The Odyssey (2026)Credit: Universal Pictures

Move over, Wuthering Heights: Christopher Nolan’s take on The Odyssey might take the cake as the most-discussed literary adaptation of 2026. Audiences have been duking it out long before July 17. But as movie lovers finally make their way to the theater, hopefully the conversation turns more toward the incredible feat Nolan has pulled off, including the sheer emotion he evokes, spinning an age-old yarn about Odysseus and his tortured journey home.

From the untameable beast of the sea, to the senselessly violent deaths of Odysseus’ men, to the malevolent forces that constantly drag everyone down, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is undeniably a horror movie. The cast alone should have told us that: Our Telemachus, Tom Holland, co-starred in The Devil All the Time, and for our Antinous, the ever-creepy Robert Pattinson. Our Helen of Troy, Lupita Nyong’o, starred in A Quiet Place: Day One. And just like in Jordan Peele’s Us, Nyong’o plays dual roles in The Odyssey as Helen and her sister Clytemnestra.

Samantha Morton who plays Circe and Corey Hawkins who plays Polybus are The Walking Dead alums. Mia Goth, of Ti West’s X trilogy, Suspiria, Infinity Pool and Frankenstein, plays Melantho, and Logan Marshall-Green of The Invitation plays her twin brother from hell, Melanthius. Even our Odysseus, Matt Damon, was in Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane and Contagion. But The Odyssey isn’t just a fantasy-action-adventure caper that happens to be filled with scream kings and queens. Based on the centuries-old magic of Greek mythology, the film is a feast for lovers of folk horror. 

Nolan puts us in the proper headspace by stating explicitly that the story takes place “in a time of apparent magic.” Visually, the simmering tension and torch-lit palace already scratch a certain itch for those who love gothic horror. Viewers start to get a taste of The Odyssey’s thematic darkness when Odysseus’ men follow sheep into a mountaintop cave. Even if you hadn’t read Homer’s epic, if you’ve ever seen The Descent, you know what will happen next. 

Still from The Odyssey, dir. Christopher Nolan.

Enter the cyclops Polyphemus. Everything about this arc makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, from dissonant bleating of the sheep, to the crushing blackness of the cave, to the ghoulish visage of Polyphemus, his big, slow-blinking flipped eye, and his ghostly, paper-thin skin. And for the soldiers who survived the cyclops, it’s just one horror after another. 

They then find themselves on the island of Aeaea, where cannibalistic giants attack. But as if that’s not terrifying enough, the forest where the Laestrygonians trap Odysseus’ men is cursed and vengeful as well. If you’re anything like me, the moving trees and warped woods put you in the mind of The Blair Witch Project. Just like Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick’s film, The Odyssey blurs the line between dark fairytale and veritable brutality of nature.

Similarly, if you’re the kind of horror movie fan who loved A24’s adaptation of The Green Knight, you’ll find a kinship in Nolan’s version of The Odyssey. Just like Morgan Le Fay gave Sir Gawain a blessed girdle, our Penelope (Anne Hathaway) gives Odysseus a carved pin to keep him safe. In both films, too, the landscape is a living, breathing character.

Forget the creatures that Odysseus and his men encounter. Forget the suitors banging down the door to marry Penelope or, at least, move her son Telemachus out of the way for kinghood. The ocean is the most terrifying villain in The Odyssey. Sometimes, she is moody and misty, adding insult to injury. Other times, she is deeply inconvenient: So many times while watching The Odyssey, you’re gripping your seat, hoping Odysseus’ soldiers don’t drown — either as they run behind the boat to get out of dodge, or as they get sloshed around in the Trojan Horse.

Other times, the ocean is downright bloodthirsty. Gone are the moody blues and the dreamy night sky. At one point, it’s pitch black, and the lightning looks terracotta, the waves looking like blood as they lash Odysseus and his men. In many ways, it’s unsurprising that the weather and the sea are so dogged in their determination to destroy everything in their path: It’s the harsh hand of Zeus, the wronged Apollo, and the offended Poseidon, combining in a perfect storm of revenge.

The fearsomeness of the ocean is only compounded by its creatures. Odysseus narrowly escapes the sea monster Charybdis, emerging from a whirlpool, and Scylla, looming from a crag above the water. He also submits himself to the sirens: The crew leans into the genius idea of stuffing their ears with wax to become immune to the siren song. Odysseus is determined to be the first to listen to the mermaids’ music and live, so he demands to be tied to the mast of the ship as they sail by. Nolan’s horror movie take on this feels fresh: The power of the siren isn’t in seduction but in fantasy, innocence lost, and longing. Viewers watch Odysseus thrash against the mast, haunted by the specter of music.

Along with the chilling vision of Odysseus’ fallen men, resurrected from the underworld, the most outright horror comes in the form of Nolan’s Circe. She steals the show when, running from the giant cannibals in the cursed forest, Odysseus’ men take refuge in the cottage at the top of a mountain. There, they find a woman, a warm fire, and an enticing stew. Fans of films like Robert Eggers’ The VVitch knew inherently that no good could come of this. 

Spoiler alert: Circe had nothing but bad intentions for the starving soldiers that came knocking at her door. The way the witch mashes and molds Odysseus’s men is pre-modern nightmare fuel. Something about Circe’s magic lacks the braininess of a sci-fi transformation or the rosiness of fantasy. Her magic is raw and primal and ancient, like the darkest folk incantations.

This is just the hoof of the Trojan Horse. The Odyssey has so many more subplots and so many more characters, including John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, Zendaya as Athena, Charlize Theron as Calypso, Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, Elliot Page as Sinon and Ryan Hurst as Mentor. Despite its massive scale, The Odyssey somehow works. Apart from technical perfection, strong sound design and a perfectly disorienting score (shoutout to Ludwig Göransson, who just made magic for Sinners), Nolan is able to tie it all together with raw emotion. If you want to see a master at work, building something terrifying while shedding minimal blood, go see The Odyssey.

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