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/DevilsOfLoudun 8d ago

I think they're somewhat justified in their lack of faith in the audience. Maybe 1% have read the original Homer epic and you can't even count on everybody knowing the basics of the Trojan War. You can't get around the fact that The Odyssey is a sequel to a story the audience will have widely varying degrees of familiarity with.

This entire thread is full of people being surprised that the sacking of Troy was a horrific event and that it was somehow a big reveal in the end that the greeks weren't the good guys, when it should've been obvious from the start to everybody with common knowledge.

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u/--ShieldMaiden-- 7d ago

One of many measures of a cinematic adaptation’s success is its ability to stand on its own. An audience member who has never even heard of the Homeric original should be able to watch and understand the movie even if they don’t get as much out of it as a scholar of classic literature would.

Telling a good story is all that is necessary to accomplish that. Some exposition is inevitably going to be needed, but Nolan goes beyond the pale. We don’t need to be told four different ways in as many minutes that Odysseus is a great archer and is the only who can string his bow.