Nolan’s Odyssey: not subversive, not that deep
By Thomas Mirus and James Majewski ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 29, 2026 | In Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast
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Nathan Douglas and Thomas Mirus review Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. It is not necessarily a bad thing if an adaptation doesn’t reproduce the precise worldview of its source material—an artist makes his own work of art, not a scholarly translation. The movie is not a deliberate subversion of its source material, as many assumed. It is Nolan’s honest personal reflection on what the poem means to him. But he does view the story through the lens of modern concerns which, while by no means false or unworthy of exploration or even totally incompatible with Homer’s story, result in a less interesting version of Odysseus and a less coherent but overly didactic interpretation of the events depicted.
Links
Clip about diversity casting from previous episode https://youtu.be/5EEe-ogUXMI
Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com
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Criteria is hosted by Thomas V. Mirus and James T. Majewski.
Thomas is President of Trinity Communications, Editor-in-Chief for CatholicCulture.org and hosts both the Catholic Culture Podcast and Lives of the Popes. See full bio.
James is Vice President of Trinity Communications and Director of Customer Relations for CatholicCulture.org as well as the host and narrator for Catholic Culture Audiobooks. See full bio.
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