Based on Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem. A film by Christopher Nolan, starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Travis Scott, Corey Hawkins, Jarreth Merz, Niko Nicotera, Elliot Page, Shiloh Fernandez, Rafi Gavron, Elyes Gabel, Iddo Goldberg, Jamie Harris, John Ales, Raimy Lang, Mason Cufari, John Leguizamo, Mia Goth, Ryan Hurst, Kate Fuglei, Benny Safdie, Adam Croasdell, Mickey Shilowich, Katerina Antemel Mpa, Himesh Patel, Jovan Adepo, Andrew Howard, Josh Stewart, Logan Marshall-Green, Nick Tarabay, Jon Bernthal, Jimmy Gonzales, Jesse Garcia, Ryan de Quintal, Will Yun Lee, Anthony Molinari, Stephen Murphy, Matt Lasky, Ian Casselberry, Sean Avery, Yannis Kokiasmenos, Bill Irwin, Maurice Compte, Tyler Beardsley, Daniel Dorr, Xavier Brown, Jessie Cohen, Chess Lopez, Craig Gellis, Artoun Nazareth, Chris Riggi, Barnaby Nolan, John King, Samantha Morton, James Remar, Brian Vernel, Michael Vlamis, and Kamden Riley.
THE ODYSSEY
Christopher Nolan
(2026)
It all began with a single golden apple. Inscribed with the word “καλλίστῃ” or “To the Fairest,” it sparked a divine rivalry. Forced to judge between three goddesses, Prince Paris of Troy took a bribe. He chose Aphrodite, who promised him the heart of the most beautiful woman in the world. But the prize was Helen, the Queen of Sparta, who was already married to King Menelaus.
Under the Aphrodite’s protection, Paris sailed to Sparta to claim his prize while her husband was absent. He did not just steal Helen away. Aphrodite clouded the queen’s mind, undermining her free will so she would surrender to the goddess’s corrupt bargain. When Menelaus returned to find his wife gone, he turned to his elder brother, King Agamemnon of Mycenae, to rally the Greeks. They sent emissaries across the sea, calling upon former suitors including King Odysseus of Ithaca to honor their sacred oath to defend Helen’s marriage. Launching a fleet of a thousand ships, this massive coalition laid siege to Troy for a decade, yet they could not breach its impenetrable walls.
After ten years of failed assaults, Odysseus devises an infamous deception. The Greeks construct a colossal wooden horse, concealing a squad of warriors inside, including Odysseus himself. The rest of the army sails away to fake a full retreat, leaving the horse on the beach with a single soldier named Sinon. Believing the lie he was fed, Sinon thinks the horse is a genuine offering to Athena for a safe voyage home.
Days later, Trojan scouts discover the horse and fatally wound Sinon. With his dying breath, Sinon gasps out the false story. Convinced by a dying man’s final words, the Trojans mobilize hundreds of civilians to haul the horse back to the city of Troy.
The Trojans drag the horse inside the city walls, placing it in front of the Athenaion (the sanctuary of Athena), and celebrate as if the war is over. That night, when the city falls quiet, Odysseus and his hidden warriors slip from the wooden belly. They move toward the impenetrable gates, silently executing Trojan guards along the way. The tension escalates when a guard spots them and sounds the alarm.
Trojan soldiers swarm the intruders, but Odysseus and his squad hold the line with a desperate barrage of arrows. Behind them, a handful of men scramble to the gates, throwing their weight against two large wooden wheels mounted on either side. They furiously crank the wheels, engaging an internal mechanism that slowly lifts the two massive wooden crossbars clear of their brackets. When the gates are finally breached, it is revealed that Agamemnon and his vast army have secretly sailed back under the cloak of darkness and are waiting just outside.
The Greek army floods in, sacking the city and slaughtering innocent civilians as Odysseus watches in horror. In the chaos, a Greek soldier cuts off the head of Athena’s sacred statue. From that moment on, Athena begins following Odysseus everywhere, appearing as a young woman that only he can see and hear.
After Troy falls, the remaining women and children are taken as slaves. Menelaus secures Helen for the voyage back to Sparta. Agamemnon’s massive fleet sails west toward Mycenae along a known provision route. Odysseus decides to chart a different course. He follows the southerly winds into unmapped waters, planning to replenish their food supply and explore the unknown before finally returning home to Ithaca, to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
Ithaca, eight years later. Almost two decades have passed since Odysseus sailed for Troy, leaving the island without its king. While Penelope, her son Telemachus, and the half-blind servant Eumaeus stubbornly believe he still breathes, the island is on the brink. Terrified by rumors of ruthless Sea Peoples raiding the coasts, the Elders relentlessly pressure Penelope to remarry, desperate for a leader to defend the vulnerable island. Meanwhile, the palace rots from the inside. For three years, a horde of suitors has occupied the great hall every night, slaughtering the estate’s livestock and drinking its wine to court Penelope and seize power. Chief among them is Antinous, who watches Telemachus with deadly intent, quietly plotting to murder the boy and clear his path to the throne.
One night while the Bard entertains the unwanted guests with the epic tale of the Trojan War and Odysseus, Penelope steps out and demands he stop singing. Telemachus rushes over to her, telling his mother that he wants to remind them of whose wine they’re drinking. When he questions why she continues to appease them night after night, Penelope coldly replies that in the world, a man does what he chooses.
Telemachus stands his ground, declaring he is no longer a child but the man of the house. Penelope challenges him to throw them out, but warns him that it would give them an excuse to hurt him. According to Zeus’s law, everyone must treat strangers as they would be treated because the strangers might be gods in disguise. The violations of hospitality bring divine wrath and the consequences often extend beyond the individual to their family or entire city.
In ancient Greek belief, any stranger who comes to your door might be a god in disguise, so hospitality is treated as a sacred duty under the protection of Zeus Xenios (“Zeus of Strangers”). This code, called xenia, requires hosts to welcome guests without suspicion, offer them food, drink, and a place to rest, and only then ask their name or business. Violating xenia by refusing, mistreating, or harming a guest is considered a serious religious offense that can bring divine punishment, while generous hospitality can earn the favor of a god you never realize you have hosted.
Whenever a stranger visits the palace, Queen Penelope instructs her maidservant Melantho to bring them to speak to her individually, hoping one of them has actually encountered Odysseus and can prove that he’s still alive. However, Penelope has a keen eye for liars who fabricate false news seeking a reward.
18 years prior, Odysseus raises his army by lottery to choose which young men must go to the Trojan War. Antinous draws a black peg which means he must go to war. He switches the peg with an unmarked one that Sinon drew. Odysseus catches Antinous in the act but allows the swap to stand. Instead, he lies to Antinous’s father that Antinous tried to take Sinon’s place to protect the family’s honor. In fact, Antinous secretly asked Sinon to take his place, promising that Antinous’s wealthy family will support Sinon’s poor father while Sinon is away.
Before leaving for Troy, Odysseus knows his return will take years as Troy’s walls are said to be impregnable, leaving the Greeks with no strategy but to draw them into open battle.He realizes that the war is just Agamemnon’s excuse to break Troy’s control of the trading routes.
When Penelope asks what happens if he refuses to join, Odysseus replies that Agamemnon would take their infant son instead. He reminds her that Agamemnon already sacrificed his own daughter for favorable winds, noting that the true power of a sacrifice lies in the cost to the one making it. Even if he and Penelope flee, Agamemnon’s vengeance would fall on all of Ithaca.
Despite Penelope’s protests, Odysseus makes her promise to take another husband if he isn’t back by the time Telemachus comes of age. She refuses, instead asking him to wear her Athena-shaped pin, insisting it will bring him home. Odysseus is reluctant at first, but agrees when she explains the real reason: over the years, strangers will inevitably show up claiming to have seen him. She will ask them what he was wearing, and the pin will be her secret way of knowing if they are actually telling the truth.
The morning after the suitors’ feast, Penelope confides in her teenage son Telemachus. She is deeply worried about the rumors of the “Sea Peoples.” If the threat is real, Ithaca has no king to raise an army to defend it. When Telemachus insists he is ready to take the throne, Penelope simply hands him Odysseus’s bow and challenges him to string it. He strains, but fails. Frustrated, he says that it’s an unfair test, reminding her she always said only his father could string that bow.
But Telemachus has fears of his own. He warns her that the suitors will bleed them dry, forcing her to choose a husband before he comes of age to claim the throne. Desperate for answers, he shares that a traveler told him Menelaus returned from the war years ago. He insists they both need to know the truth about Odysseus, whether he is alive or actually dead.
Penelope flatly refuses to let Telemachus travel to Sparta. She fears he will never return, knowing the suitors will not need an excuse to kill him once he leaves the island. That night, under the cover of another loud feast, Telemachus secretly orders Eurycleia to gather supplies and smuggle them down to the ship using only people she completely trusts. He then asks her to tell Mentor to meet him at the docks before dawn. The next morning, Telemachus, Mentor, and a handful of loyal soldiers set sail to find his father, driven by his quiet certainty that Odysseus is still alive.
Meanwhile, on the mythical island of Ogygia, Odysseus finds himself strained. Athena visits and speaks with him, but by the time Calypso approaches, the goddess has already vanished. Disoriented, Odysseus tells Calypso about the encounter. He explains that Athena urges him to remember what he has forgotten and to leave. He continues saying that he feels like he has a home somewhere, and that there is someone out there waiting for him. That night, Calypso stops Odysseus from eating the lotus that numbs his mind and insists that he tells her exactly what he remembers.
Odysseus recounts the events after the Greeks’ victory at Troy. Odysseus and his warriors set sail for Ithaca on the southerly winds. Just as their supplies are about to run out, they spot land. However, when the landing party reaches the local village, they find it burned and abandoned. They manage to capture a villager, who explains that the locals fled in terror, mistaking Odysseus’s men for the merciless Sea Peoples. The villager warns them against continuing on their current path, hinting at dark things ahead. But Odysseus refuses to turn back. Determined, he decides that absolutely nothing will stand between his men and their home.
As they press on and provisions dwindle, another island comes into view. Odysseus and his second-in-command Eurylochus lead a landing party into the unknown terrain. Soon, they cross paths with a lone sheep. Knowing the animals rarely travel alone, Odysseus orders his men to follow it. The trail leads them to a massive cave. Inside, dozens of large sacks of cheese hang from the walls, and a smoldering fire on the ground confirms someone lives there.
Frustrated, Eurylochus Odysseus to leave, pointing out they have nothing to trade. Odysseus refuses. He insists they wait, invoking the sacred law of Zeus and expecting the owner to offer them hospitality. Eurylochus remains skeptical. Looking around the cavern, he doubts whoever lives here cares about the laws of Zeus or has even heard his name. Odysseus orders his men to stoke the fire, preparing to greet their unknown host.
But the terror sets in at dusk when the master of the cave finally returns. He is a towering cyclops, Polyphemus. The one-eyed shepherd drives his flock into the cavern before sealing the entrance with a colossal boulder, trapping Odysseus and his men inside. Moments later, the giant seizes two men, tearing their bodies apart and devouring them raw as Odysseus and the remaining crew watch in horror. Then, the beast simply dozes off by the fire.
The surviving soldiers draw their blades, creeping toward the sleeping giant for a kill. Odysseus holds up a hand, stopping them. He explains that they cannot move the rock by themselves. If the giant dies, they will be forever trapped in this cave. He whispers a strict order down the line to rest up; when the giant lets out the flock in the morning, they will have an opportunity to escape.
Morning breaks, and the crew makes a desperate sprint for the opening. The giant intercepts them, snatching up two soldiers and killing them as the others escape. In a split second, Odysseus dives back into the cave in an attempt to save the rest. He clears the threshold just as the giant heaves the massive boulder into place, sealing the entrance and trapping the king inside with his men.
The giant returns at dusk. The crew attempts another desperate sprint for the exit, but they fail to get past it. A soldier is snatched up and crushed. That night, the men rouse the sleeping giant. As its thick eyelid opens, they plunge a heated stake into the exposed eye, blinding the Cyclops. In agony, the beast cries out to his father, Poseidon. That is when Odysseus and his remaining crew learn that the giant can speak.
The next day, Odysseus and his crew finally manage to escape. But as they clear the cave, a furious Odysseus draws his bow and shoots an arrow straight into the Cyclops’s mangled eye. The pain sends the beast into a frenzy. It roars and gives chase as the men sprint frantically for the beach, scrambling into their boats to reach the fleet. The crew now fears Poseidon’s punishment, fully convinced that the monster is actually the son of the sea god.
But that is all Odysseus can remember for now. He still has no idea what happened to his crew after escaping the Cyclops, or how long he has been stranded on this island with Calypso.
Meanwhile, Telemachus and Mentor reach Sparta. Mentor instructs Telemachus to keep his mouth shut. If anyone asks, they are just travelers from Crete. Upon entering the palace, they are immediately approached by a guard. He leads them directly to Menelaus, stating that the King insists on meeting strangers himself.
Menelaus recognizes Telemachus as Odysseus’ son. He recounts the wooden horse on the beach. He and Odysseus cram inside with the Greek warriors before the fleet departs. Absolute secrecy is their only hope. Not even the soldier left behind to sell the lie knows they are there.
They rot in the dark for days. Rising tides drown men right in front of them. They wait in agonizing silence until the Trojans finally pull the horse inside their walls. Menelaus admits the gods grant them victory but curse their return. It takes Menelaus ten years to get back. Odysseus never makes it.
Menelaus claims he has seen nothing of Odysseus since Troy. However, there are rumors. Some say Odysseus perished. Others believe he is imprisoned.
Back on Ogygia, the memories flood Odysseus’s mind. His crew is convinced he has angered Poseidon. Storm after storm pushes their ships off course until they are completely lost. Eventually, they land on a strange shore to find rations. In the forest, they encounter a giant child in armor. Odysseus and Eurylochus offer peace. Suddenly, the child screams. Giant armored warriors, the Laestrygonians, emerge from the tree line and attack.
As the Greeks panic, the trees magically shift into cages, trapping the men while the giants slaughter them. The survivors flee to the beach, but the giant armored warriors relentlessly pursue. Two ships are annihilated along with everyone aboard. Odysseus and Eurylochus scramble onto the last remaining vessel and barely escape.
Instead of fleeing to open water, Odysseus commands his crew to follow the coast and find another place to make port. Eurylochus argues against it, warning that they need to get as far away as possible in case the giants possess ships of their own. Odysseus counters that they are completely lost and desperate for food. Moments later, the crew spots a trail of smoke rising from a house on a distant hill.
The following morning, Odysseus and Eurylochus lead a landing party ashore. Upon arriving at the beach, Odysseus casually instructs the men to leave someone behind with the tenders. But the crew has already made their choice. They are fully convinced that Odysseus is a walking curse. Eurylochus tells him that they have all agreed he should be the one to stay with the tenders.
Taking a bow from one of the men, Odysseus separates from the group. While Eurylochus leads the landing party up the hill to secure the house, the abandoned captain heads into the valley to hunt. Arriving at the hilltop house, Eurylochus encounters an elderly woman named Circe. She panics at the sight of heavily armed strangers invading her home. Eurylochus calms her down, assuring her they mean no harm and confessing they are simply starving.
Circe offers them food but insists the men pile their weapons and armor in the backyard. Out back, Eurylochus finds dozens of discarded armor sets and rusted swords scattered across the dirt. Despite the obvious threat, his hunger wins out. He chooses not to question Circe or warn his men. The crew takes their seats and aggressively devours the meal. But the food is laced with a spell. Shedding her harmless disguise, the witch twists their faces, violently transforming the helpless men into pigs one by one.
Meanwhile, Odysseus tracks down a deer and shoots it with an arrow. He is horrified when he reaches the spot where the animal collapses, only to find a naked dead man lying there instead. Terrified, Odysseus realizes something is deeply wrong with this island. He rushes back to the tenders on the beach and discovers that none of his crew has returned.
Odysseus follows the path leading to the house on the hill. When he arrives, his men are nowhere to be found. He sees only Circe, calmly feeding a pen of pigs. Spotting his approach, she asks if he has come from the sea and offers him a warm meal. She tells him to leave his weapons at the door and grab a hog so he can slaughter it for dinner.
Inside, Odysseus becomes suspicious and refuses to touch the food she gives him. He questions why she has prepared a feast that is clearly too much for just two people. Circe replies that she never said the meal is only for them. Odysseus asks who else is there. Circe calmly answers that he should know. She points out his claim that he travels alone, noting that no one reaches this isolated island alone by sea. She then questions him about the whereabouts of his shipmates.
Odysseus admits he is looking for his crew. He asks if she has seen them come this way, wondering aloud if that is why she has prepared all the food. Circe snaps back, asking why he dares question her when he is so clearly lying. He claims to be a starving traveler yet hasn’t touched his plate. He poses as a lost sailor yet wears a warrior’s armor and breaks Zeus’s law of hospitality by bringing a hidden dagger into his hostess’s home.
Odysseus politely asks if she will tell him where he can find his crew. Circe replies that she might if he surrenders his weapon. Odysseus complies, but she instantly points the blade at his throat, asking why she would ever help a liar who refuses her hospitality. She admits his men were there but have already left. Odysseus calls the lie by dropping a ring he gave Eurylochus, noting his men would never leave it behind. He grabs the caged raven, guessing it holds emotional value to Circe.
He threatens to snap the bird’s neck if she does not lower the knife. Circe panics and backs down. Seeing her reaction, Odysseus pieces it together. The raven is her sister, cursed just like his men. Circe breaks down. She screams that she did not transform his crew, she merely revealed their true nature as beasts.
Odysseus remains totally calm. He simply asks if his men did anything to hurt her. Circe slowly realizes they did not. He explains they just want to go home and pleads with her to let them go. Circe relents and transforms his men back to human form.
Once his crew is restored, Odysseus orders them to grab all the food they can carry, leaving the meat behind, and head back to the ship. Lingering behind, he apologizes to Circe for offending her, but admits he needs one last favor. He confesses they won’t be able to get home without her help to find the trade routes.
Circe explains she can’t help them because they are simply too lost. She tells him that only Tiresias in Hades can show him the way home. Startled, Odysseus argues that no mortal sails to Hell and returns. Circe assures him he will. She instructs him to sail north into the twilight, then trek inland until a river of fire meets a river of ice.
There, he must dig a trench, pour a blood sacrifice, gather the dead, and learn how to go home. Circe then reveals a devastating truth. Only Odysseus is destined to make it back to Ithaca, and all of his crew will perish.
Defy the Gods.
—
A film by Christopher Nolan, starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Travis Scott, Elliot Page, John Leguizamo, Jon Bernthal, Samantha Morton, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, James Remar, Bill Irwin, Corey Hawkins, Himesh Patel, Logan Marshall-Green, Jovan Adepo, Elyes Gabel, Will Yun Lee, Ryan Hurst, Maurice Compte, Michael Vlamis, Brian Vernel, Shiloh Fernandez, Rafi Gavron, Andrew Howard, and Josh Stewart.
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, THE ODYSSEY is an epic action-fantasy following the Greek king of Ithaca on a perilous, mythical journey home after the Trojan War.
The story is based on Homer’s Odyssey, one of the foundational works of Western literature. On the surface, it is an ancient Greek epic detailing Odysseus’s long journey home after the Trojan War. At its core, however, it is a story about identity, marriage, loyalty, intelligence, violence, and the very concept of home. The title itself comes from the Greek word Ὀδύσσεια (Odýsseia), which roughly translates to “the tale of Odysseus.”
Believed to have been composed around 725 to 675 BCE, the Odyssey was not unearthed as some long-lost manuscript. It survived as an oral performance in Homeric Greek. Ancient poets called rhapsodes recited the sprawling epic entirely from memory. By using repeated phrases and familiar scenes, they were able to keep this massive story alive for generations.
Though the poem was eventually written down in ancient Greek, Homer’s original manuscript is lost to history. The oldest physical evidence we actually possess consists of Egyptian papyrus fragments dating back over two thousand years. Archaeologists uncovered a Roman-era clay tablet at Olympia that preserves just thirteen lines from Book 14. Like the papyrus, it is merely an ancient copy of a lost original.
In 2018, Greek and German archaeologists announced the discovery of a small clay tablet near the ancient sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia. It bears 13 engraved lines from Book 14 of Homer’s Odyssey, specifically the moment when Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, arrives at the hut of his loyal swineherd Eumaeus on Ithaca.
By the Hellenistic period, scholars in Alexandria had begun comparing different surviving copies and editing the text. It was during this era that the epic was divided into the standard 24 books we know today, a structure finalized centuries after the original poem was first composed.
The Hellenistic period was an era in ancient history when Greek culture, language, and political power spread across the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East following Alexander the Great’s conquests. Covering nearly 300 years, it conventionally spans from Alexander’s death in 323 BCE down to the Roman conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt in 30 BCE, often marked by the Battle of Actium.
For centuries, the epic circulated strictly as handwritten Greek manuscripts. It was not until 1488 that the first printed edition of the Greek text, known as the “editio princeps,” was finally produced in Florence by the Greek scholar Demetrius Chalcondyles.
The first complete English translation was done by George Chapman. It was published in stages between 1614 and 1616. Working directly from the original Greek text, Chapman transformed the epic into rhyming English verse, specifically relying on heroic couplets.
Perhaps its greatest formal innovation is that it does not tell the story in simple chronological order. It opens with a son searching for his missing father, jumps to the hero’s supernatural adventures, and finishes with a violent fight for home and identity. It is this structure that makes the poem feel surprisingly modern nearly 3,000 years later, serving as the blueprint for every quest and homecoming story that followed.
Much like the original poem, the film unfolds through a nonlinear timeline. It drops the audience near the very end of the journey, relying on Odysseus to later narrate his earlier adventures to fill in the gaps.
THE ODYSSEY is an epic tale that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible, preferably in the IMAX ratio just as the director intended. It is the only way to fully immerse yourself in the narrative and experience the sheer scale of the movie.
This film is a massively ambitious project and incredibly mesmerizing to watch. This film will probably gross over a billion dollars in its theatrical run.
It is the first feature film in history shot entirely on IMAX cameras using 65mm negative. Due to the format’s limitations, an IMAX 15/70 film camera can only shoot continuously for about two and a half to three minutes per magazine. The camera then must be stopped and reloaded, meaning the crew had to perform this swap thousands of times over a 91-day shoot.
THE ODYSSEY premiered in London on 6 July 2026. The film was theatrically released in the United States and the United Kingdom on 17 July.
THE ODYSSEY (2026)
Defy the Gods.
