Nolan’s 3-Hour The Odyssey Premieres as Matt Damon Leads Homer Epic Home

3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 17

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” debuted in an early screening as a three-hour adaptation centered on Odysseus’ 20-year absence and his struggle to return to Ithaca.
Matt Damon plays a war-scarred Odysseus stranded after Troy, while Anne Hathaway’s Penelope holds the kingdom together against predatory suitors led by Robert Pattinson’s Antinous.
Nolan tells the story with fractured timelines, nested revelations and practical effects rather than CGI, using real caves, animatronic creatures and large water sets.
The review frames the film less as a straightforward myth retelling than as a meditation on aging, PTSD, guilt and whether victory in war can leave a homeland morally damaged.
The premiere adds to an already divided response: this review calls the film “absolutely astonishing,” while a later critic faulted its casting and fidelity to Homer.