Christopher Nolan’s nearly three-decade-long filmography has received a new highlight: The Odyssey, which has emerged as his highest-rated film to date. Among the entire star-studded ensemble, one actor’s performance has captured the spotlight remarkably.
Amid this three-hour-long imaginative journey packed with top-tier performers, Anne Hathaway, portraying Odysseus’s devoted wife Penelope, is generating significant chatter on the Oscar circuit.
Critic Erik Davis praised Hathaway’s ‘incredible’ depiction of the iconic Greek personality, while Nine.com.au described her role as ‘one of the best performances of Hathaway’s career.’
Enthusiasts on social media platforms are equally charmed, with one X user enthusiastically predicting, ‘Anne Hathaway is sure to earn a nomination for her work in The Odyssey.’
Another admirer applauded her ‘passionate and multifaceted act, woven with threads of sorrow, loneliness, fury, and fading hope, all anchored by a profound and impressive love.’
A third wrote, ‘The best work in the film belongs to Anne Hathaway, and it is the best work she has done in years, possibly the best of her career.’
Anne Hathaway is earning serious Oscar buzz for her role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
The actress plays Odysseus’s wife Penelope in Nolan’s three-hour fantasy epic
Outside of Hathaway, Matt Damon is also being lauded for what many feel is the greatest performance of his career as the main character Odysseus.
However, one surprising star who is also winning acclaim is actor Elliot Page.
Page only has a small part in the film, playing the role of Odysseus’s cousin Sinon, but his role has caused widespread controversy online due to the fact that he’s playing a formidable Greek soldier despite being transgender and only 5’1.
But despite the bigoted backlash around Page’s casting, the Juno star has already been singled out by fans for his short but powerful performance.
One moviegoer said that Page ‘silences every critic with a flawless performance in The Odyssey’ while critic Nina Starner said that she was, ‘thrilled to inform the haters, losers, and bigots that Elliot Page is SUBLIME IN THIS MOVIE’.
Online backlash has been brewing over The Odyssey’s diverse cast, which included multiple black performers like Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and rapper Travis Scott in Nolan’s adaptation of a Greek epic.
After months of mounting online fury, however, the professional critics rendered a resoundingly positive verdict on X ahead of the lifting of the official review embargo.
With over 60 reviews in so far, The Odyssey has achieved a near-perfect score on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes with a current standing of 96%.
Along with Hathaway, Elliot Page’s performance has also won acclaim from critics
Page only has a small part in the film, playing the role of Odysseus’s cousin Sinon
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That score places Nolan’s 13th feature film at the top of the pile of his past movies with The Dark Knight trailing behind with a 94% critic score.
The reviews for The Odyssey are almost universal in their soaring praise and five star ratings.
The Daily Mail’s Brian Viner declared that ‘Nolan’s film – its star-studded cast led by Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and Zendaya – is a glorious cinematic experience, a triumph both of story-telling and movie-making.’
Viner added ‘I rarely say this of movies nearly three hours long – one viewing simply isn’t enough.’
In a five-star review, Metro’s Tori Brazier said, external The Odyssey was ‘a watershed moment for filmmaking’.
Page’s casting has sparked vile backlash from conservative moviegoers, who are enraged that a transgender actor was cast in the film
Guy Lodge for Variety wrote that Nolan’s ‘take on Homer is thorough, robust and attentive both to scholarly detail and old-school moviemaking craft.’
Nolan’s movie of The Odyssey has been hotly anticipated for years, with an all-star cast including Damon as Odysseus and Hathaway as his wife Penelope.
Tom Holland features as the couple’s son Telemachus, while his wife and Spider-Man co-star Zendaya is playing the goddess Athena.
Robert Pattinson plays the villainous role of Penelope’s suitor Antinous, with Charlize Theron and Samantha Morton respectively as the goddesses Calypso and Circe.
Jon Bernthal plays the Spartan king Menelaus and Benny Safdie has been cast as his brother Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae.