The Odyssey: is Nolan adaptation worth the hype? - The Latest

Summary

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Today in Focus: The Odyssey – Is Nolan's Adaptation Worth the Hype? (July 17, 2026)

Episode Overview

This episode of The Guardian’s Today in Focus: The Latest examines Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated adaptation of The Odyssey. Host Annie Kelly is joined by Guardian film editor Catherine Short to evaluate the film’s critical reception, commercial risks, artistic merits, and representation issues, especially regarding female characters. The conversation balances excitement from critics with pointed critique, offering listeners a nuanced take on the blockbuster’s epic ambitions and its limitations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why the Enormous Hype?

(01:12 – 02:45)

• Legacy & Anticipation: Nolan’s first film after the mega-successful "Oppenheimer" (almost $1B gross, 7 Oscars).
• Technical Marvel: Shot in IMAX, filmed across six countries, emphasis on practical effects over CGI.
• Box Office 'Moment': Cinemas experiencing a resurgence; “this is positioned as the film to go see in 2026.”
• Marketing Impact: “If you're going to go to a cinema this year, when everyone's going to the cinema, go and see this film and everybody sort of got that message and is going to do that.” — Catherine Short (02:27)

2. Epic Scale and Modern Themes

(02:54 – 04:05)

• Grand Ambition: Critics rave about the film’s scale; the cast claims it was their toughest shoot.
• Contemporary Resonance: The film weaves in modern-day themes — PTSD, the fragility of civilization, and the line between heroism and barbarity.
  • “It tries very hard to push that idea that it's newly relevant ... puts in [themes of] PTSD ... lots of lines about is civilization falling?” — Catherine Short (03:36)
• Interpretation vs. Fidelity: Nolan takes liberties reflecting today’s anxieties, even if not strictly Homeric: “Whether those were exactly what they were in Homer, I’m not sure. But… you’re allowed to interpret for modern audiences.” — Catherine Short (04:02)

3. Critical Praise – and Muscle

(04:05 – 05:54)

• Universal Acclaim: The film is showered with 5-star reviews; “muscular storytelling” is a recurring phrase.
• Star Power & Physicality:
  • “Not just talking about Matt Damon, right? He was beefed up.” — Annie Kelly (04:29)
  • “He’s way beefed up... quite a lot of shots of him topless and muscular.” — Catherine Short (04:32)
• Cinematic Event: The project is lauded for championing “Cinema with a capital C,” energizing both critics and mainstream audiences.

4. Filmmaking Geekery & Nolan’s Reputation

(05:12 – 05:54)

• Technical Obsession: “They also sort of geek out on the type of cameras used and the resolution of IMAX…” — Catherine Short (05:25)
• ‘Classy Superhero’ Film: Nolan’s done superhero films before, but this feels “super classy.” “You can’t even sack us for liking something from Marvel… This is, this is class.” — Catherine Short (05:35)

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Notable Criticisms & Doubts

5. Catherine Short: “I Didn’t Like It.”

(06:00 – 07:38)

• Excessive Length: “It's very long, right?... Three hours.” — Catherine Short (06:08)
• Casting Oddities: “Tom Holland plays Odysseus’ son... you think, well, he’s 30 though, isn’t he? And back in those days that was really quite old.” — Catherine Short (06:18)
• Bloodless Spectacle: Despite its R-rating and supposed grit, violence feels sanitized and “like a computer game.”
• Liberties with Source Material: An “outrageous scene” not from the poem—Odysseus fighting goons—“sort of a liberty and it’s quite boring.” (07:25)
• Overall Feel: “From time to time, it felt a bit boring, just a bit daft.” — Catherine Short (07:38)

6. Standout Performances

(07:44 – 09:06)

• John Leguizamo’s Surprise: Despite the ‘AI-generated’ super-cast feel, Leguizamo as the blind servant Emmaus is singled out for praise: "Having this guy come on and be in so many scenes and be really affecting and good felt quite refreshing." — Catherine Short (08:53)
• A-list Fatigue: With stars like Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, “They just keep coming.” — Annie Kelly (08:44)

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Gender, Fidelity, and Representation

7. Portrayal of Women

(09:11 – 12:23)

• Nolan’s Weakness: “He does have this sort of slightly unfortunate reputation as not being so good with women, being either saintly or they're kind of horrible.” — Catherine Short (09:32)
• Key Omissions: Classic female characters are sidelined or sanitized; major roles and key events from the poem are minimized or eliminated.
  • Calypso & Circe: Both drastically simplified; sexual themes excised.
    • “Calypso ... keeps him as a sex slave for eight years, but in this, that's not mentioned… just sort of giving him drinks like a waitress.” — Catherine Short (10:19)
    • Circe’s complex story is now resolved “through a year of sex and rhetoric” in the poem, but here Odysseus just politely asks, and she complies (11:19)
  • Athena & Penelope: Athena (Zendaya) is reduced to silent, disappointed glances; the “bed test” for Penelope is omitted, and new, non-canonical harshness is introduced.
• Overall: “It does kind of chuck the women out with the bathwater. You know, it's not really nice.” — Catherine Short (12:10)

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The Commercial Gamble

8. IMAX, Pricing & Box Office Stakes

(12:23 – 13:50)

• Elitism & Access: IMAX is positioned as essential, but ticket prices are high; “You're going to have to get a lot of sort of rich bums on seats.” — Catherine Short (12:54)
• Break Even Math: $250M+ budget; will need ~$600M gross to break even (including marketing). Optimism prevails: “It’ll make 200 million over its opening weekend, I would say.”
• IMAX, Actually Optional: The grand scenes suit IMAX, but close-ups can be off-putting: “With that... it’s like looking in a mirror ... 12-magnification mirror and that’s a horrible sight. It’s quite a sweaty film.” — Catherine Short (13:40)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the AI-vibe Cast: “I just thought it was AI generated. I was like, this is ridiculous. You can't have all of these people in the same film.” — Annie Kelly (07:44)
• On the Female Roles: “It does kind of chuck the women out with the bathwater.” — Catherine Short (12:10)
• On Box Office Hopes: “Going to have to get a lot of sort of rich bums on seats.” — Catherine Short (12:48)
• Capturing the Moment: “The sales of the Odyssey, the text, are up by 70%… everyone is vibing off this.” — Annie Kelly (13:52)
• Wuthering Heights Effect: “Mary Beard has said she wants a Wuthering Heights effect and I think he's done that and good on it.” — Catherine Short (14:00)

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Timestamps of Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Hype & Nolan’s Ambitions | 01:12–02:45 | | Epic Scale & Contemporary Themes | 02:54–04:05 | | Critical Response & Muscular Storytelling | 04:05–05:54 | | Film Geekery & Nolan’s Style | 05:12–05:54 | | Personal Critique: Too Long, Odd Casting | 06:00–07:38 | | Standout Performers Amidst Star Overload | 07:44–09:06 | | Problems with Female Representation | 09:11–12:23 | | IMAX, Budget, Box Office Stakes | 12:23–13:50 | | The “Wuthering Heights” Literary Effect | 13:52–14:07 |

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Episode Tone

The discussion is lively, candid, and slightly irreverent, with Annie Kelly probing and Catherine Short quick to dissect both the film’s cultural moment and its shortcomings. There is a mix of admiration for Nolan’s ambition and a clear-eyed critique of blockbuster excess and gender blindspots.

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Summary

Today in Focus offers a brisk, insightful look at how Nolan brings an ancient story to modern screens, the critical adulation, and the frustrating missteps—especially around gender and excess. While the film is earning acclaim as a cinematic spectacle and commercial event, the episode provides a reality check for hype, reminding listeners that even epic filmmaking can miss the mark when it comes to meaningful representation and emotional depth.

Transcript

[Annie Kelly]

This is the Guardian.

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[Catherine Short]

Film critics like to applaud movies that are cinema with a capital C. We

[Annie Kelly]

won the war,

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Help me go home.

[Catherine Short]

It's sort of seen as a legitimate superhero movie, but this is a kind of super classy version.

[Annie Kelly]

Yeah, this is a big old poem. What did you think of it?

[Catherine Short]

I didn't like it.

[Annie Kelly]

From the Guardians today in Focus, this is the latest. With me, Annie Kelly. Arguably the most hotly anticipated film of the year, Christopher Nolan's the Odyssey, officially released today. Catherine Short, you are the Guardian's film editor. It's a bit of an understatement to say that this story has been around for a while, right? It's like 3,000 year Greek poem. Why all of the hype around this adaptation of it?

[Catherine Short]

I think it's a combination of things. I think Christopher Nolan, it's his first film since Oppenheimer, which made a billion dollars almost. And wild. It's crazy, but it's just been overtaken by the Michael Jackson biopic as the most successful biopic ever. But anyway, pretty good. Until that came along. It won seven Oscars, which the Michael Jackson biopic won't do. So, yeah, huge film. People love Christopher Nolan. The fans are very, very impassioned. It's massive. It's been filled in IMAX in a sort of revolutionary way. Nolan built all the sets, snow, cgi. So there's really a Trojan horse. There's really lots of battles. I mean, there's not all the death. But apart from that, it's pretty realistic and also it's just a very sort of resurgent box office. This year is huge, unexpectedly huge. Things like backrooms, obsession have made loads of money. So everybody is now going to the cinema and the, the marketing strongly position this as the film. If you're going to go to a cinema this year, when everyone's going to the cinema, go and see this film and everybody sort of got that message and is going to do that.

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No one could stand between me and home not even the gods

[Annie Kelly]

keep us free. And it's that kind of epic scale of it as well, isn't it? I think it was Filmed in six countries. You know, it was. It's kind of the cast, they're all saying, you know, this is the toughest shoot they've ever had to do. So the hype around it is that, like, almost as epic as the poem itself, right?

[Catherine Short]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. They're very much, yeah, pushing that line.

[Annie Kelly]

And those themes, you know, that the poet that the Odyssey like, brings back to us all are like such kind of central themes that we know in all of these different stories and all of our favorite films. You know, this idea of the hero and the homecoming. Do you think it has those themes that are relevant to what's going on in the world today? And that's also kind of, you know, grabbing people.

[Catherine Short]

Yeah, I mean, it tries very hard to push that idea that it's newly relevant. So it kind of goes on a lot about ptsd. It doesn't say ptsd. Homer didn't mention that. But that's. That's what it puts in there. And there's sort of lots of lines about is civilization falling? And. And where does. Where's the line between heroism and barbarity? So lots of sort of hot button topics. Whether or not those were exactly what they were in Homer, I'm not sure. But that's okay. You're allowed to interpret for modern audiences. That's fine.

[Annie Kelly]

Yeah. And, I mean, it's received rave reviews, hasn't it, across the board? You know, our own colleagues giving it five stars. You know, everybody just. All the critics just seem to absolutely love it. What is it that they are, you know, raving about?

[Catherine Short]

I think they are. Well, the word that sort of comes up time and time again in these. In these five star reviews is muscular, muscular storytelling.

[Annie Kelly]

And I'm not just talking about Matt Damon, right? He was beefed up.

[Catherine Short]

He's way beefed up. And then he sort of beefed down. He lost pounds or 15 kilos or something. Not that amazing, but anyway, there are quite a lot of shots of him topless and muscular, and there's quite a lot of sort of ass kicking he does where he's quite muscular. But they. They like the breadth of the storytelling. They like the huge scale. They like the fact it's cinema. I mean, film critics like to applaud movies that are. Are cinema with a capital C and I and all the rest of the letters. So. Because it shows that cinema is a very vital art form. So it's really responding to a lot of things that a lot of, by and large, male film critics really, really enjoy.

[Annie Kelly]

And it's quite geeky, isn't it? Like the Loving as well in terms of the film and the way that he did it and the cameras and I got a lot of that, those kind of those like fan, fan vibes throughout the critics reviews as well.

[Catherine Short]

I think Nolan is a, is a, is a director that really speaks to that. So he's got this huge mainstream fan base. But yeah, they also sort of geek out on the type of cameras used and the resolution of IMAX and all that sort of. And, and it's sort of seen as a kind of legitimate superhero movie. I mean it is a legitimate superhero movie. So he did the Dark Knight Rises and all those sorts of films. But this is a kind of super classy version. So, you know, you can't even sack us for liking something from Marvel or something. This is, this is class.

[Annie Kelly]

Yeah, this is a big old poem. And what did you think of it?

[Catherine Short]

I didn't like it, I'm afraid. Sorry.

[Annie Kelly]

Tell us more.

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Wow.

[Catherine Short]

It's very long, right? And it's.

[Annie Kelly]

Yeah, three hours, right?

[Catherine Short]

Yeah, it does ye sort of think, I wonder how long this one will be. It's Christopher Nolan's. Oh, it is. It's three hours.

[Annie Kelly]

It is pretty long. An odyssey to get through it.

[Catherine Short]

It is. And I do. I mean one thing about Christopher Nolan is he doesn't. He sort of says I don't write for actors, which is a choice. And he can still stack his films with the most A list cast ever. But it sort of means that a lot of the casting feels a bit weird. So Tom Holland plays Odysseus son and there's lots of talk about him not being of age yet. You sort of think, well he's, he's 30 though, isn't he? And back in those days that was really quite old. You know, there's things like that I just didn't on a lot of levels. I mean, we'll perhaps talk about the women angle of it a bit later. But the whole thing felt to me a little bit superhero. Ironically, it's quite bloodless. So Odysseus is forever, you know, with a bow and arrow. That's more like that. He's forever killing people very, very cleanly and effectively and they just pop off. It's like a computer game. Nobody ever kind of goes, oh, they just D. Yeah. And so you've got this R rated film that's sort of all grizzly and muscular and real and oh my God, it's about trauma. But also it's not, it's just a Sort of computer game. There's an outrageous scene late on it in it, which isn't in the poem, where Odysseus does an amazing bit of ass kicking against some goons who are dressed up as other people and just think, sort of boring. It's sort of. It's sort of a bit of a liberty and it's quite boring.

[Annie Kelly]

Right.

[Catherine Short]

And I. I know I'll be attacked a lot for saying it was a bit boring, but from time to time it felt a bit boring, just a bit daft.

[Annie Kelly]

And you talked about the All Star cast. I mean, I remember when I saw the trailer for it, I think last year, I just thought it was just AI generated. I was like, this is ridiculous. You can't have all of these people in the same film. But they were like falling over each other to work for Nolan. Yeah, but who was your kind of standout performance in the film?

[Catherine Short]

Well, surprisingly, given that you've got that incredibly stacked cast, it was John Leguizimo, who is most recently best known as Sid, the voice of the animal Sid in Ice Age, and is also in Encanto, but has done things like the Julie Newmar film, he's a drag queen and did some Baz Luhrmann films and stuff like that. He's great. He's this Colombian actor. He plays a very loyal blind servant, Emmaus. And it's really. You sort of think, who's that guy? Is that Abel Ferrara? Who the heck is it? He's got these crazy contact lenses and sort of aging makeup and all that and a really surprisingly big role. And you're sort of thinking, as you say, it's sort of a bit. AI think it can't possibly have all these, you know, Anne Hathaway and Matt

[Annie Kelly]

Damon, they just keep coming.

[Catherine Short]

Yeah. And also they're in every single film this year. I mean, Robert Pattinson's in like three or four films.

[Annie Kelly]

Zendaya, it's all over the shop.

[Catherine Short]

I know. And you sort of think, oh, it's like Devil Wears Prada too. And, you know, it kind of gets a bit boring. So to have so many stars, what a first world problem. But having this guy come on and be in so many scenes and be really affecting and good felt quite refreshing.

[Annie Kelly]

Also, very important person in the story as well. So that's absolutely.

[Catherine Short]

Very important person in the story.

[Annie Kelly]

And you mentioned women. You know, there are a lot of really amazing actresses in this film, but you know, this film. And as with other Christopher Nolan films, there has been criticism of how he treats women in terms of his portrayal of those female characters. Was that a problem for you in this film as well?

[Catherine Short]

I mean. Yeah, I'm afraid so. I'm sorry. I know that's a really predictable thing to say. And he does have this sort of slightly. Slightly unfortunate reputation as not. Not being so good with women, being either either sort of saintly or they're kind of horrible.

[Annie Kelly]

They're always pretty adjacent, aren't they?

[Catherine Short]

They're a bit adjacent to the central hero figure, and that's certainly the case here. And so, you know, lots of classicists have sort of pointed out omissions. I mean, there's two very key women in the text that don't appear at all. But also, in the same way that Nolan has kind of got rid of a lot of the sort of blood and guts, he's got rid of lots of sex as well. And the sex sort of plays an important role in this. So Charlize Theron's character, Calypso, keeps him as a sex slave for eight years, but in this, that's not mentioned. And so she just sort of walks about this beach with him holding hands. She doesn't even hold hands. She's forever sort of giving him drinks like a waitress. And it's a bit. It's just a bit. It doesn't make sense. That's a great role in theory, but in practice, it's just a bit weird. It's like sort of Malibu, you know, Malibu at sundown of time. It's really strange. The same thing with Samantha Morton's character Circe, who's this incredible character who sort of lives in this shack. And then all Odysseus's men come and she. She feeds them supper and they slurp it up. They're very hungry. She turns them all into pigs. Odysseus comes along, figures out what's happened and then changes her mind, gets her to. To reverse it. In the poem, he does that through a year of sex and rhetoric. In this, he just sort of says to her, oh, you know, I know men can be. I know, isn't it? But, you know, these ones aren't so bad. They just want to go home. And she's like, oh, all right, fine, put them back. So, you know, things like that. And Zendaya, you know, Athena, what an amazing role. But she just looks like she's a Scottish widow's thing on the beach, you know, forever sort of looking. And sometimes he does a really naughty killing and she sort of looks at him and goes like, she's really Disappointed.

[Annie Kelly]

Taking his shoes off after a muddy walk. Yeah.

[Catherine Short]

So, you know, those sort of things, it just, it's just a bit lackluster. And even the changes that are made to Penelope, so the very famous bed test is taking that out. It's quite important bit. And Penelope also condemns one of her own female servants to death, which is a bit. It's not in the poem, it's not nice. So, yeah, it all coalesces around this idea that Matt Damon's hero is an amazing fella and he's really, really remorseful about all that death he caused and he's sort of plagued with guilt and PTSD and, And also feminism. And that's not, that's not how he is in the poem. It's sort of all right to do that because Reinterpret it, but it does kind of chuck the women out with a bathwater. You know, it's not, it's not really nice.

[Annie Kelly]

No. And, and you know, there have, you know, along with those criticisms, there have been criticisms of elitism. Like you can only see this film really in an IMAX to get like the full experience. Those tickets are quite expensive, but also, you know, as you said, they've spent $250 million. Like, what does a commercial kind of success look like for this film? Are they going to have to get a lot of bums on seats to justify the cost?

[Catherine Short]

They're going to have to get a lot of sort of rich bums on seats because. Yeah, but the thing about IMAX prices is that they're. They're more expensive. The tickets are so much more. So they don't have to sell quite so many tickets. They won't struggle. I mean, it'll need. It cost about 250. They'll need to make about 600 to break even. Once you've accounted for ticket sales and marketing cost, they'll do that. It'll make 200 million over its opening weekend. I would say you don't absolutely have to go and see it in imax. In some ways it might be better not to because it is sort of a big experience. And although the IMAX works really well in the sort of grand spectacle scenes, lots of boats and water and all that business, lots of it's close up and with that it's like looking in a mirror when you do your makeup in a mirror and it's a sort of 12 magnification mirror and that's really horrible sight. It's like that. And so you're looking at people's pores the whole time. And it's quite a sweaty film, so you're sort of distracted by that. So in a way, you don't have to sit in imax. Might be better not to.

[Annie Kelly]

Well, that is a great moment to land on, I would just say, as the last thing, I find it very encouraging that the sales of the Odyssey, the text, are up by 70%. So it's great that everyone is vibing off this.

[Catherine Short]

Absolutely. That's right. Mary Beard has said she wants a Wuthering Heights effect and I think he's done that and good on it.

[Annie Kelly]

Thank you so much, Katherine. Thank you. And that's it for today. My huge thanks again to Catherine Short. Before we go, I'd really recommend listening to yesterday's episode of our sister podcast Politics Weekly, where Pippa Creare and Kieran Stacey look at what we actually know about Andy Burnham's plans for governing and chat about the likely issues at the top of his entree. Thanks for listening to this episode of the latest Today in Focus. We'll be back with you as usual on Monday morning, and the latest will be back on Monday night. This episode was produced by Annie Levesper and the senior producer was Ryan Ramgoven, the executive producer was Zoe Hitch, and the presenter was me, Annie Kelly. This is the Guardian.

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