Sir Christopher Nolan’s *The Odyssey* has been hailed by critics and stormed the box office since its release on July 17 — but one person who knows the ancient poem better than most is having none of it.
Emily Wilson, the academic whose 2017 translation of Homer’s epic was cited by the director as an influence, has published a scathing review in the *London Review of Books*. “The writing is abysmal,” she wrote. “None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”
“Emily Wilson, whose translation inspired Nolan's epic, calls the script 'abysmal' but thanks him for boosting reading.”
Wilson accused the three-hour film of lacking “psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth,” and said she “would be ashamed to have written any of this script.” She described the narrative structure as “gimmicky” and said the movie features Nolan’s “usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality.”
“The film’s vision is too confused, 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,” Wilson wrote.
Yet even she acknowledged a silver lining. “The release of *The Odyssey* is still an event to celebrate,” she said. “This epic is bringing audiences back to cinemas… translations of *Odyssey*, including mine, are flying off the shelves… [and] perhaps the film will persuade a few college administrators not to cut their literature, language and history departments.” She added that Nolan “is doing his best to get the general public reading again, and I am grateful.”
Wilson, whose opening line — “Tell me about a complicated man” — was used by Nolan as a guide for his adaptation, revealed that her own teenagers “had a good time” watching the blockbuster. But she compared it to “an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display — and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth.”
The backlash extends beyond Wilson’s critique. The *Daily Mail* reports that Nolan’s Oscars hopes could be tarnished by complaints over “jarring” accents and premium IMAX ticket prices, though no further details on those specific grievances appear in the available sources.
Wilson did credit the film for including more female characters than most Nolan movies, “thanks to the source material. But none of them has much to say, in contrast to the characterisations in the poem.”
Lupita Nyong’o stars as Helen of Troy in the adaptation, which is Nolan’s first since the Oscar-winning *Oppenheimer*. Whether *The Odyssey* can overcome the criticism to repeat that awards success remains an open question.
