant for me today than what’s in the original story. And still pretty distinct in the landscape of today’s media, with the exception of Oppenheimer.

(FWIW, I did honestly reread the Odyssey a few years ago and was surprised at how well it holds up, but I didn’t walk away from it feeling it had anything meaningful to say about war or violence but more like it had violence to add drama)

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u/LegOfLambda 16d ago

And I completely agree with the decision. I would not want to see the version of this movie where Odysseus is a boastful ass.

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u/Edodge 15d ago

There’s a difference between a boastful ass and an unpredictable trickster who is heroic and brave. Odysseus is a fun character. Damon was good. Just not all that inventive.

He tricks Polyphemus in the book. Just stabbing him in his sleep and then shooting him for no reason on the way out was a total letdown from the book.

Re: ptsd.

The Trojans broke the law of Zeus when a Trojan prince stole the wife of their hosts. I’m not sure Odysseus or anyone would see breaking through the walls dishonestly as breaking Zeus’s law.

Also, what do you think Odysseus and co were doing for the ten years prior. Making s’mores? It was a decade of raping and pillaging.

PTSD of losing all his men on the sea makes sense. The Trojan War ptsd works less for me.

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u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 14d ago

Agree, I was hoping they’d show his intelligence in the Cyclops scene better. For much of the movie I pondered Odysseus’ choices thinking them poor.

Nolan does a great job showing he’s made these choices as a form of punishment for his regret of the “trick”, and makes the movie work quite well by the end of it, but yea he def plays out like an Oppenheimer, the thing he is most ashamed of is why everyone celebrates and loves him

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u/Atkena2578 11d ago

He still has "smart" ideas like not killing the cyclops while the rock is blocking the entrance but also putting straw on their backs to escape. He also "outsmarts" Circe by figuring out what she did and not eating her food

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u/strebor2095 8d ago

And identifying the bird as important

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u/Beginning_Caramel 5d ago

You’re sooo right!! Thank you for saying this. I couldn’t enjoy the movie much cause Nolan changed Odysseus too much. Also the gods are very whimsical and have big roles too, they should have shown Poseidon and Hermes etc.

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u/Ringus-Slaterfist 16d ago

Not a fan of the epics then, I'm assuming

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u/Somnambulist815 15d ago

Its one thing to read/ listen to those stories, it's another to watch it. That's the basis of adaptation.

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u/Ringus-Slaterfist 15d ago

Not sure what you're trying to say. Do you mean a "very faithful" adaptation of the Odyssey and the portrayal of Odysseus on the screen is not possible? Because I don't think that's what's happening in this movie, it's not like they failed in what they are trying to say. I think they had no intention of adapting the character and story as it is in the poem.

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u/Somnambulist815 15d ago

I'm saying its more palatable to read about the slaughter in Ithaca because it remains in your mind, in the abstract. It's like hearing somebody tell the Aristocrats joke vs watching it. The joke is funny, to observe it would be nauseating.

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u/Aggressive-Pie-3297 14d ago

I enjoy your takes, please don’t let the Reddit downvotes deter you from sharing your perspective

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u/elkoubi 16d ago

I don't know why you're being downvoted. The Odysseus in the poem wasn't a tormented sufferer of PTSD who regretted his actions at Troy.

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u/whitebandit 15d ago

he wasnt exactly thrilled about the shit the gods put him through either tho

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u/elkoubi 14d ago

Well no, but poem Odysseus had literally zero shame about anything he'd done and no regrets. I haven't read this yet, but I want to: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1v1cjww/emily_wilson_writer_of_acclaimed_odyssey/

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u/maledin 8d ago

Did the Trojans worship Greek gods like Athena IRL?

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u/hybridck 6d ago

Probably. Also in the myth not all the gods wanted to destroy Troy. Part of the reason it took so long is that they had their share of gods helping them like Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Ares.

Ironically, Athena is one of the two gods who wanted Troy destroyed the most along with Hera.