The Odyssey, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, is the most recent film adaptation of Homer’s epic about the trials of Odysseus, hero of the Trojan War. The Stereo Geeks finally managed to watch the film on the big screen. While Ron would have liked to follow the trend of watching The Odyssey on 70MM IMAX, with tickets unavailable for weeks ahead, she decided to watch the film in a regular cinema. And she has a lot of thoughts. Spoilers ahead.

Following a decade-long war between the Greeks and Troy over Helen of Troy, Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his men head for home. But many travails and obstacles hamper their efforts, as they encounter monsters, battle the wraths of gods, and their own human frailties.

Meanwhile, Odysseus’ home of Ithaca falls further into disarray. Now governed by his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway), who is seen as having little power, as she awaits his return. Penelope must fend off dozens of suitors who have set up shop in her home, living off her hospitality, and taking advantage of not being denied because of Zeus’ Law–a code of conduct wherein all guests must be treated with the utmost respect, lest they be gods in disguise. There is no law governing how said guests behave in relation to their hosts, however.

Penelope’s son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), tries to keep the suitors at bay, but it isn’t an easy task. Telemachus has no memory of his father, who’s been gone for most of his life. Worse, nobody can confirm whether Odysseus is alive or dead, so it’s not like Penelope and Telemachus can make a move for the throne.

One particular suitor proves to be an extreme thorn in everyone’s side. Antinous (Robert Pattinson) has made much of his scant connection to Odysseus–that when the men of Ithaca were being chosen to fight the Trojan War, Odysseus hand-picked Antinous to stay behind and watch over Telemachus. This story has enabled Antinous to inveigle his way into the lead of the suitors’ queue. He’s well-positioned, well-off, and well-spoken–but he is not Odysseus so Penelope refuses to marry him.

Or anyone, for that matter. Penelope lives in hope of seeing her husband again; but Telemachus realises that he can’t keep the court intact. Not as a son with no news of his father. Without his mother’s blessings, Telemachus undertakes a journey to Sparta, to meet with Menelaus (Jon Bernthal), one of Odysseus’ warriors at Troy, and the reason this whole war began. Because his wife Helen of Troy was captured/ran off with the Trojans. Perhaps Menelaus has news of Odysseus?

In the meantime, the man himself searches his memories for war, his men, his wife, and his son. Why does Odysseus need to remember his life before he arrived on this mysterious beachy island? And who is Calypso (Charlize Theron), the woman who’s encouraging his remembrances?

The film goes back and forth through time showing us what Odysseus and his men have been facing. The famous Trojan Horse, the battle in Troy, monsters, men, goddesses. All that they face in the hopes that they can finally return home to Ithaca.

Ron found The Odyssey diverting, but wanted better for the women

I feel like I had so many preconceived notions about The Odyssey because of the absolutely endless discourse around it. Before the film was even released, and certainly once it was, the discussions about the film seemed endless.

Let’s start off with the discourse that we can easily dismiss. The rightwing bigoted nutjobs who were losing their minds because Lupita Nyong'o had been cast as Helen of Troy, aka, the woman who launched a 1000 ships, and was blamed for the Trojan War. Listen, you have to be a whole different type of racist to think people wouldn’t go to war over someone as beautiful as Lupita Nyong'o.

Then there was the discourse about Elliot Page being in the film. Because his presence says… something? You ignorant idiots know trans communities have existed on planet Earth for eons, right? Trans people predate bigots. Look it up in a history book.

But here’s the thing. If you have a problem with only Nyong'o and Page, but you don’t take issue with all the diversity in this cast, that just tells us that you hate Black women and trans people.

Once the trailers arrived, there was discourse about the language of the film. It’s very modern, people saying “dad” and “mom”. It was weird. As the film starts, I definitely found it jarring, but it’s surprising how quickly I got used to the modern language and ancient setting. It was like the film had its own language, and it didn’t bother me as much as it should have.

The cast of The Odyssey is surprisingly diverse, and I loved that so very much. Alongside Antinous, another fellow suitor is Corey Hawkins’ Polybus, just as annoying as his friend, but lacking in screentime. The pair were delightfully horrid to watch.

We have John Leguizamo playing Eumaeus, Odysseus and Penelope’s most trusted advisor, and the only other person in the court as desperate as the queen for the king’s return. I do wish they had cast an actor with blindness for the role, considering we don’t get to see much of Eumaeus in the past. Hollywood still has so much work to do when it comes to disability representation.

We’ve got Will Yun Lee as Anchialus, sadly sans any dialogue, but a delightful and attractive presence throughout the film.

We’ve got Zendaya as Athena, in a small but impactful role. Every time Athena turns up, you know Odysseus has messed up in some way. And so does he. I love how Athena consistently looks at him with the “I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed” face.

My absolutely favourite choice in the casting is Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, aka, Odysseus’ right-hand man and best bud. These two spend a lot of time together and they are often of the same mind. Until they aren’t. Until Odysseus chooses to sacrifice scores of his men in the hopes of Eurylochus making it to safety. And suddenly, Eurylochus can’t just be one of the men, considering his life cost so many others theirs. Every decision he makes, every action he takes must be weighed against the losses in his wake. If that isn’t going to strain a friendship, I don’t know what is.

So, yes, The Odyssey is diverse, because our world is, and always has been diverse. Anybody who is bothered by the diverse cast needs to rethink what planet they live on.

There was so much nonsensical talk about the casting, and then all the fanfare about watching the film only in 70MM IMAX, that people forgot to address the actual issues with the film.

I understand that IMAX cameras–and this film is shot entirely on IMAX cameras–can only hold a short amount of film. Long takes aren’t quite possible. But the first Act of the film is frustrating to watch because of the short scenes and endless cuts. My goodness, what a painful choice. I found those endless cuts so distracting. It’s not the best way to settle into a story.

But once the story moves to Odysseus and his recollections, we get longer takes that allow the audience to stay in the moment. You get the vastness of the ocean that separates Odysseus and his men from their home. You feel the claustrophobia of the Cyclops’ (Bill Irwin) cave when the men are trapped inside, and the wet claustrophobia of the interior of the Trojan horse. You feel the heat of the fires as Odysseus leads his men to pillage and murder through all of Troy. Not sure why the first Act couldn’t have adhered to that kind of editing.

I expected this going into The Odyssey, since I’ve seen enough of Nolan’s oeuvre to know he’s terrible at writing women. But there was a part of me that hoped for more rounded female characters in the film.

Thanks to Mon’s recommendations, I’ve read Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes, which completely recontextualised why and how women were written the way they were in the myths. With that in mind, it is tough to watch this film where the women are flattened and treated as afterthoughts.

Let’s start with Calypso. Charlize Theron is an Oscar-winning actor and is the definition of a Strong Female Character. She’s been in action films where your eyes can’t leave her. She’s got nothing to do here but ask Odysseus to remember and share his story. How do you do this to Charlize Theron?

Helen of Troy, who people were making such a fuss about? Lupita Nyong'o is another Oscar-winning actor who can balance drama and comedy across genres. For all the discourse, Nyong’o was barely in the film for five minutes, even though she was playing both Helen and her twin, Clytemnestra. I could weep.

But here’s the thing: Theron and Nyong’o are such powerhouses that they take their miniscule roles and imbue so much thought and expression into it. I felt Calypso’s reluctance to let Odysseus go, and her struggle to accept that she had erred by keeping him for herself so long. Nyong’o brings an edge to her sarcasm as Helen, holding her own against Menelaus, while accepting her fate. I still don’t understand why they had to scar her–that’s not a trope I like, at all. As Clytemnestra, Nyong’o doesn’t get much screentime, but hoo boy, do you feel her anguish, grief, and her rage.

Oscar-nominated Samantha Morton as Circe gets a lot more dialogue and a very physically messy role. I really liked her performance despite the brevity of her role. She’s so vulnerable and small, at first, and then she turns on a dime, using her powers to turn Odysseus’ men into actual pigs. Which was apparently done using practical effects. It looks great, and terrifying. More of this effort into writing the ladies, please, Nolan.

Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway’s Penelope gets more to do than I expected. All the myths I’ve read, Penelope just… waits. Does nothing but wait. Here, she’s weaving on the loom, an act that gives her something to do but also allows her to avoid contact with the suitors, because she’s working on a shroud, and shouldn’t be disturbed. It’s not a huge role, but Hathaway does get a few moments where she gets to show Penelope’s frustration with her situation, and the fact that she’s taking care of the kingdom with absolutely no credit for it. I also love when she says she wants to burn down the court with all the suitors in it. They’re really annoying, so you can’t really blame her.

Zendaya’s Athena is an ethereal presence, since she’s a goddess. She’s always chafing against Odysseus who voices aloud his annoyance at the gods speaking in riddles. But it’s not like she has much to do.

But that’s pretty much it. I understand that the women of the era didn’t have much agency, but they still had personalities, feelings. They were people. Would’ve been nice if a film made in 2026 demonstrated those aspects of women. 

I will say, the cast of women are absolutely gorgeous. I love the styling of their clothes and hair, whether agricultural, like Circe, or regal like Clytemnestra/Helen and Penelope, or otherworldly like Athena.

Before watching The Odyssey, we had seen Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and he was incredible. He’s also Spider-Man; he’s literally the hero. 

Telemachus is very much not a hero. He’s a bit of a dumb-dumb. Gorgeous, but not exactly the person you’d rely on to protect Ithaca. He’s still learning to fight and tries Eumaeus’ patience by making the same mistakes several times.

At least he makes the effort to meet Menelaus, but he doesn’t really achieve much. At the temple, where he’s ambushed, his father, disguised as a beggar, saves him. It’s kinda funny watching Telemachus struggle against one guy while Odysseus dispatches five or six by himself.

It’s similar at the end during the big fight in the court. Odysseus is literally fighting every single person in that room, while Telemachus is in the stores, fighting Melanthius (Logan Marshall-Green) to stop him from arming Antinous. How did it take you that long to fight one guy, who was distracted the entire time?

But aside from that, Telemachus was quite enjoyable to watch. Holland and Hathaway had very good chemistry, even though she looks way too young to be his mother. And the scene where Telemachus is listening to Menelaus’ stories about Odysseus, and can’t contain his emotions? It wouldn’t be a Tom Holland performance without some tears that get you in your feels.

When Matt Damon was announced as Odysseus, I was unsure what to expect. He is a very modern, American looking man. How in the world would he be playing a Grecian mythological hero?

Somehow, Damon makes it work. Maybe it’s the beard? But he fits into the look of this film and he gives it his all. He’s got that leadership quality, yet he isn’t afraid of showing emotion, for his friend, his men, and his family. The scene where Odysseus hears the sirens’ songs could have been so cheesy, or over-the-top. But I thought Damon found a good balance between terror and shame. I liked it.

Damon’s chemistry with Patel and Bernthal makes that brothers-in-arms vibe shine through. It makes the bond between Odysseus and Eurylochus, and their fallings-out, power the film. They’re the central relationship of The Odyssey, as far as I’m concerned, not Odysseus and Penelope!

I enjoyed The Odyssey and I found it captivating. Despite the first Act being hard to follow with the jerky and frenetic editing, the rest of the film is far-better paced and a complete escape from reality.

The Odyssey was action-packed, with some massive set pieces. The battle of Troy was tense and harrowing; the final fight was edge-of-your-seat stuff. But what made me love this film was that every plot point and every dialogue had a deeper meaning to it. 

Odysseus takes revenge on the cyclops for eating his men, thereby defying Zeus’ Law. To the point where the people of Ithaca hear rumours of mysterious sea people who are destroying Zeus’ Law altogether. 

Throughout the film, Odysseus is questioned about his reluctance to return home. Considering the long-winded route he’s taking to get home, it is a questionable decision. He gladly eats the lotus flowers on Calypso’s beach, not just because he likes it, but because it makes him forget.

And then, at the end, once he returns to his wife and child and his country, he reveals why. Because in Troy, where he had had the brilliant idea to hide in the horse, to break into the city, and then, when they were ready for victory, what happened? Utter chaos, death, pillaging, murder, worse. Odysseus saw the worst of his men, but he also enabled it all. And we learn that the Athena he’s been seeing, she was a young woman who his men murdered in Troy.

It all makes sense, this huge journey, all these adventures. Why wouldn’t a man who’d won a war want to return home immediately? Because he was not the same man anymore and how could he face his loved ones as this new person?

I loved that ending. I didn’t expect this film to touch on the trauma of being in war, and causing war. But it’s very subtly done and is quite effective. That is my favourite part of The Odyssey, alongside how epic it feels.

The Odyssey is currently playing in cinemas.