The Early Reviews For The Odyssey Are In & It Might Be Chris Nolan’s ‘Best Film To Date’

The early reviews for The Odyssey are in, and anyone fretting about all the noise surrounding the movie should rest assured: critics have nothing but praise.

The reviews come after early screenings of The Odyssey in the US as well as its recent London premiere, which saw its stacked cast of A-listers — including Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland and Lupita Nyong’o — walk the red carpet ahead of a broader release for us normies later this month.

Mia Thermopolis around 2,700 years ago. (Image: The Odyssey/Universal)

The Odyssey is a three-hour (yes, three f*cking hours) blockbuster directed by Christopher Nolan and based on Homer’s epic poem of the same name. Per the official logline, the movie follows “Odysseus as he embarks on a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca following the Trojan War, encountering treacherous creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus and Sirens”.

The film courted controversy in recent months both for its anachronistic use of modern-day English language, and for its casting — which sent right-wing filmbros into a tizzy.

But all of that is water under the bridge based on the snappy reviews shared after the social media embargo lifted this week, with critics’ thoughts on the movie ranging from generally positive to downright glowing. Some called it the best film of Nolan’s career, the best adaptation of Greek mythology yet, or a surefire pick for Best Picture at next year’s Oscars.

Seriously, there were so few negative reviews that it’s impossible to rate them on a scale from ‘meh’ to ‘amazing’, so I’ll just sort through some of the grabbiest tidbits from most major critics, and let you decide whether it’s worth a ticket and a big ol’ bucket of popcorn.

“[Nolan] has outdone himself”

IndieWire’s Anne Thompson said lead star Matt Damon “could win Best Actor” for his performance in The Odyssey, adding that it is currently the “Best Picture to beat” and that her “high expectations were met” after watching the film.

*Me looking pensively at that popcorn I mentioned earlier. (Image: The Odyssey/Universal)*

Damon was also praised by Variety’s Jazz Tangcay, who said his performance, as well as the entire ensemble’s, was “genuinely grand”. Of the main cast, Damon, Hathaway, and Holland were often singled out as the ones to watch, as well as Samantha Morton.

Later in her review, Tangcay was equally complimentary of the film as a whole, describing it as a “work of art” and an “incredible epic”.

“[Nolan] has outdone himself. You could feel the passion in his storytelling. You feel the passion in the crafts and the acting,” she added.

Praise for the iconic director was echoed in almost every review, with Discussing Film’s Andrew Salazar saying The Odyssey shows Nolan “tapping into a side he hasn’t really shown before” and Eric Davis saying the film “is an absolute triumph and a crowning cinematic achievement from one of the great filmmakers of our time”.

“The production design is incredible, the action is breathtaking, and the scale is unlike anything he’s done before,” Davis wrote.

“Everyone delivers”

By all accounts, the scale of The Odyssey is enormous, which is saying something for a director whose credits already include behemoths like The Dark Knight and Oppenheimer.

“Nolan’s biggest film to date,” The Independent‘s Jacob Stolworthy gushed. “This film has about triple the number of huge set pieces than any of Nolan’s previous films, and every single one of them is breathtaking in their own way… I also can’t quite remember a film having such a stacked cast, where everyone delivers,” he added.

*One critic said The Odyssey marked Tom Holland’s “best performance to date”. (Image: The Odyssey/Universal)*

Elsewhere, film buffs also commended Nolan for pulling off the difficult feat of adapting a Greek myth, with actual historian Tom Holland (no relation to Spider-Man, lol), saying “it is by some way the best cinematic adaptation of a Greek myth I have ever seen”.

“It honours Homer while simultaneously making something new of him,” Holland added.

If all that wasn’t enough to convince you, I’ll leave you with a review so glowing you might need a pair of sunnies, from ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley.

“The Odyssey is the most must-see theatrical experience of our generation. An absolute redefinition of the word epic and a new gold standard for blockbuster cinema,” Crowley said.

The Odyssey hits Aussie cinemas on July 16. In the meantime, you can check out some of the early reviews below.