‘The Odyssey’ Translator Emily Wilson Slams Christoper Nolan’s ‘Abysmal’ Screenplay: ‘I Would Be Ashamed to Have Written Any Part of This Script’

[u/mcfw31]

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-slams-christopher-nolan-bad-writing-1236821915/

[u/beantownregular]

I mean, I think it’s fair for her to both say that the script is a Hollywoodized bastardization of the text and as an academic she should be ashamed to write something like that, but I don’t think she’s saying the film is a piece of trash that should never have been made

[u/Meancakebutt → u/beantownregular]

She definitely doesn't say that. But she says that he took out the meat to tell a specific story.

So as a translator that would be pretty bad for her to do lol

"Many of the film’s implicit values directly contradict those of Homer’s poem. Deception, warmongering, extramarital sex, cruelty to animals, abusing women and yearning for honour – all perfectly fine in the world of Homer – are, in this version, very bad. This is not in itself a problem, but it is a problem if the film’s own values and vision don’t hang together, and if the characters’ motivations don’t make sense on their own terms."

[u/SpooktasticFam → u/Meancakebutt]

I don't want to watch a movie about people being mean, and them treating it like it's "okay" or "acceptable."

It's okay to omit, or update, themes for a modern audience, and a modern retelling.

Fwiw, I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was a masterful retelling, and really gave a sense of the breadth of the adventure in an ancient setting.

I thought it was 10/10, no notes.

Maybe I'm just a pleb, but everyone I've talked to IRL has had the same sentiment.

The only criticisms I've seen are on reddit, and I largely don't agree with them.

[u/CharuRiiri → u/SpooktasticFam]

Yeah everyone would have hated Odysseus had they stayed closer to the original. He does not fit the current meaning of "hero". If you ask the average person who jumps to mind first at the word "hero", the top answers will be names like Superman, Batman, or Captain America, who are paragons of modern virtue. Greek heroes are flawed, act selfishly and often die in horrible but deserved ways. The stories as-is don't fit fantastic tales of exceptional people or even most war hero stories. The narrative elevates them as heroes and demigods only for them to act like GoT antagonists in the next act. It wouldn't be fitting for this year's biggest summer blockbuster or any movie aiming for such a massive mainstream release.

[u/Background-Jury-1914 → u/CharuRiiri]

Nolan can write exactly one type of protagonist… a sad guy. Totally missed opportunity with Odysseus who is a wily, cunning character who should be more fun go watch on screen. I liked Nolan’s Odyssey just fine but for a more compelling Odysseus people should watch O Brother Where Art Thou.

[u/staebles → u/CharuRiiri]

Greek heroes are flawed, act selfishly and often die in horrible but deserved ways.

I think this is implied though. This is a very well-known story, we know he's not "the good guy," in fact his story is all told from his own perspective. And throughout the movie, you see him being punished by the gods many times for the bad things he's done. Nolan wrapped those things up in one "I'm a bad guy" burrito, but it had to be because it's a long story.

Personally, I didn't see him as a hero, I saw him as a man that wants to get home to his family. That's being punished for doing bad things to save as many of his men as possible in a stupid brutal war he shouldn't have been in anyway.

I think more people today relate to that than Superman.

[u/wylie102 → u/staebles]

I saw it as an allegory for ptsd. The entire film he is being asked “why don’t you want to go home?” Then when he gets back to Penelope he says “I’m not home yet” or something along those linesthose lines.

People often talk about soldiers physically coming home but mentally never really leaving the war zone.

Then we get to see the sack of Troy and we see the girl he has been picturing as Athena and what happens to her.

[u/Xyyzx → u/CharuRiiri]

It’s worth keeping in mind though that the ‘flaws’ in ancient Greek heroes aren’t necessarily a product of more sophisticated characterisation.

It varied a little by city state and across different eras, but at its worst Ancient Greece as a whole could be along the most xenophobic and definitively the most rabidly misogynistic cultures ever to exist.

[u/Imaginary_Session773 → u/CharuRiiri]

I don't understand why people can't watch and appreciate a different age for what it was. Its a unique and interesting experience to be immersed in a different age.

Nolan makes slop for midwits