I finally got to watch my most highly anticipated movie of 2026, Christopher Nolan’s action/adventure/fantasy epic, The Odyssey.

Starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland, to name just a few, Nolan’s adaptation was full of pleasant surprises for me because my knowledge of The Odyssey and Greek mythology has always been fairly vague.

Ever since 2010’s Inception, tears have become part of my Nolan cinema experience. The Odyssey was no exception. Partly because of moving moments in the story, but largely because nothing makes me appreciate my access to cinema quite like a Nolan film. So, yes, the gratitude I felt meant that I cried. Whereas for previous Nolan films, tears usually flowed at the end, this time it happened in the midst of the story, where it hit me that all the elements of Nolan’s particular kind of cinema magic were unfolding right before my eyes.

Some of the key highlights for me include Sinon’s (Elliot Page) monologue, the monster scenes, and the moment the Trojan horse is in place and the action begins.

I especially enjoyed Hathaway as Penelope, Damon as Odysseus, Holland as Telemachus, and all the other characters involved, including Pattinson’s rather hateful Antinous.

My minor complaint, if one can call it that, is that it took longer than usual for Nolan’s signature coming together of music and brilliantly captured action to kick in. And when it finally did, it was certainly worth the wait. 

Watch The Odyssey because it’s suspenseful, well-paced, and impressively executed. It’s also one of the greatest stories ever written in the hands of one of the most rightly celebrated directors of our time. And for one last bit of great news, it’s under three hours long. Two hours and fifty-three minutes, to be precise.

Happy Film Loving,

G