Top 5 Must-Watch Films for Fans of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

Christopher Nolan has ventured into new territory with his latest movie, a grand adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey.” This project marks his return to filmmaking after the 2023 Oscar winner “Oppenheimer.” Bringing his renowned creative team along, Nolan has collaborated once more with producer Emma Thomas, composer Ludwig Göransson, and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema. Together, they’ve reimagined the epic Greek poem with Matt Damon, who plays the resilient Odysseus, a hero journeying adrift at sea following his triumph in the Trojan War.

Alongside Damon, a roster of illustrious actors graces the screen. Anne Hathaway portrays Penelope, Odysseus’ patient wife, while Tom Holland takes on the role of Telemachus, their nearly grown son. Benny Safdie appears as Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, and Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, king of Sparta. Lupita Nyong’o steps into the shoes of Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra, Himesh Patel embodies Eurylochus, Odysseus’ loyal deputy, Elliot Page acts as the soldier Sinon, and John Leguizamo plays the steadfast swineherd Eumaeus. Charlize Theron enchants as the nymph Calypso, and Zendaya captivates as the goddess Athena. As Odysseus navigates perils and losses on his quest to return home, he ultimately faces the challenges of reuniting with his family alone.

This cinematic retelling is an extraordinary addition to the world of adaptations, bringing a well-loved story to life with spectacular performances and visual storytelling. After immersing yourself in Nolan’s vision of “The Odyssey,” explore additional epic films, whether by Nolan or others, ranging from unique interpretations of the classic tale to the closing chapter of one of the most acclaimed fantasy trilogies ever created.

Discussing Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” often draws comparisons to his work on “Oppenheimer.” Derived from Kai Bird’s biography “American Prometheus,” “Oppenheimer” stars Cillian Murphy in the titular role of the eminent physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. This portrayal earned Murphy an Academy Award for Best Actor. Nolan adopts a similar narrative style in both films, utilizing dual timelines. In “The Odyssey,” this manifests as Odysseus recounting his journey to Calypso through a series of flashbacks.

In “Oppenheimer,” one timeline follows Oppenheimer’s pivotal role at Los Alamos, collaborating with figures such as Gen. Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), Ernest Lawrence (Josh Harnett), and Edward Teller (Benny Safdie) on the Manhattan Project, leading to the creation of the atomic bomb. Concurrently, the second timeline delves into Oppenheimer’s personal struggles, including his wife Kitty’s (Emily Blunt) hardships during his intensive scrutiny by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Spearheaded by the antagonistic Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), these investigations unravel Oppenheimer’s affair with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), laying bare the challenges faced amid allegations of communist ties.

On the surface, “Oppenheimer” and “The Odyssey” are both extraordinary epic films that share cast members, but they’re also about the hubris of man — and how any man can become death, the destroyer of worlds if given the chance. If you haven’t seen “Oppenheimer” you must watch it after “The Odyssey.”

If you loved “The Odyssey” but you’re looking for a much sillier take on the source material, look no further than Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2000 romp “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Though the famous directing duo claimed they never even bothered to read the epic poem before adapting it into a fresh and creative story, that feels impossible; this is a version of “The Odyssey” set in the American South in the late 1930s that recalls some of the poem’s incredibly famous trials and iconography. George Clooney leads the film as Ulysses Everett McGill (with his first name referencing Odysseus), who goes by Everett and is incarcerated alongside his friends Pete and Delmar (John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson). Promising that he knows where treasure is buried, Everett convinces Pete and Delmar to stage a daring escape for prison, and before long, the three of them are on the run.

As Everett, Pete, and Delmar evade the police, they encounter a one-eyed Bible salesman and secret Klan member Daniel “Big Dan” Teague (John Goodman), three singing sirens, and receive advice from a blind man … and as it turns out, there’s no buried treasure. Everett simply wanted to break out of prison to reunite with his wife, Penny (Holly Hunter), before she remarries. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is probably the silliest adaptation of “The Odyssey” in history, but it’s fresh, fun, and deeply charming — and has an absolutely killer soundtrack to boot thanks to the plotline where the trio form a band called the Soggy Bottom Boys. (“Man of Constant Sorrow” is a stone cold bop.)

We couldn’t put the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy on this list, so we had to go with the third and final installment, “The Return of the King” — because it’s matches the epic scale of “The Odyssey” the best and provides a satisfying conclusion. Across three years, director Peter Jackson released “The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Two Towers,” and “The Return of the King” in 2001, 2002, and 2003, respectively … and “The Return of the King” wraps up the story of the bold young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) who volunteers to travel into the heart of Mordor alongside his loyal best friend Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) to destroy Sauron’s One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. 

While Frodo and Sam prepare to enter Mordor alongside their disloyal companion Gollum (a motion-captured Andy Serkis), a different kind of odyssey is happening elsewhere in Middle Earth as Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) prepares to return to the kingdom of Gondor and take his rightful place as its king. In both “The Odyssey” and “The Return of the King,” two fighters become monarchs after their kingdoms go without leadership for decades — and both of them fight valiantly alongside their allies to do so, with elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and wizened wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) by his side. When Frodo — decades-old spoiler alert! — finally launches the ring into Mount Doom as Aragorn and his armies mount a final push against Mordor’s enemies, it’s as thrilling as the conclusion of “The Odyssey” … and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy indisputably paved the way for cinematic epics like “The Odyssey.”

There will, inevitably, be comparisons made between “The Odyssey” and Wolfgang Peterson’s 2004 film “Troy,” even though the best comparison that comes to mind is that meme having to do with hydrogen bombs and coughing babies. Put simply, “Troy,” written by future “Game of Thrones” showrunner David Benioff, isn’t nearly as good or well-excuted as Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” but to be fair, it adapts a different epic Greek poem, so pairing them together would, ostensibly, give you the fullest picture of the Trojan war — especially because we only see the tail end of the conflict in Nolan’s film as Matt Damon’s Odysseus and his men tuck themselves inside of the famous Trojan horse to stage an ambush.

With Brad Pitt as Achilles, Diane Kruger as Helen of Troy, eventual “Succession” star Brian Cox as King Agamemnon, Orlando Bloom as Paris, and Eric Bana as Paris’ older brother Hector, “Troy” begins when Agamemnon brings the Greek kingdoms together, meeting with fellow royals like Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) and, you guessed it, Odysseus (Sean Bean). While Achilles takes Paris and Hector’s cousin, priestess Briseis (Rose Byrne) hostage and eventually becomes her lover, war rages when Paris and Helen fall in love and Paris spars with Menelaus; when the two men wound each other, the peaceful pact enacted by Agamemnon is officially broken, and the Trojan War begins in earnest. Again, we cannot stress this enough: “Troy” is not a good movie, but it’s a deeply enjoyable one with an insanely stacked cast (Julie Christie and Peter O’Toole play supporting roles in this film). Pair “Troy” with “The Odyssey,” and honestly, you’ll have a pretty good time.

There are probably a lot of people out there who will gleefully tell you that “The Dark Knight Rises” is the weakest entry in Christopher Nolan’s beloved and influential Dark Knight trilogy. That may or may not be true, depending on who you talk to, but one thing is for sure: “The Dark Knight Rises” is the most directly tied to “The Odyssey,” and you can see a clear throughline from this trilogy capper to Nolan’s 2026 epic.

So why is that? In this 2008 superhero film, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is attempting to retire from his secret nighttime career as the masked vigilante known as the Batman when Gotham is suddenly attacked by Bane (Tom Hardy), who wants to avenge the “Batman Begins” villain Ra’s al Ghul and level the city. Bane breaks Bruce’s back during a massive fight in an underground sewer and leaves him for dead to carry out his nefarious plan. Bruce, however, has other plans. Despite being seemingly broken like Odysseus, he trains his body back to its full strength, returns to Gotham in secret as Odysseus does to Ithaca, and is able to bring Bane down — before faking his own death and absconding with cat burgler Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway). See? Not only do Odysseus and Bruce both save the day in relative secret, but they both get to link up with Hathaway!

“The Odyssey” is in theaters now.