Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey is sparking plenty of conversations, and that’s ironic, considering the film hasn’t even hit theaters yet. The past few months have seen some social media users dissect this take on the epic Greek poem. A portion of people have taken issue with some of the casting choices and have also been pointing out historical inaccuracies. When it comes to that latter section of discourse, there’s one particularly annoying question Nolan and co. have been getting, and he recently addressed it.
One of the main details audiences have been noticing in the Odyssey trailers has been the presence of contemporary language in this book-to-screen adaptation. The actors don’t speak in a pronounced dialect but in a way that’s similar to how modern people would speak. While that hasn’t really deterred the Nolan stans, others have been wondering why the characters talk as they do. The topic came up when Nolan and cast member Tom Holland appeared on Channel 4’s The Four Cast, and the director shared his rationale:
When you look at this world, you look at the ancient world, people tend to view it in weird ways. There’s a lot of cultural prejudice. There’s sort of elevating it, because it’s old [or] whatever it is. When you go to the poem, what you find is something that's really earthy and grounded and accessible. And so, for me, in building the world of the film, what I talk to all the actors about is like, ‘I just want to center it on that and make it feel very fresh for modern audiences and do away with some of those assumptions that aren't based on anything logical.
This makes a lot of sense, as Nolan’s goal was apparently to avoid cultural clichés while crafting the film. He’s certainly correct that there can be “cultural prejudice” and, in terms of movies and TV shows about ancient civilizations, that can result in depictions that feel inauthentic. Based on his comments, Nolan wasn’t aiming to overthink it and sought to go with something straightforward and relatable when it came to the language. That feels like a smart move to me though, even before hearing this take, I wasn’t annoyed by the dialogue.
Still, there seem to be those who still take issue with the way characters speak. While Christopher Nolan addressed this recent question in a classy way, it’s hard not to get the feeling that he’s somewhat tired of it. Tom Holland – who plays Telemachus – also seems to be slightly perturbed. During the chat, he was asked about his character saying “dad” instead of “father,” and Holland dropped a respectful, yet very cheeky, response:
I wouldn’t have even said father back in the day, would I? It would have been Greek, so it’s no less correct.
The Spider-Man actor has a point there as well. Overall, the discourse surrounding The Odyssey’s dialogue feels unnecessary, and the same is true regarding other points of criticism. Nolan himself has taken it all in stride, though, and he previously mentioned Interstellar while explaining his approach to world-building in the period piece. More recently, the Oscar winner invoked his Dark Knight Trilogy to discuss the importance of blocking out external chatter and focusing on making the best possible adaptation.
So far, Christopher Nolan’s approach also seems to be speaking for itself, as early Odyssey reactions have been very positive. If you couldn’t tell, I’m looking forward to checking out the historical epic for myself and seeing what Nolan, Tom Holland and the cast and crew bring to this beloved story. And, if the film connects with general audiences, I’ll be eager to see whether the discussions revolving around the modern language persist.
The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17 and, in the meantime, read up on the movie along with other 2026 movie schedule entries.
