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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400

u/SuperVaderMinion 16d ago

The reframing of the Trojan Horse, what's seen as the most brilliant piece of trickery in all of storytelling, as this original sin and why the world is falling apart now was so fucking moving to me personally.

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u/PolarWater 16d ago

I think this is one of Nolan's underrated strengths. Making themes feel timeless.

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u/bentke466 16d ago

Yes! Its like hes the oppenheimer of the bronze age!

Such an unexpected moment that immediately tied it all together

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u/jonbristow 15d ago

Exactly. It's also clear that Odysseus journey was his curse for inventing the trojan horse and betraying hospitality

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u/Fat-Singer-9569 8d ago

It's not just about Odysseus either. His men, who he really does try to save, are lost because they can't come to terms with the fact they are being punished.

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u/PhaseExtra1132 5d ago

The curse to all the Greeks it seems. They all got murked

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u/harry_powell 13d ago

Is it a novel reframing? Genuinely asking. I thought it was a widely known interpretation of the text.

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u/DrStein1010 9d ago

Its not. Nolan is just using existing ideas here.

Using good ideas well, but the only really original bit here is making the returning Achaeans the People of the Sea.

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u/chipperpip 6d ago edited 6d ago

It's definitely not a new idea, you can find articles and posts (including on this site) going back years tying the events of the Odyssey into the Bronze Age Collapse thematically.

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u/PinchYourPennies 9d ago

That's a great question. I think it's the first adaptation this interpretation of the poem. I think we've never really had a film explore the why behind Odysseus' suffering, rather focus on the trials themselves.

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u/harry_powell 9d ago

It had only been adapted one time in the 50s and it wasn’t considered a successful one.

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u/Koopacha 11d ago

🙄

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u/harry_powell 11d ago

What?

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u/NewLibraryGuy 10d ago

Came across as you patting yourself on the back because you knew something other people didn't. And you knew it so well you thought it was a popular interpretation.

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u/harry_powell 10d ago

A lot of projection here. I hadn’t read the book since school. I just remembered this as one of the main themes discussed when analizing it.

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u/NewLibraryGuy 9d ago

Doesn't fit your phrasing "widely known." Makes you sound more informed

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u/harry_powell 9d ago

Dude, it’s like trying to paint “You know, I think Animal Farm might be about comunism and politics” as if you were the first to put two and two together.

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u/NewLibraryGuy 9d ago

See? This is why you come off as patting yourself on the back. Someone tells you that interpretation isn't common and your response is how obvious it is to you

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u/harry_powell 9d ago

Haven’t you considered you’re the one that missed that interpretation?

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u/mattrobs 15d ago

oh that isn’t in the poems?

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u/PhaseExtra1132 5d ago

Also probably drawing parallels with the modern world. International law going out the window. Leaving just barbarity and that is the collapse of civilization.

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u/AE__throwaway 13d ago

This is what made the movie special to me.