Classics Expert Who Inspired Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ Rips Film To Shreds

The classics professor whose translation of https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/the-odyssey" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Odyssey inspired https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/christopher-nolan" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Christopher Nolan’s film version apparently wasn’t happy with the final result.

https://www.emilyrcwilson.com/about-wilson">Emily Wilson, a classical studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote the https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/magazine/the-first-woman-to-translate-the-odyssey-into-english.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2017 translation of the ancient Greek poem that inspired the 2026 blockbuster.

The film may have raised Wilson’s profile and https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2026/07/17/odyssey-movie-translation-emily-wilson-popular/90944888007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">boosted sales of her adaptation, but she still gave it a https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/27/odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-attacks-nolan-blockbuster">scathing review in the https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n14/emily-wilson/an-uncomplicated-man">London Review of Books.

Despite calling the film “an entertaining way to hide from the high temperatures for a few hours” and noting that her teenagers “had a good time,” Wilson damned the film with faint praise, comparing it to “an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display – and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth.”

And while conceding that adaptations “needn’t and shouldn’t follow the original with anything like the exactitude of a translation,” Wilson called the film’s vision “too confused” and its characters “too underdeveloped to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas – although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants.”

The film “lacks many of the elements that make the poem great,” Wilson argued, and “has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours.”

It also “lacks psychological, emotional, political, and ethical depth,” she said, calling the narrative structure “gimmicky” and the script “abysmal.”

Wilson added: “None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words.

There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”

She did say she was “humbled” that Nolan had cited her version of the first line of the poem, “Tell me about a complicated man,” but admitted she would “be ashamed to have written any part of this script.”

Yet despite the scathing critique, Wilson still called the film’s release “an event to celebrate” and praised Nolan for “doing his best to get the general public reading again.”

As of Sunday 26 July, the blockbuster had its https://deadline.com/2026/07/box-office-the-odyssey-motor-city-her-private-hell-hadestown-1237002537/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">best second domestic weekend of any Nolan film – beating his previous record holder, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/dark-knight/">The Dark Knight.

Film critics have https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-odyssey-review-critics-christopher-nolan_uk_6a587d28e4b03c820ebcda81">almost unanimously given The Odyssey a glowing reception, with words like “monumental”, “spectacular” and, of course, “epic” being shared in reviews.

Meanwhile some have hailed it https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-odyssey-review-critics-christopher-nolan_uk_6a587d28e4b03c820ebcda81">not just as the best film of the year, but of Nolan’s whole career.