‘The Odyssey’ Doesn’t Have an Intermission, and Critics Have Feelings About It

Christopher Nolan has built a reputation on sprawling, immersive epics that ask a lot of their audiences, and his adaptation of Homer’s ancient tale continues that tradition in a big way. Shot entirely on IMAX film across locations including Morocco, Greece, Italy, Scotland, Iceland, Western Sahara, and Malta, ‘The Odyssey’ arrived in theaters on July 17 as one of the most ambitious productions of Nolan’s career. With a runtime that rivals some of his longest work, moviegoers have had one very practical question on their minds heading into showtimes.

That question centers on bathroom breaks, and whether audiences will get one built into the movie itself. ‘The Odyssey’ clocks in with a reported budget of 250 million dollars and an ensemble cast led by Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron. For a film of that scale and length, the assumption for many was that Nolan would follow the old Hollywood tradition of splitting things up.

He didn’t. The film runs a hefty two hours and fifty-two minutes with no scheduled break anywhere in the middle, and reviewers noticed almost immediately. One review out of the Jerusalem Film Festival joked that the real drama of seeing ‘The Odyssey’ is deciding exactly when to slip out for a restroom trip, since the movie plays straight through without an intermission. That same review suggested ducking out either right after the Circe sequence or just as Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca, reasoning that whoever you’re watching with can fill you in with about three whispered words.

The complaints weren’t limited to one outlet. A Boston Globe review pointed out that even Cecil B. DeMille, the director most associated with sprawling three hour Hollywood epics, at least gave audiences an intermission so they wouldn’t be squirming in their seats. The review argued Nolan could have used a bit of that old showmanship, both in pacing and in giving the audience a breather.

Part of the reason for the choice appears to be technical rather than artistic. Nolan shot the entire film on IMAX cameras, a format that comes with a hard three-hour limit tied to the physical platter and projection system used to run the massive film prints. Nolan has said the only way to push past that three-hour ceiling would require an entire rebuild of the projection system itself, something that simply wasn’t in the cards for this release. That constraint is notable given Nolan has only crossed the three-hour mark once before in his career, with ‘Oppenheimer’, while films like ‘Interstellar’ stopped just short at 249 minutes.

Whether or not audiences agree with the no-intermission approach, it seems to be an intentional byproduct of Nolan’s commitment to shooting on film rather than a simple oversight. For now, moviegoers heading into ‘The Odyssey’ should plan their concessions and bathroom timing accordingly, because once Odysseus sets sail, there’s no scheduled stop until he reaches home.

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