There’s big praise, and then there’s the kind that comes from someone who actually stood in the middle of the production and still has no clue how it all came together.
That’s exactly where Tom Holland finds himself after working with Christopher Nolan on The Odyssey, and his reaction is exactly what you’d hope for from a massive cinematic swing like this.
Holland, who plays Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, has seen the film and didn’t hold back when talking about it. He said: “I can tell you that it is an absolute masterpiece, and I’m taking myself out of that equation.”
But what really stands out is how genuinely baffled he is by what Nolan pulled off. He continued: “Chris Nolan’s movie is fantastic. It’s unlike anything that I’ve ever seen before.
“I think when I saw the movie, I found myself asking a question that I haven’t asked about a movie for a long time, which is, ‘How did you do that?'”
That question pretty much sums up Nolan’s entire career. This is the filmmaker who planted 500 acres of corn for Interstellar, crashed a real Boeing 747 for Tenet, and bent reality in Inception with practical ambition pushing every frame. If there’s a way to do something for real, Nolan’s going to chase it.
And it sounds like The Odyssey might be his most ambitious experiment yet. Holland went on to explain how even being present during filming didn’t give him the full picture.
“Chris is obviously trying to do everything as practically as possible in camera. And there were certain sequences in the movie where I’m watching it and I’m just sort of thinking like, ‘How on earth has he done that? That has to be CG.’
“And then after the movie asking him, ‘That was definitely CG, right?’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, that’s all in camera effects. Very planned, very prepared.'”
That commitment to practical filmmaking feels like a direct response to audiences who’ve been overloaded with digital-heavy blockbusters. Nolan’s approach leans into scale, texture, and realism, and according to Holland, it pays off in an awesome way.
He didn’t just admire it as a viewer either. He clearly felt the weight of being part of something special. He went on to say:
“So I think fans are going to be really, really blown away by the set pieces and sequences throughout the movie, because even as someone that was there on the day and was in the film, I was absolutely blown away by the scale, the scope, his ability to navigate such an intricate and heartfelt story in the middle of this insane kind of action movie.
“So it’s one of my proudest achievements as an actor and I’m so touched that Chris gave me the opportunity to be in the film.”
That’s a strong statement from someone who’s been at the center of one of the biggest franchises on the planet as Spider-Man. Speaking of which, Holland will be back in the suit this July with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but it sounds like The Odyssey hits a very different creative nerve for him.
The film itself is Nolan’s take on Homer’s legendary tale, following Odysseus on his long and dangerous journey home to Penelope, played by Anne Hathaway. The cast is stacked with heavy hitters including Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, and Lupita Nyong’o.
The first trailer, released last December, teased the beginning of that mythic journey, giving us a glimpse of Damon’s battle-worn hero setting out across dangerous waters.
Nolan didn’t exactly take the easy route getting it on screen. The production reportedly shot nearly 2 million feet of footage and spent months filming on the open sea with real waves, which sounds intense.
All signs point to The Odyssey being a massive cinematic event, one driven by practical filmmaking and a director pushing his craft to the edge. If Holland is still scratching his head trying to figure out how Nolan pulled it off, that’s probably the best kind of hype you can get.
The Odyssey sails into theaters on July 17.
