Mother Ithaca and The Odyssey
– 5 min read
As promised, more on The Odyssey and the premiere in London last night…
I screened the film in New York last week in IMAX and if you’ve been a longtime regular reader of this site, you may know that unlike most cinephiles, I’m not a Christopher Nolan sycophant and sometimes I’m a troll about it. Like nothing makes me happier than to be among the Nolanites and casually drop into conversation that I thought Dunkirk was boring. It’s fun to see them glitch in real time. So, with that said, back to The Odyssey – it is my favourite Christopher Nolan film, by a mile. I LOVE it. It is astonishing. I can’t wait to see it again. Was it always going to break this way? Probably, since Greek mythology is my kink. But it’s also because this is Nolan at his most earnest and extra, which is exactly how Greek stories should be told. Give me the spectacle and the hysteria, give me overwrought and dramatic and petty but also don’t forget to make it a little corny. The Odyssey delivers on all of that… plus ANNE F-CKING HATHAWAY.
That’s all I’m allowed to say for now because the studio is restricting full reviews until next week so please look forward to Sarah’s full review next week.
We can talk about Annie though in the sense that she is Mother. Mother in all the ways. Mother Mary, Mother Prada, and now Mother Ithaca, which is what I called her during our interview. Also mother pop culture, if we’re going by social media. Because, like, the flex in these three months, to go from her version of Lady Gaga in an arthouse film to returning to Andy Sachs in Prada 2 and then Penelope, the woman who held it down for Odysseus while he was out there warring and then forgetting and then trying to find his way back – Penelope kept the kingdom and my god Penelope as played by Anne Hathaway is a sight to behold.
So here she is, serving in Aegean blue at the premiere. This is custom Dior. And it is perfect, the most perfect for this movie, for this night. She is Mother Ithaca wearing the Ionian Sea…
…waiting for Calypso to release her king. And speaking of Calypso, Charlize Theron at her first Odyssey event (she wasn’t part of the junket) in what looks like TWO Givenchy dresses, exactly the same. First it was black version on the red carpet with white gloves and puffy half-sleeves which some people are hating on. On anyone else, perhaps. On Charlize Theron? Obsessed. Scroll through the carousel to appreciate the back and how it looks like a dragon’s mane.
Later on she changed into the red version, and turned the gloves and the sleeves black. This is a great idea, and I don’t know that we’ve ever seen it done like this, with so much attention and intention. If you love a dress in all its iterations, why not wear as many of them as you can.
As for Lupita Nyong’o – she went with Christian Cowan, a dress that is super Greek and also super 2026 but also alllll body, wow. Someone in the comments of this post wrote that they would start wars for this woman and… yes… that is correct.
Three Oscar winners, all of them stunning, in a film that is dementedly outstanding.
Charlize Theron, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Mia Goth, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Matt Damon attend the World Premiere of "The Odyssey" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 6, 2026 in London, England
Charlize Theron attends the World Premiere of "The Odyssey" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 6, 2026 in London, England
Lupita Nyong'o attends the World Premiere of "The Odyssey" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 6, 2026 in London, England
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