Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Just Landed the Best Reviews of His Entire Career

Christopher Nolan has built one of the most consistent track records in modern Hollywood, rarely delivering a film that critics outright reject. With ‘The Odyssey’ now hitting theaters, that streak has not just continued, it has reached a level even Nolan himself has never touched before.

The review embargo for the film lifted on Wednesday, and critics wasted no time making their feelings known. Within hours, ‘The Odyssey’ settled at a 98% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 101 reviews, a number that places it firmly among the best reviewed films of the year and, more remarkably, the best reviewed film of Nolan’s entire career.

To put that number in context, it helps to look at how Nolan’s other films have historically performed on the Tomatometer. ‘Oppenheimer’ opened to a 93% critic score, ‘Dunkirk’ landed at 92%, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ settled at 87%, ‘Interstellar’ came in at 73%, and ‘Tenet’, his most divisive film critically, still managed a respectable 69%. Against that backdrop, a 98% score for ‘The Odyssey’ represents genuinely uncharted territory for the director.

Critics have not just been positive, many have been outright rapturous. Moira MacDonald of the Seattle Times wrote that leaning back and surrendering to the film delivers a remarkable journey, with Matt Damon’s performance finding real transcendence by the end. Anthony Breznican of Esquire Magazine described the film as the work of a team of masters operating at the peak of their powers, breathing new life into a story nearly 2,800 years old.

Variety’s Jazz Tangcay was similarly effusive, praising both Nolan’s storytelling and the film’s craftsmanship. “You could feel the passion in his storytelling. You feel the passion in the crafts and the acting,” she wrote in her review reaction shared before the full embargo lifted. Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes contributor Erik Davis went even further, calling the film an absolute triumph and a crowning cinematic achievement from one of the great filmmakers working today.

The film has also drawn specific praise for its ensemble cast, something that has not always been guaranteed in Nolan’s more effects heavy blockbusters. Early reactions singled out Anne Hathaway and Samantha Morton in particular, with one widely shared social post from Discussing Film calling Morton’s sequence in the film perhaps the best in the entire movie, predicting audiences would still be talking about it years from now.

That kind of near-universal acclaim mirrors what happened with ‘Oppenheimer’ back in 2023, which went on to win Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars while also becoming a massive commercial hit, ultimately grossing close to 1 billion dollars worldwide. Given that ‘The Odyssey’ is already tracking toward a similarly massive opening weekend, industry watchers are already floating comparisons to that same awards season trajectory.

What makes the reception especially notable is that Nolan has never really made a film that critics considered outright bad. Even ‘Tenet’, widely viewed as his most polarizing work, never dipped into rotten territory on Rotten Tomatoes. A 98% score does not just continue that pattern; it suggests ‘The Odyssey’ may end up being remembered as the high point of an already remarkably consistent career.

With the film now playing in theaters and audience reactions still rolling in, it remains to be seen whether general moviegoers will match the enthusiasm coming from critics. Given the sheer scale of anticipation surrounding the film and the strength of these early reviews, though, ‘The Odyssey’ looks positioned to be one of the defining cinematic events of 2026.

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