Patrick Mulcahy on Nolan’s questioning of heroism and killing
The Odyssey, British writer-director Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of Homer’s epic poem, is no ordinary hero’s narrative. Its protagonist, Odysseus (Matt Damon), takes the long route home to Ithaca with an ever-dwindling group of shipmates who are attacked by various mythical beings – a one-eyed giant cyclops, a six-headed sea monster – as well as briefly turned into pigs; Samantha Morton’s naturalistic performance as Circe, responsible for the porcine metamorphosis, deserves special mention. Odysseus’ crew resents his recklessness as he knowingly endangers them. He spends much of his time away as a sole survivor, washed ashore with only the immortal nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron) for company. She feeds him lotus leaves to improve his strength and – perhaps – also dull his memory. In a flashback, we see him meet the ghost of the warrior Sinon (Elliot Page) who was killed guarding the Trojan Horse, never knowing that Odysseus’ men were inside. He is also counselled by the goddess Athena (Zendaya) who, we discover late on, takes the form of a victim of Odysseus’ commander, Agamemnon.
Although Odysseus insists on being tied to the ship’s mast whilst exposed to the lethal siren song, an act that seems more masochistic than “taking one for the team”, Nolan isn’t that interested in his protagonist’s sense of guilt. Nolan generates suspense by showing Odysseus’ wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) in her home, her servants providing food and drink to the assorted would-be suitors who refuse to leave, among them the cowardly Antinous (Robert Pattinson) who plots to kill Odysseus’ son, Telemachus (Tom Holland) after he returns from searching for his father. Will Odysseus get home in time to save him? This tension displaces any questions about Odysseus’ behaviour. However, in an extensive flashback showing the siege of Troy, Nolan questions the wider morality of war itself.
Nolan has many gifts as a director, among them the manipulation of time in a coherent and energising way. Penelope and Telemachus’ narrative is sequential, taking place over several months. Odysseus’ is not; events take place over ten years. Nolan relies on the audience’s understanding of cinematic shorthand, making connections between two distinct forward narratives (taking place at different times), the latter referencing the former. He also takes a concept that might seem alien – xenia, or “Zeus” law” that demands that all nations provide hospitality to visitors regardless of their intention – and makes it resonate. We might compare it to asylum today.
The heroes of Greek mythology and – more importantly – the offspring of Gods they encountered were the superheroes of their day. Having made a trilogy of films featuring the heroic super-wealthy vigilante Batman – American billionaires today have shown themselves unworthy of the association – Nolan now exploits the Homer Cinematic Universe, hitherto the preserve of the American visual effects auteur Ray Harryhausen (Jason of the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans). Nolan employed as many practical effects as possible in order to create suspense and capture “real” reactions, certainly the case when sailors are snatched from Odysseus’ boat. He also assembled a group of well-known actors who are cast against type or to add an extra dimension to the character. This has put the film in the cross-hairs of “anti-woke” commentators like billionaire Elon Musk, who objected to the casting of 12 Years A Slave star Lupita Nyong’o as Helen, the woman whose kidnapping resulted in the Trojan War. Musk has threatened to produce his own version, a frankly pointless endeavour.
Nothing I have described so far suggests why Nolan’s take on The Odyssey has been so successful at the box office, second only to Spiderman – Brand New Day as 2026’s biggest worldwide hit. Releasing films every three years since 2014, Nolan neither consciously repeats himself nor caters to current trends – the Batman “Dark Knight” trilogy is an outlier. His films appear to vibrate – you can practically hear the motor running. They capture the audience’s attention with their immediacy. The soundtrack accompanying the finale of The Odyssey is so loud that you might feel your blood pressure increase. Nolan’s films aim for the pulse and the head. They appear reckless (as big-budget spectacle) but are studiously controlled kinetic experiences – races against time. Nolan rarely bores his audience and mostly avoids sentimentality. Like Wes Anderson, he re-hires actors he likes, often promoting them from a supporting to a lead role, notably Matt Damon here, previously cast in Interstellarand Oppenheimer.
Yet for all their completed time trials (as it were), Nolan’s protagonists don’t bask in achievement. They retreat or – as in the case of the soldiers in Dunkirk – return to obscurity. Nolan takes Homer’s narrative and questions the nature of heroism, of killing in order to achieve an objective. Nolan’s films are not about vanquishing an antagonist, but averting a disaster, then wondering whether every action was necessary. Odysseus doesn’t justify himself. He stores up a number of questions that he will consider later. His questions – like those that consumed physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer in Nolan’s 2023 blockbuster – fall to the audience.
The Odyssey is on release