A Cheat Sheet to Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

Christopher Nolan, one of the few commercially successful auteurs in the film business today, returns to his favorite IMAX screens with “The Odyssey.” The film employs frequent Nolan collaborators—actors Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, composer Ludwig Göransson and Nolan’s wife and producing partner at Syncope, Emma Thomas—to adapt Homer’s Greek epic poem by the same name.

Knowing Nolan’s style, his latest promises scale, spectacle and a complex emotional experience that stretches the interpretation of its ancient source material to fit the modern world. Before the film arrives on July 17, 2026, here’s a cheat sheet on all you need to know about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”

1. What is ‘The Odyssey’ about?

Christopher Nolan adapts the ancient Greek poet Homer’s epic poem, ‘The Odyssey’, chronicling Odysseus, the King of Ithaca’s 10-year-long journey to return home after the Trojan War. 

The film follows a dual narrative:

• Odysseus’ journey, battles with mythical monsters and his encounters with gods.
   
• In Ithaca, a plot to usurp Odysseus’ throne, with suitors forcing his queen, Penelope, to marry. His son, Telemachus, attempts to fend them off and go on his own sea quest to find his missing father.

2. Cast and Characters

The Ithaca Royal Family

King Odysseus - Matt Damon

Queen Penelope - Anne Hathaway

Prince Telemachus - Tom Holland

Other Ithacans (Household and ship crew)

Melantho - Mia Goth

Melanthius - Logan Marshall-Green

Eurylochus - Himesh Patel

Eumaeus - John Leguizamo

Penelope’s Suitors

Antinous - Robert Pattinson

Polybus - Corey Hawkins

The Trojan War Figures

Helen of Troy / Clytemnestra - Lupita Nyong’o

King Menelaus of Sparta - Jon Bernthal

King Agamemnon of Mycenae - Benny Safdie

Sinon - Elliot Page

Gods, Monsters and Mythical Beings

Athena - Zendaya

Calypso - Charlize Theron

Circe - Samantha Morton

Cyclops - Bill Irwin

Tiresias the Prophet - James Remar

3. The Music

After ‘Tenet’ (2020) and ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023), ‘The Odyssey’ is composer Ludwig Göransson’s third collaboration with Christopher Nolan. Since the film is an ancient epic, Nolan wanted Göransson not to use an orchestra for the music. Instead, the composer synthesised sounds of instruments like bronze gongs, a lyre and the replica of an aulos to create the sounds of the Bronze Age of Ancient Greece.

4. The Visuals

"The Odyssey" is the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras, which weigh nearly 400 pounds. This is cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema’s fifth collaboration with Nolan. Hoytema and Nolan used natural light, real locations, practical sets and effects and life-size props to evoke realism. For scenes like the midnight raid of Troy, Hoytema used hundreds of portable LEDs to accurately emulate the color of firelight.

5. The Locations

The production used no CGI or green screens and chose to shoot at real locations, capturing actual elements of nature. The film was shot over three months across locations like Greece, Sicily, Iceland, Scotland and Morocco.

6. The ‘Nolan’ Touch

In his style, Christopher Nolan shoots all this on IMAX 70mm film, the highest quality of analog film format, which ensures physical scale, great image resolution, color and depth and an unparalleled immersive experience. Nolan also goes beyond just retelling Homer’s ancient mythical epic and makes “The Odyssey” a character study and exploration of psychological and existential terrors born of isolation.