Early discussion surrounding Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey suggested that it would be one of the most divisive films of the year. However, since its release, the mainstream media has presented the film as a hit of epic proportions with both critics and audiences.
Yet that supposedly universal appeal is called into question when looking at alternative sources of information. User-focused review site Criticless is painting a very different picture of how general audiences really feel about The Odyssey.
Critics and Audiences Appear United
The first reviews of The Odyssey from professional critics were overwhelmingly positive. Film Threat’s Alan Ng, who gave the film a 4/10, was one of the few dissenting voices. That said, The Odyssey currently holds a 94% critics score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Mia Goth as Melantho and Anne Hathaway as Penelope in the trailer for The Odyssey – YouTube @UniversalPictures
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As the divide between scores from critics and audiences has become increasingly pronounced, some online commentators continued to take a wait-and-see approach. This year, both The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Michael debuted with Rotten scores, while audiences enthusiastically made them two of the year’s biggest hits.
Now that The Odyssey has received a wide release, its Rotten Tomatoes scores suggest that audiences are aligned with critics this time. At the time of writing, the site shows a 97% audience score. Additionally, the latest Christopher Nolan film shattered projections with a global opening of $264 million.
Despite controversial casting and creative decisions, The Odyssey appears to have been universally embraced.
Criticless Users Tell a Different Story
Reactions to The Odyssey on Criticless are considerably more divided. Currently, the five most upvoted reviews range from 15% to 59%.
Matt Damon as Odysseus in the trailer for The Odyssey – YouTube @UniversalPictures
Users argue that Nolan’s film fails to elevate or even understand its source material. Others suggest that The Odyssey had considerable potential but failed to realize it. Some praise the action set pieces and individual performances. Yet even that faint praise is tempered by criticism of the grounded story and muted colors.
After its first weekend in theaters, The Odyssey sits at 48%, or “Decent,” with 200 votes. The overall impression is that the film is neither a masterpiece of modern cinema nor an utter disaster.
Is Criticless Closer to Reality?
YouTuber Derek Anderson argued in a post on X that the Criticless score for The Odyssey is likely closer to reality.
So speaking to regular people not terminally online and following 15 different YouTube entertainment channels, the general consensus I got is “it was fine, but I expected better.” Which is what I think is reflected in the Criticless score. https://t.co/1LIyj5jhzF
— Derek Anderson-The D.A. (@derekbwriting) July 21, 2026
“So speaking to regular people not terminally online and following 15 different YouTube entertainment channels, the general consensus I got is ‘it was fine, but I expected better,'” Anderson wrote. “Which is what I think is reflected in the Criticless score.”
Exactly. We have plenty of very high and very low scores, but the majority are somewhere right in the middle.
— Criticless (@Criticless_inc) July 21, 2026
The official Criticless account also noted the wide range of scores, while claiming that most fall somewhere near the middle.
Time Will Be the Ultimate Test
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey was always going to be heavily discussed based on his name alone. It quickly drew fire over reports involving the cast, musical choices, and the translation used for the source material. Yet for all the backlash and praise, the final product may simply be middling.
Christopher Nolan in an interview – YouTube, BAFTA Guru
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Time may be the ultimate test of the film’s popularity. For now, however, the sharp divide between Criticless and legacy review sites raises more questions than answers about where moviegoers should turn before buying a ticket. Those who have already seen The Odyssey, however, may now have a clearer indication of which platform best reflects their own experience.
Do you think that Criticless is giving a more accurate impression of The Odyssey? Sound off and let us know!
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