Counting the cost of coming home

Some journeys take a few hours. Odysseus’ took two decades. Thankfully, film director Christopher Nolan only needed 172 minutes to bring one of literature’s most legendary adventures to the big screen – and what a journey it is.

Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey boasts a star-studded ensemble cast, featuring household names such as Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as his wife Penelope, Tom Holland as their son Telemachus, as well as Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Lupita Nyong’o. 

Normally, a cast this stacked risks feeling overstuffed, but Nolan’s casting ate and left no crumbs. 

What I love most about Nolan’s adaptation is the bold, inwards direction he took – really letting Odysseus meditate on the difficult choices he’s made and the consequences they carry. He twines together the emotional journeys of a broken man trying to find his way home and a son desperate to understand a father he knows only through other people’s tales. 

Another highlight is the women. Between goddesses, witches, queens and sirens, The Odyssey proves that Odysseus isn’t the only force driving this epic. 

Rather than existing purely as obstacles or rewards for Odysseus, figures such as Penelope and Circe (Goddess of witchcraft) are given agency, intelligence and authority. Whether through Penelope’s quiet resilience or Circe’s terrifying power, Nolan showcases the many ways women shape Odysseus’ journey.

Moreover, for a film heavily punctured with conflict, it is remarkably tame on the gore. By far, the best and most gruesome scene is the ill-fated run-in between Circe and Odysseus and his men. The camera doesn’t shy from Circe’s hands as she molds the men into pigs, stretching noses into snouts and hands into hooves. Incredibly, Nolan used no CGI for the pig transformation, just physical prosthetics, mechanical puppets and intense massaging movements.

I watched The Odyssey with my partner – who is not as much of a Greek mythology nerd as I am – and recommend that anyone wishing to watch the film brush up on the context surrounding it. With such a sprawling myth, it’s not surprising Nolan doesn’t go into detail on every character and event. To maximise the experience, do your due diligence – you won’t regret it.