# Wilson attacks Nolan’s Odyssey script despite crediting her translation

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-slams-christoper-nolans-abysmal-screenplay-i-would-be-ashamed-to-have-written-any-part-of-this-script/
- Published: 2026-07-27T20:32:06+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-28T02:47:42+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-slams-christopher-nolan-bad-writing-1236821915/
- Topics: Art, Culture

## Key points

- Emily Wilson blasted Nolan's Odyssey screenplay as "abysmal" in a review.
- She said she'd be "ashamed" to have written any part of it.
- Despite this, she credits the film with reviving interest in Homer.

## Summary

Emily Wilson, translator of "The Odyssey" and a classical studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has sharply criticised Christopher Nolan's film adaptation in a review for the London Review of Books, despite Nolan having credited her 2017 translation as a key influence on the movie. She described the screenplay as "abysmal" and said she "would be ashamed to have written any part of this script," arguing that the film lacks the psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth of Homer's original despite its spectacle.

In the review, Wilson said the adaptation has "nothing convincing to say" about time, memory, history or war, called its narrative structure "gimmicky," and said no character has convincing motivation for their actions or words. Nolan had praised Wilson during the press tour, telling Empire he used the opening line of her translation to shape Matt Damon's Odysseus, and Wilson, while damning the writing, acknowledged the film has still driven renewed public interest in Homer and boosted sales of Odyssey translations, including her own.

## Coverage

- [Variety: Wilson attacks Nolan’s Odyssey script despite crediting her translation](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-slams-christopher-nolan-bad-writing-1236821915/)
- [The Hollywood Reporter: ‘The Odyssey’ Translator Cited by Nolan Trashes Film: “I Would Be Ashamed”](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/the-odyssey-translator-review-christopher-nolan-1236657169/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.