I hadn’t been planning to review The Odyssey until I realized two things. First, that it had been nearly a year since I’d done a movie review for KabOOOOOm. (Most of my film writing of late has been for Coming Soon or SuperHeroHype.) The other reason was more pressing, because with all the hype and controversy over this movie, many of the reviews I saw neglected one important question. Is this movie worth watching?

In my opinion, it is.

Presumably most audiences already know the story of The Odyssey. It is one of the most referenced stories in Classic Literature and one of the most often adapted. For those who haven’t read it, the action centers around the Greek king Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his failure to get home after the Trojan War. Having spent ten years abroad, he spends another ten years wandering because of his failure to honor the dead and respect the gods. As he does this, several sinister suitors scheme to steal his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and his kingdom. Chief among them is Antinous (Robert Pattison), who spends most of the movie plotting to kill Odysseus’ son, loyal servants, and dog.

Despite some modest story changes, Nolan’s screenplay is true to the spirit of the original epic poem by Homer. The movie is structured as a sequence of vignettes of people telling stories. Because The Odyssey was meant to be read aloud as a series of episodic tales. This tone is set immediately in the first scene, with a bard starting to tell the tale of the Trojan Horse.

We do see this famous sequence play out, but much of the movie is out of sequence. Half the tales are told to Telemachus (Tom Holland) who seeks word of Odysseus’ whereabouts and to learn more about the father he’s never known. The other half is Odysseus speaking of his adventures to Calypso (Charlize Theron) as she seeks to see how much the amnesiac king recalls of his life.

This is one of the more notable changes to the plot, which allows Nolan to add a new wrinkle to Odysseus’ actions. Nolan further introduces more modern and reasonable motivations to some of the characters. Circe, for instance, has reasons for turning men into animals beyond being a wicked witch.

The story also changes the character of Calypso dramatically, presumably because Nolan knew the film would screech to a halt if he spent seven years showing Odysseus crying in between bouts of being raped by a goddess. Conversely, it also avoided further antagonizing those critics who were sure to lambast this movie as woke trash by complaining of how unrealistic it is to think a man can be raped. Or that any real man would object to spending years on a beach canoodling with Charlize Theron even if they had Anne Hathaway waiting at home for them.

One change that may prove divisive is Nolan’s more realistic approach to the story. There are still supernatural monsters and dangers, but the influence of the gods is greatly reduced beyond Poseidon seeking revenge. Only Athena (Zendaya) makes an appearance in the movie and then mostly to silently stare at Odysseus as if to say “You are an idiot.”

Beyond the story changes, however, Nolan shows his skill as a director and his ability to assemble the right people for the right job. This goes beyond the excellent ensemble cast which does not contain a single miscast role. This Odyssey is a triumph on every level of creative production, from the soundtrack to the set design to the costumes. It would be predictable to say this will be the movie to beat at the 2027 Oscars given all the creators involved. It would also be accurate.

Bottom Line? Ignore the vocal minority complaining about historical accuracy in a movie based on myth. The Odyssey is the best movie I’ve seen all year and I can’t wait to see it again.