It’s 2026 and we are in hell. The world is on fire because rich and powerful men cannot quell their appetite for domination and desire. They’re greedy pigs who want everything for themselves. They spit in the eyes of those less fortunate and then send young men into war to serve the interests of the elite. AI has made existence a digital hallucination. We are living in a time of the unreal. It’s an existential threat to humanity, yes, but specifically to the artist. Ones who physically craft art with their mind and hands. Bigots and racists explode with rage at the thought of a black woman or trans person daring to be working actors. It’s 2026 and we are in hell. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is the perfect film for this moment.
As a film itself, it is imperfect. The modernizing of language, while an intentional choice by Nolan to enable relatability to this ancient world, doesn’t work for me (“dad”). And as with Dunkirk, I wish his approach to historical war epics showed more wear ‘n tear on the costumes. Just a little more dirt and grime, ya know? But honestly, who cares when everything else about The Odyssey is a staggering, generational cinematic achievement. Every department on this film, top-down and across the board, are doing immaculate, career-best work. Shot on film. In camera. Real locations. Real musical instruments. Real landscapes. Real people. Real feeling. Real awe. Creating a truly unforgettable experience at the movies. We need this film for cinema. We need this film for culture. We need this film for humanity.
Impossibly, coming of $1 billion and sweeping the Oscars with Oppenheimer just a couple years ago, Nolan has pushed himself as a filmmaker to new levels of genre spectacle that he’s never quite touched before and it’s thrilling to see that he, too, still has desire and capacity to innovate stylistically. Epic fantasy? The cyclops and giants battle sequences are utterly thrilling and exquisitely executed. Revolting body horror? Circe’s pig curse on Odysseus’ men made my jaw drop through the floor. I’ve never seen anything like it before and I’m honestly proud of Nolan for going there. Not to mention Samantha Morton’s chilling portrayal of the witch goddess.
Speaking of performances, what is there to say other than everyone is, as Odysseus says at the beginning of the climactic third act, “bringing it all.” The casting “controversy” from right wing nutjobs is so funny because not only is it nonsensical bigotry, but Lupita Nyong’o and Elliot Page each only have about 5 minutes total of screen time AND they both crushed it. Elliot Page’s monologue as Sinon in Hades was one of my favorite deliveries of the entire film. And Lupita’s Helen of Troy has quiet fierceness that is mesmerizing. Matt Damon and Anne hathaway of course both consume the screen every scene and I expect Oscar noms for each. But across the board, this insane cast of A-listers knew what they had to do and executed. I will say, Tom Holland is getting a lot of kudos and his performance as Odysseus’ son Telemachus, which was fine, but I thought he was on the weaker side of the acting power in this cast.
Christopher Nolan is my favorite film director and has been since Batman Begins. That relationship poses a complex dynamic when I see his films for the first time. I spend a lot of time before release imagining of what it’ll be like in my head. And then they are so massive, so dense, so sophisticated that I need time to digest and see it again before I can nail down my true feelings on it. And after seeing it twice, it’s definitely in the upper-tier of his filmography, though pound-for-pound I think Oppenheimer is still his best film.
But let’s put rankings, ratings, and legacy aside. Let’s be in the here and now. Because The Odyssey is the best film of the year so far. It’s a film that reminds me why I love movies and why we need movies. To tell stories about the horrors and triumphs of humanity. To do so on a grand scale with the best filmmaking craftspeople in the world doing what they do best. To see it in a packed crowd with strangers all absorbing and relishing the spectacle on the big screen. I don’t know if The Odyssey is a “masterpiece.” But it’s an incredible fucking film that we need and deserve. And we’re lucky to have Nolan pushing the medium of cinema forward.
