‘The Odyssey’ Is a Massive Folk Horror Creature Feature
Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s classic is ripe with primal ancient magic, the hot rage of men and the terror of being on the open seas.
Move over, Wuthering Heights: Christopher Nolan’s take on The Odyssey might take the cake as the most-discussed literary adaptation of 2026. Audiences have been duking it out long before July 17. But as movie lovers finally make their way to the theater, hopefully the conversation turns more toward the incredible feat Nolan has pulled off, including the sheer emotion he evokes, spinning an age-old yarn about Odysseus and his tortured journey home.
From the untameable beast of the sea, to the senselessly violent deaths of Odysseus’ men, to the malevolent forces that constantly drag everyone down, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is undeniably a horror movie. The cast alone should have told us that: Our Telemachus, Tom Holland, co-starred in The Devil All the Time, and for our Antinous, the ever-creepy Robert Pattinson. Our Helen of Troy, Lupita Nyong’o, starred in A Quiet Place: Day One. And just like in Jordan Peele’s Us, Nyong’o plays dual roles in The Odyssey as Helen and her sister Clytemnestra.
Samantha Morton who plays Circe and Corey Hawkins who plays Polybus are The Walking Dead alums. Mia Goth, of Ti West’s X trilogy, Suspiria, Infinity Pool and Frankenstein, plays Melantho, and Logan Marshall-Green of The Invitation plays her twin brother from hell, Melanthius. Even our Odysseus, Matt Damon, was in Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane and Contagion. But The Odyssey isn’t just a fantasy-action-adventure caper that happens to be filled with scream kings and queens. Based on the centuries-old magic of Greek mythology, the film is a feast for lovers of folk horror.
Nolan puts us in the proper headspace by stating explicitly that the story takes place “in a time of apparent magic.” Visually, the simmering tension and torch-lit palace already scratch a certain itch for those who love gothic horror. Viewers start to get a taste of ’s thematic darkness when Odysseus’ men follow sheep into a mountaintop cave. Even if you hadn’t read Homer’s epic, if you’ve ever seen , you know what will happen next.
