Homer’s “The Odyssey” is one of the most famous tales of all time. It’s an archetypical story that’s been told and retold countless times through the centuries in near infinite variations, including by way of a “SpongeBob SquarePants” movie. This is why the announcement that Christopher Nolan was planning to direct a clear-cut, traditional film adaptation of Homer’s epic came as such a surprise.
For Nolan, it seems adapting “The Odyssey” was about scratching an itch he hadn’t been able to tackle in his career until now: making a Ray Harryhausen-like adventure movie via IMAX cameras. So far, the marketing has been somewhat vague about the more fantastical elements of the film, including its godly characters and monsters. Still, it feels that Nolan is at least capturing the essentials, including the core message of Homer’s story.
But what’s “The Odyssey” even about, when you get down to brass tacks? Well, according to star Matt Damon, that’s up to the viewer.
“I think people, depending on the experience, the personal experience you bring into the theater, things are going to hit you in different ways, because it’s so many stories in one,” Damon told /Film’s own Jeremy Mathai during the film’s press day. “Maybe it’s a love story for people, or a story about war. One of the people working on the film was a veteran, and he thought it was, he said this is all about PTSD. And I think it really depends on what you carry into it, and that’s the beauty of Homer.”
Indeed, “The Odyssey” is a proper epic that encapsulates many ideas and themes. That’s also why it lends itself so well to multiple adaptations.
The Odyssey is about the journey, not the destination
If it feels like Matt Damon gave a vague non-answer, you are severely mistaken. The key thing about “The Odyssey” is that it is an epic about, well, an odyssey or journey. The entire point of the story is that it takes a long time for its protagonist, Odysseus, to return home, and he changes a whole lot on the way, even before the narrative proper begins.
The versatility of Homer’s tale is also what’s made “The Odyssey” such a timeless work primed for endless retellings and adaptations. In one sense, it’s all about a war veteran haunted by the ghosts of his military campaigns, but in another, it’s a love story about a man going through hell to return to his wife and child. Or, depending on how you look about it, “The Odyssey” is chiefly about a mortal human defying the gods.
Yes, it’s a cliché to say that a story is about the journey and not the destination, but in this case, it’s actually true. It’s Odysseus’ journey that changes him, exposing who he really is. This, in turn, allows whoever is adapting the tale to morph it to fit whatever message or theme they want to focus on. For example, when the Coen Brothers made their version of “The Odyssey” with “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” they transformed it into a story about redemption, music, and crime. We don’t know yet exactly what the focus of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation will be, thematically, but it certainly sounds like he’s keeping the spirit of the original text alive by making it a broad tale for folks to interpret in their own way.
“The Odyssey” begins playing in theaters on July 17, 2026.
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