Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway lead a star-studded cast in the movie, which opens July 17.

The Odyssey reviews: What critics are saying about Christopher Nolan’s take on the epic

Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway lead a star-studded cast in the movie, which opens July 17.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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July 15, 2026 7:23 p.m. ET

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Matt Damon portrays Odysseus in ‘The Odyssey’. Credit:

Universal Pictures

- The highly-anticipated movie *The Odyssey *has received largely rave reviews from critics.

- They cite director Christopher Nolan’s visual take on Homer’s centuries-old tale.

- The few criticisms of the film focused on its emotional side.

After much anticipation, audiences are finally free to embark on director Christopher Nolan’s *The Odyssey*.

And it looks very promising. Homer’s story of Odysseus making his way back to Ithaca after the Trojan War — remember it from high school? — is literally an epic on its own. Pair it with an all-star cast that includes Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Bernthal, Robert Pattinson; Elliot Page, Charlize Theron, James Remar, and more, and it’s a blockbuster waiting to happen.

The fact that it’s directed by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Nolan, who was behind the lens on critically acclaimed crowd-pleasers such as *Oppenheimer*,* **The Dark Knight*, and *Inception*, alone will convince many moviegoers to take a peek. But should they?

Here’s what critics are saying.

First of all, they were generally wowed by Nolan’s latest. Really.

Matt Damon and Zendaya star in ‘The Odyssey’.

Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Tribune News Service’s Katie Walsh wrote that the film was “nothing less than glorious.” Her view was that it was Nolan “on his grandest scale yet.”

Walsh continued, “What makes Nolan’s vision of *The Odyssey* so entrancing is the sheer scope, scale and beauty of it. Like a general, he marshals his tremendous resources, talent and an army of artists in service of conveying his message to a rapt audience. It’s the first film to be shot entirely in IMAX (by his longtime collaborator, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema), in locations spanning the globe from Morocco to Iceland, with the best cinematic craftspeople lending their skill to making the myth real. It’s the immediacy and tactility that makes this adaptation arresting; the sweat, size and sound of it.”

Matt Damon mistook Tom Holland’s wardrobe mishap for a poignant acting choice while filming ‘The Odyssey’

Why everyone’s arguing about Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

Looper.com’s Nina Starner called the movie “a visual feast and an undeniably outstanding achievement in filmmaking that cements Nolan as one of cinema’s all-time greats, naysayers be damned.”

Randy Myers, writing for the *San Jose Mercury News*, said the movie builds on Nolan’s impressive list of projects.

“*The Odyssey* is another feather in Nolan’s masterpiece cap, a grandiose achievement that fills audiences with the same child-like glee experienced when watching *Jason and the Argonauts* and *Clash of the Titans* for the first time.”

‘The Odyssey’ stars Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland.

Universal Pictures

There was some light criticism, although it was overwhelmed by the praise.

BBC writer Caryn James noted that, for her, *The Odyssey* didn’t quite live up to the hype surrounding it.

“Almost. It would be easy to get caught up in the sheer astounding immensity of the spectacle,” James wrote. “But it’s also true that the action often mutes the emotional impact, which is a bit too little and becomes powerful too late. *Oppenheimer*, with its singular focus, is still Nolan’s most perfectly wrought film. But even with its flaws, *The Odyssey* is so rich, so full of magic and humanity, that I’m eager to see this epic again.”

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In *The Hollywood Reporter*, David Rooney used the word “uneven” and says it’s “no match for the sure-footedness and intellectual complexity of *Oppenheimer*,” although he added that “it’s elevated by the blindingly charismatic ensemble.”

The *New Yorker* deemed it “prosaic.”

Audiences can judge for themselves when *The Odyssey *arrives in theaters July 17.

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Source: “EW Movie”