The Odyssey

Christopher Nolan’s storied directing career so far has been as varied as it has been consistent, largely oscillating between vast historical events and intellectual sci-fi every few years. Cue The Odyssey, due for release three years after the cultural moment that was Oppenheimer, which sticks to the historical side of his work. Notably, Ludwig Göransson returns to score this one, marking a creative partnership that promises to endure; Göransson’s penchant and curiosity for the unconventional while staying firmly grounded in character-driven scoring served Nolan’s creative vision well in Tenet and Oppenheimer, and it looks like this partnership has only deepened.

The first twenty seconds has us surveying a battlefield, with armor and weapons strewn across the landscape; an eternal, guttural, wordless vocal utterance reinforces things. We hear a minor sixth to perfect fifth motif that will return later as we move to a cold forest scene with the king of Ithaca, Odysseus (Matt Damon), beginning to return with his troops after ten years in the Trojan War. Little does Odysseus know that the return home will end up being at least half the battle.

Against ships at night and a glimpse of Odysseus’ family, the audioviewer is bathed in a soundscape of synths, brass, vocals, perhaps strings—all mixed in a vast, meditative drone befitting the epic subject matter. Note the incisive harmonic inflection at 1:05—these harmonic turns help maintain energy and interest, while complementing the on-screen action. The chords seem to liberally move between C major and the parallel, frigid Phrygian (minor, with that added Db minor second for good measure)—sometimes stepping right over each other under some epic percussion, as in 1:23.

The insistence on the minor sixth makes the arrival of the leading note at 1:32 feel almost unmoored, stuck there as Odysseus’ shipmates are stuck in a terrible storm. Here we get no resolution, instead anticipating the preemptive grief of Penelope (Anne Hathaway) as she seeks assurance from Odysseus before he leaves to war. We get a final sounding of the C-Ab minor sixth in the brass along with that odd, guttural sound that the trailer began with (perhaps evoking one of the many creatures Odysseus will have to contend with) to round things out. Beyond that sonic hint, the trailer gives us one fleeting glimpse of a mythic creature (at the mouth of the cave), but otherwise it suggests that Nolan’s Odyssey is a human epic.

Earning well over 34 million views and counting since its release a week ago, it’s the first film to be shot entirely in IMAX 70mm format—and suffice to say, it seems Nolan chose the subject matter to fit the honour well.

The Odyssey comes to shore July 17th, 2026.

— Curtis Perry