The first press reactions to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey have been published, and they are overwhelmingly positive, with critics hailing the film as a spectacular, large-scale epic and, by several accounts, the director's biggest and most ambitious work to date. The reactions matter because they set early expectations for one of the year's most anticipated releases, an adaptation of Homer's tale of Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his perilous journey home from the Trojan War to reunite with his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland).

Notably, The Odyssey is billed as the first film shot entirely in Imax, and critics are being encouraged to see it in Imax, with 70mm singled out as the ideal format. Universal is also managing the reaction rollout differently, folding professional journalists from the London premiere and press screenings into the first wave rather than relying on dedicated influencer word-of-mouth events. Reviewers praised the scale, set pieces, score and a stacked cast — with particular mentions for Samantha Morton, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland — while noting Nolan's surprising embrace of horror; the main caveats were that some found it slightly clunky or were left wanting more of each sequence.