The article argues that Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is more rewarding on a second viewing, despite having a comparatively straightforward plot. It says the film initially makes Odysseus’s decisions appear improvised or fortunate, but revisiting key scenes reveals that his intelligence and manipulation have been carefully signposted.

Examples include Odysseus planning his escape from the Cyclops’s cave and using reverse psychology to steer his crew away from Charybdis and towards Scylla. The writer also suggests the film’s rapid pace, reportedly shaped by Nolan’s preference for a near-three-hour 70mm IMAX running time, leaves little room to explain every strategy on first viewing; later plot elements involving Athena and the “Sea People” are also said to gain meaning after the ending.