The Odyssey reviews are here and many feature a surprising link with Christopher Nolan’s previous films. It has set a new critical record for the director and has become his highest-rated film.
What is surprising critics in their reviews for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey?
An interesting thing noted in many reviews is that The Odyssey appears to be an anti-war movie. Nolan’s previous film, Oppenheimer, also had an undercurrent of anti-war sentimentality, with the titular hero haunted by the catastrophic weapon he had created. The Odyssey contains spectacular action sequences, but its anti-war stance is a pleasant surprise considering the source material.
“For every moment of awe-inspiring spectacle, there’s the quiet terror of the aftermath,” wrote Inverse’s Hoai-Tran Bui. The critic noted how the film’s exploration of war and its consequences is a “dialogue” that Nolan began in Oppenheimer and concludes in The Odyssey “to hugely satisfying effect.”
South China Morning Post’s review called it “the perfect anti-war movie,” while The Austin Chronicle’s Richard Whittaker likened it to being a “companion piece” to Oppenheimer. “Both films warn of what happens when the smartest person in the room becomes distracted by war, and lets the venal and cruel run roughshod in his own home,” wrote the critic.
Robin Holabird’s review stated that the film highlights action while adding a “wistful depth with valid insights about the horror of war.”
ComingSoon also praised the film in their review, stating it was an “extraordinary achievement that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.” The film holds a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 163 reviews at the time of writing. The film uses new IMAX technology to retell Homer’s epic, following Ithaca’s king Odysseus on a perilous journey to return home after the Trojan War.
The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17, 2026.
