The Odyssey

yes, I know. everyone is talking about this film already. do I care? no, I’m giving my take and agreeing with the masses that this is another masterful release by nolan. I know there will always be people who may perhaps say it is mid, but I will say this: no matter how anyone feels about it, the cultural effects this movie had were immense and you can’t really go anywhere atm without it coming up in conversation, and that’s something I respect about any piece of media that has a global impact. we don’t have to be contrarians about everything and it’s okay to admit that something popular deserves that popularity. also I tried not to spoil too much but if you haven’t seen it yet, SPOILER ALERT just in case, maybe circle back to this after you see it pls.

I honestly never read homer’s the odyssey, never studied it in school, and I genuinely thought the trojan horse was a real event in ancient history LMAO. I went into the movie theatre completely blind with my man who is an avid movie theatre enjoyer, so ofc I joined in to see what everyone’s been talking about.

do you ever watch a youtube video, tiktok or ig reel that is so high production with great storytelling that you check the comments to see if someone else was thinking, “did I just log into instagram/tiktok premium?” that’s how I felt about this movie. idk how else to explain it other than it feels like MOVIE PREMIUM. everything from the practical effects to the sound design (there were moments where the sheer shock of the sonic effects alone sent me into orbit), to the stunning visuals, the scale of the production was colossal and immersive. I had no clue where this plot was going at the start (again, knew nothing of the epic poem) but as soon as the characters came face to face with their first greek mythological encounter, I locked in and became all consumed by terror, disgust and anticipation. that’s all I will say on the plot, but every step of the anti-hero’s journey had me on the edge of my seat and led to a finale that I was very impressed with.

at first, I wasn’t sure if matt daemon had the aura required to execute odysseus but he has since grown on me and nolan’s choices for the casting came across very intentional, which I do respect. with a cast this stacked, there was bound to be high expectations, so it was very illuminating to see so many “main character” actors embrace their supporting roles with such precision and restraint, making their parts in the complex tale more memorable while not taking away from the heart of the story (zendaya, tom holland, mia goth, lupita nyong’o). himesh patel, playing odysseus’ second in command, skillfully channeled the frustration and confusion of all his soldiers, elliot page in his hurt and betrayal, and of course, robert pattinson in his dedication to playing comedically pathetic men. I also enjoyed seeing will yun lee take on his role after being obsessed with altered carbon, his arc kind of made me laugh because it just seems so him (iykyk). jon bernthal also killed me because he seems to play himself in everything. I was also impressed to see travis scott take on this project within the movie and collaborating on the music production side with james blake (already such an atmospheric, identifiable artist) for an original track. I enjoy seeing the versatility of artists as they expand into different industries and explore beyond the confines of their predetermined “lane.”

I think another aspect of this movie that I liked the most, happening outside the movie, is the cultural conversation that followed on social media. as people saw the film and began posting their youtube in depth film reviews and lore commentary, to the memes exploding on x, tiktok and ig, this movie created a hype that people wanted to be a part of in order to be in the know, to understand the jokes, to participate in debates online and at parties. it is a moment in media history where I don’t think something of this scale has been released in a long time. and I have a wealth of memes I get to laugh about for the next few weeks or months until it dies down, but tbh that’s one of the parts I really love the most.

I know this is all high praise, but for the men who can’t stop thinking of the roman empire and for the greek mythological baddies, it is a movie to watch as a timeless analogy to the destruction of war and questions of morality, injustice, karmic debt, and being at the whim of merciless gods.