‘Not as profound as it wanted to be’
As expected from Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey is an immense technical achievement: vast in scale, beautifully shot and carried by an absorbing soundscape, particularly impressive on the Imax screen. I did enjoy it, but it did not resonate with me emotionally as some of Nolan’s other films have. For a film reaching for something deep and mythic, I’m not sure it felt quite as profound as it wanted to be. I also wasn’t wholly convinced by the casting. There were so many big names that at times I found myself seeing the actors more than the characters. Matt Damon, especially in the island scenes, reminded me of his early Bourne performances when the character had lost his memory. Charlize Theron felt underused, Jon Bernthal seemed to bring his familiar swagger, and Tom Holland did not fully convince me in the more conflicted moments. Samantha Morton, however, was excellent, as she always is. Samiul Kamal-Uddin, 49, London, UK
‘A poignant and painful story’
I expected controversy, but what I found was a poignant and painful story of a man who has to reckon with all the death and destruction he was personally responsible for. If Nolan had remained a fundamentalist, we wouldn’t have had such a beautiful, moving story of redemption and healing. Carmen, St Louis, US
‘A very American version’
Here in Greece, the release of Nolan’s The Odyssey was much anticipated for all the bad reasons. The uproar from some conservative parts of our society around the casting of a Black actor for the role of Helen was really concerning. I however was eager to watch it because I was curious to see how Nolan adapted such a difficult work. In our country, we teach The Odyssey in schools as a separate course in the first year of middle school, so every Greek has spent a long time reading parts of The Odyssey and writing analysis of its characters and events. Personally, I don’t remember a lot – it’s been 10 years – but I have the general picture. When I saw the movie, it was pretty much as I expected. A good movie, with a solid screenplay, with very good actors, made by a great director with a huge budget. But I couldn’t help but feel that it was a very American version with little connection to Homer’s creation. I don’t mind that some parts of the story were cut or changed, because that’s the point of an adaptation. However, the movie didn’t capture (or didn’t care to capture) the core of Odysseus’s character – that he was very bad as well as very good. Victoria Panagiotaki, 23, Athens, Greece
‘Gutted both the main character and the story’
I read a lot of reviews right before the film came out: Peter Bradshaw’s, Danny Leigh’s, Kyle Smith’s. Most were over-the-top glowing. Then I saw the film. I was disappointed, to say the least. I felt Christopher Nolan, whose work I generally revere, gutted both the main character and the story, turning Odysseus into a modern-age, two-dimensional good guy. Like the world couldn’t handle the more-than-occasionally ruthless, determined schemer he was. As an example, in the poem the fight with the suitors was anything but a fair one; it was very much a slaughter. I’m very familiar with the story, having read Robert Fitzgerald’s translation at least a dozen times in my life; this is part of the problem. Maybe the film is great for those not intimately familiar with the story, which is fair, I suppose, but that’s not me. John Grgurich, 60, Maryland, US
‘Reminded me of James Bond’
Odysseus’s character update reminded me of the way James Bond has been recently updated for a modern audience. He used to be a lovable rogue; now he is a thoughtful, conflicted man who uses violence reluctantly. Tom Holland was actually excellent as Telemachus and showed us a more nuanced version of masculinity. It is clear that Nolan’s whole take on the poem is that it’s about the bronze age collapse. There’s a number of references to the “sea peoples” and Odysseus even says something like “our age of bronze is collapsing” towards the end of the film. Being as he is interested in historical interpretations, Nolan might have interpreted the scene of Odysseus coming back as being about our shift from matriarchal societies to patriarchal ones. This is something Margaret Atwood does in her novel The Penelopiad. He could have made Penelope more of a matriarch rather than someone who sits at a loom for 20 years. I loved Anne Hathaway’s performance but the act of waiting for a man for 20 years is so antiquated it took me out of it a bit. April McCarthy, 38, London, UK
‘Filming in occupied lands doesn’t sit right’
I feel it could have been more campy, as Greek mythology is wont to do. More importantly, though, for part of the film they paid an occupying nation to film in Western Sahara, which doesn’t sit well with me. We see the suffering that lingers from the ignorance of dominion over others and the denial of freedom everywhere in our lives and in other nations. In a time of rising fascism, it’s incumbent for creative people to acknowledge that power incongruence. Christopher Nolan could have shot those scenes anywhere but he chose to do them on occupied lands. Alexander, Chicago, US
‘If more movies were like this, I’d go to the cinema more often’
Yesterday, my 14-year-old son and I went to see the movie. We both loved it, though perhaps for different reasons. To be perfectly honest, I was looking to have an outing with my son by going to see a movie that I thought I could manage to sit through. I was expecting gruesome battles and a little downtime but what we got was alternating thoughtful dialogue and action-filled scenes. Frankly, if more movies were like The Odyssey, I would pay for tickets to go to the cinema more often. Though I hadn’t expected to, I watched this movie as a parable of our times: a questioning of armed conflict and the need to see common humanity in others, however far they may be from wherever one calls home. Emily Hardouin-Cox, 42, Dijon, France
‘Played like a thriller’
Rather than leaning into the usual action or fantasy cliches, it played more like a thriller, which I really enjoyed. There were several moments where I genuinely felt the suspense, and I thought it was a strong interpretation of Homer’s story without relying on constant spectacle. My only real criticism was the use of American accents throughout the film. It pulled me out of the experience at times, especially when characters used modern phrases like “Dad!”, which felt out of place in the setting. I’d also love to see more films like this cast actors from the cultures they’re portraying. Greece has an incredible acting community, and it would be refreshing to see more native talent in major productions rather than relying almost exclusively on Hollywood stars. That said, the cast all delivered excellent performances. Kristian, 41, Brisbane, Australia
‘I had to put earplugs in’
I saw it in Imax, which I hated. Fifteen minutes in I had to put foam earplugs in to abate the skull-crushing loudness. After that, I could actually hear the dialogue. The film has moments of greatness and grandeur, but a lot of flat spots. I understand the repeated scenes with Calypso are used to build the narrative, but there is no chemistry between Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. The film really comes alive in the last 30 minutes or so, especially as Odysseus recalls the sack of Troy and comes to self-understanding of his responsibility and shame for the impending collapse. I was welling up at this point, so the film must have been effective! Alan, 58, Edinburgh, UK
‘It made me want to go back to the original text’
I agree with Emily Hauser’s nuanced verdict. As someone who knows Homer’s epic in its original form (I studied Ancient Greek), I found it hard to stomach many of the liberties taken with the story. As pointed out by Emily Wilson, the Phaeacians don’t even appear in the film, which is a shame. Why Circe, the powerful and beautiful sorceress Odysseus happily stays with for a while as well as sleeps with, has been turned into a rather weird witch is also a mystery to me. Athena, the mighty goddess who drives the action, helps and counsels Odysseus, even fights alongside him, is sidelined and depicted as quite a fragile being. Eumaios, the loyal swineherd, has been turned blind and cannot fight with Odysseus. The suitors in the original are not armed and none of them survives; Penelope does not immediately rush into her husband’s arms but puts him to the test once more; Odysseus is not exiled but peace is restored by Athena … There are many other deviations from the story, but these are some of the most striking. Homer’s epic has its own magic and still speaks to modern readers in a way no film adaptation can. It felt quite hollow, but it made me want to go back to the original text and enjoy the amazing stories in it. Christina, 46, Regensburg, Germany
‘Nolan is beginning to feel formulaic’
It had the feeling of a theme park ride at a movie studio, stopping at one set piece after another for thrills with little connective tissue in between. Even some of the stops were not what they could have been because little dramatic context was provided – for example, the Sirens and the giants. It’s the one film that made me feel Nolan is beginning to feel formulaic. The soundscape was remarkably similar to Dunkirk, with familiar dynamics and sounds to crank up the tension. I found it very hard to suspend my disbelief with the American accent. Sorry! Greek mythology feels too classical for that and I felt it would have been better served in RP, a la Gladiator. Nick Hughes, 50, Lancashire, UK
‘A proper summertime blockbuster’
A great, epic, mythical sea adventure. It has the stature and heft of a proper summertime blockbuster. I loved many of the choices. The fights were awesome, the sea vast and powerful. The script is very clever in its pacing, but ditching the lyricism in favour of more straightforward modern dialogue occasionally felt clunky. The drawbacks are typical of a Nolan movie: the palette is desaturated, the interiors stark, and the dialogue barely audible over random booming. Nolan just does not seem very materialistically imaginative – that’s why it’s weird he created such an amazing fantasy movie. Patrick, Seattle, US
