Christoper Nolan‘s The Odyssey has been the talk of online. Whether you’re a Nolan fan or someone mad about “historical” realism in a movie based on the fictional poem by Homer, who may or may not exist, people are talking. Fresh off his Oscar winning film Oppenheimer, Nolan tackled the epic poem (often taught in schools in tandem with Homer’s The Iliad). And the first social reactions for the film praise Nolan’s retelling, calling it his “most impressive.”
The Odyssey stars Matt Damonas Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, who embarks on a 20 year journey back home after fighting in the Battle of Troy. His son, Telemachus (Tom Holland) is not yet old enough to rule and the people of Ithaca don’t know if Odysseus is alive or dead. His wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway) is the defacto queen still but she has no real power, leaning to suitors (Robert Pattinson and Corey Hawkins) knocking at her doorstep. The film also stars Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Berthanl, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, and more.
First reactions to the film include Jake Kleinman of Polygon calling it Nolan’s most “straight-forward” film while also potentially his most “impressive.” While some praised Nolan’s latest, others called it “Dense but accessible” and said that it is “built to last.” The Mary Sue’s Rachel Leishman said Nolan’s take is “as epic as the source material.” IndieWire’s David Ehrlichcalled it an “S-tier” Nolan film but said that “the last act rewards the journey.” Colldier’s own Perri Nemiroffsaid that The Odyssey “is a filmmaking feast. A grand and gripping rendition of Homer’s epic, and one that feels uniquely Christopher Nolan. It’s sincerely hard to imagine any other filmmaker on the planet being able to bring that source material to screen with this much scale, scope and heart.” Collider’s Steve Weintraub called it “incredible” after seeing the film twice, writing “I’m really blown away by this film.”
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
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🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
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You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
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You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
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You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
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Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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A Rare But Fascinating Adaptation for Christopher Nolan
Bill Irwin as Polyphemus in ‘The Odyssey.’Image via Universal Pictures
For most of Nolan’s career, he focused his work on original films. Starting with Following back in 1998 through movies like Memento, Inception, Interstellar, Tenent, and more, if he’s not making his own original genre bending work, he’s tackling things like a lesser known battle of World War II with Dunkirk or Oppenheimer. Outside of his Batman movies, Nolan’s relationship with adaptation is very limited. And he has in the past, on Stephen Colbert‘s show, said that he views the epics as the original superhero stories. So it isn’t surprising that he would go to something like The Odyssey in a post-Dark Knight trilogy world.
And if the reactions are anything to go by, it was clearly the right move. You can see Nolan’s The Odyssey in theaters on July 17.
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