Conservative political commentator Matt Walsh wrote a scathing review of Christopher Nolan’s brand-new film The Odyssey, calling it out for its “woke” take on Homer’s ancient epic and Greek mythology.
Seven hours ago, Walsh wrote on X:
“Just saw The Odyssey. Despite what you may have heard, literally all of the criticisms by conservatives were entirely correct. The movie is just as woke as you fear, if not more so. The DEI casting is atrocious. Completely takes you out of the story right from the beginning. But even worse than that is Nolan’s decision to turn Odysseus into an anachronistic, whiny, solemn shell of a man plagued by ‘trauma’ and guilt.”
The Matt Walsh Show host continued:
“It’s impossible to overlook these flaws because the film itself is not terribly entertaining or well-constructed. For the most part, it is disjointed, dull, self-serious, disenchanted, somehow feeling both verbose and overly rushed at the same time. The dialogue is some of the worst I’ve ever heard in a ‘critically acclaimed’ film.”
Walsh, 40, used the expressions “on the nose” and “clunky” to describe the script, claiming that at no point did Nolan transport his audience to the “ancient world,” aka, 3,000 years in the past. He concluded by writing:
“You feel like you’re watching modern Americans put on a pageant, because you are. Nobody would be calling this thing a masterpiece if it were made by a director not named Christopher Nolan. If you want an epic that actually gets into the mind of an ancient warrior and transports you to their time and place, watch The Northman. That was a masterpiece. This is not.”
In the wake of Matt Walsh’s explosive review, social media users are having diverse reactions. X user @FoundingGroyper commented:
“If Matt Walsh hates The Odyssey, it’s good.”
Many joined the conversation and shared similar reactions.
“‘You never feel like you’re 3,000 years in the past. You feel like you’re watching modern Americans.’ That was the point of the movie, Matt. The movie is an allegory of the present; it happens ‘nowhere,’ the characters are not actually Greek. Nolan spells it out in the movie,” one netizen explained.
“Did you watch the movie? Or did you just have TikTok up while sitting in the parking lot? The sacking of Troy was peak film, how they showed the guilt that almost broke Odysseus, fuckin beautiful. The witch part, terrifyingly amazing. This is by far the best movie of 2026 and possibly of Nolan’s career,” said another user.
“Matt Walsh, who has been wrong about everything, is wrong again,” a person wrote.
“Dude, I usually like watching your videos, etc… But you’re dead wrong on this one!!! The only way you could possibly come to this conclusion is if you let your prior misconceptions, the same ones I had, block out your ability to watch it with an open mind. This movie was incredible,” an individual wrote.
Others weighed in by agreeing with Matt Walsh.
“It’s an attempt to rewrite history and taint cultural memory,” one user commented.
“I agree. It’s not memorable. There are no scenes which you’re dying to watch again. In Troy or Gladiator, I often return to watch the key fight scenes or dialogues. It’s a movie that you watch once and never again. It’s a movie you watch in English class,” one netizen shared.
“It looks and sounds like hot garbage. Thank you for reinforcing my desire to not see it. Things I would rather watch this summer: Young Washington. Project Hail Mary. Top Gun. Top Gun Maverick. The Patriot. Independence Day. The Sandlot. A League of Their Own. The Goonies,” a fellow user mentioned.
Exploring Matt Walsh’s other tweets about The Odyssey
Matt Walsh, whose X bio says, “Theocratic fascist, bestselling children’s author, world-renowned DEI consultant,” followed up his original review of The Odyssey with additional comments.
In one, he wrote:
“If Nolan wanted to make a modernized version of The Odyssey that imposes modern psychology and preoccupations (not to mention racial demographics) onto an ancient epic, he could have done an interpretation set in the current day. There are many examples of that kind of thing.”
Matt Walsh continued:
“But transposing the modern mindset and worldview into the ancient world turns the whole thing into a farce, which is why a number of scenes look and feel like a Mel Brooks movie with better cinematography. It’s totally absurd. What is the point of a story set in ancient times that doesn’t even try to actually capture ancient times?”
In another post, Matt claimed Christopher Nolan “strips the Gods” out of his new movie “entirely” and “only goddesses show up… as PTSD hallucinations.” The conservative commentator stated that Nolan apologists will justify it by saying he was going for a “more ‘grounded’ film.”
“Oh okay. So then why does Ancient Greece have the demographic makeup of Los Angeles circa 2026? Why is there a tiny little woman running around pretending to be a dude? Why is there an Asian guy delivering the line ‘We’re Greeks from Ithaca?’ Grounded? Really? Grounded in what? The apologists are letting Nolan have his cake and eat it too, like always,” he claimed.
Matt Walsh then rips into The Odyssey by comparing it to Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto and Robert Eggers’ The Northman. He says the former transports one into the mind of a Mayan 500 years ago, while the latter transports one into a Viking thousand years ago. Meanwhile, Nolan’s new movie sends one into the mind of a “liberal woman in 2017.”
The podcaster also shaded the critics who gave positive reviews to The Odyssey.
“Character in a Christopher Nolan movie set in the Middle Ages: ‘Geez, the Middle Ages are pretty tough.’ Critics: ‘Oh my God, this is the greatest work of art ever made,’” he joked.
If that isn’t enough, Matt Walsh wrote in another tweet:
“The Odyssey is the kind of movie where a character in the Bronze Age actually says ‘the Age of Bronze is ending.’ The dialogue is like this throughout. You cannot have genuinely sh*t dialogue in a ‘masterpiece’ film.”
In his last tweet from five hours ago, Walsh focused on Nolan’s “ridiculous and disgusting” casting. He pointed out that if a movie was set in Africa and based on their ancient folklore, everyone would call out if the cast comprised “white people and other random races and ethnicities that have nothing to do with Africa.” However, when the “reverse” happens to a “foundational text of Western civilization,” people are defending it, which, according to Matt, is “pathetic.”
Over the weekend, Walsh tweeted he was yet to watch the film and would give his “final verdict” afterwards. However, he slammed conservatives for their takes that the movie “isn’t woke” calling it “implausible.”
“Casting a self-mutilated trans-identifying female as a male warrior is one of the wokest things any mainstream film director has ever done in a movie, by any objective measure. It’s hard to imagine any context that could somehow make that choice not woke,” Matt Walsh posted.
The Odyssey was released globally on July 17 and has ever since earned mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. It is, however, eyeing several box office records, according to Deadline.
Edited by Pallavi K