Christopher Nolan’s upcoming big-screen adaptation of The Odyssey is already one of cinema’s biggest stories a year in advance of its release. Yet the arrival of another feature-film version of the ancient epic on streaming has slipped under the radar. Uberto Pasolini’s The Return stars a rugged-looking Ralph Fiennes in the lead role as Odysseus, alongside Juliette Binoche as Penelope, in a faithful retelling of the Homeric legend’s final chapters. Understandably, this movie stands in the shadow of Nolan’s Odyssey, but it’s a worthy watch nonetheless.
With a budget of approximately $20 million (via TMDB), The Return is soon to be dwarfed in scale by one of Christopher Nolan’s biggest-budget movies to date, but at no point during its 116 minutes does the film feel as though it’s underproduced or lacking in quality. Fiennes’ central performance is one of his most immersive, while critics of Matt Damon’s Greek armor in early stills for The Odyssey will be pleased to hear that The Return’s set designs and costumes are suitably authentic and understated.
The Return Is An Underrated Version Of The Odyssey From 2024
Ralph Fiennes’ Latest Movie Deserves More Attention Than It’s Getting
With its extremely limited theatrical run giving way to a streaming release exclusively for Paramount+, many may not have heard of The Return. Nevertheless, this is a stylish and substantial rendering of one of the world’s most celebrated stories, fronted by excellent lead performances. The movie’s creditable but unremarkable Rotten Tomatoes score of 78% arguably undersells it to anyone looking for a no-nonsense dramatic interpretation of Homer’s Odyssey.
“The key to this successful casting is Fiennes’s ability to communicate with his eyes. Odysseus is a man of few words, but his mind is weighed down by immense feelings and a million thoughts that revolve around his actions and decisions during the Trojan War.” – Ferdosa Abdi – ScreenRant’s review of The Return
The Return’s lack of exposure and unshowy presentation of its story will likely mean that it will join the ranks of underrated historical epics that no one’s ever heard of the moment a trailer drops for Christopher Nolan’s next movie. Still, for those lucky enough to have the right combination of subscriptions, the film will make a compelling weekend watch, especially for classical history buffs and fans of Ralph Fiennes at his most Shakespearean.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Will Be Very Different From The Return
The 2 Movies Are Actually Telling Different Stories
It’s worth pointing out that enjoying The Return isn’t mutually exclusive with enjoying Christopher Nolan’s version of The Odyssey, even if watching two different movies adapting the same Homeric epic within the same 12 months may seem like overkill to some. The Return isn’t just very different from a Christopher Nolan movie in terms of its tone and visual aesthetic. It’s not actually telling quite the same story as Nolan’s Odyssey.
The Odyssey isn’t an easy story to tell on the big screen, which may be why there isn’t yet a definitive film version of Homer’s epic poem.
Whereas Christopher Nolan is taking a stab at the entire 24 books of The Odyssey, The Return only covers the second half of the story (Books 13 to 24). These books are collectively divided into two sections, commonly known as “The Return to Ithaca” and “The Slaying of the Suitors”. They deal with the events of Odysseus’ story from the moment he returns to his homeland, Ithaca, and does battle with the suitors for his wife’s hand in marriage.
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey movie should also feature the first half of the story, which includes an overview of the events that led to Odysseus’ journey home from Troy to Ithaca, and the many adventures he has on his way. Among these adventures, Nolan’s standout moment could be Odysseus fighting the cyclops Polyphemus, a scene unlike anything else the director has captured on film up to this point in his career.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey May Become The Definitive On-Screen Version
The Field Of Homeric Movie Adaptations Is Wide Open For Nolan To Make History
The Odyssey isn’t an easy story to tell on the big screen, which may be why there isn’t yet a definitive film version of Homer’s epic poem. It’s perhaps a stretch too far to suggest that Homer himself would be proud of the movie Nolan is making, as one Universal executive has claimed, but the filmmaker certainly has the opportunity to make his adaptation of The Odyssey the one that’s remembered for generations to come.
Nolan is naturally throwing the kitchen sink at the project, with his Odyssey budget even bigger than the total cost of Oppenheimer, the movie which won the director-producer his first Oscars in 2024. His compeтιтion for Homeric cinema history largely comes in the form of Ulysses, a 1954 Italian version of the epic starring Kirk Douglas in the тιтle role.
A 1997 TV miniseries in the US, also called The Odyssey, found some success on its small-screen release, as Uberto Pasolini’s The Return deserves to. The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? is an ingenious modern rendering of the story, although anyone relatively unfamiliar with Homer’s epic would never guess that the two works of art are related.
Ultimately, the field is wide open for Christopher Nolan to stake his claim for making the definitive version of The Odyssey on screen. He has the experience, the creative control, the cast, and the budget to make his 2026 one of the most spectacular historical epics of all time.
Sources: TMDB
