The Odyssey
July 26, 2026
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus (1829), oil on canvas, 132.7 × 203 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.
The Highly anticipated film of the summer is here, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is an adaptation of a work created around 700 BC, whose story takes place another 500 years before that. Suffice it to say the original story is old. Nolan chose to omit many facets of the original poem and even change some. Dissenters may complain about 'historical inaccuracy', but it would be hard to imagine the entire story could be successfully conveyed to the modern audience directly adapted from its original form, which is an Archaic Greek hexameter epic with a myriad of outdated concepts. While not every change is completely justified, Nolan was able to capture the essence of the long and difficult journey and revise it for the modern audience. Though not as impressive as Nolan's previous 2023 outing ,Oppenheimer, The Odyssey is beautifully shot, well-performed, and just a good movie. I would strongly recommend seeing this in theaters before it leaves. Good luck finding it in 70mm IMAX, that is an odyssey within itself.