The Odyssey is now in cinemas after months of anticipation, and early reactions from audiences have been highly enthusiastic, with some calling it ‘breathtaking’.
The film is Christopher Nolan’s first feature shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, and it opened worldwide on July 17, 2026, with a runtime of just under three hours. IMAX has said the production used a newly engineered camera enclosure, or “blimp,” to make synchronized dialogue recording possible on the format at scale for the first time.
One performance drawing particular attention is Bill Irwin’s turn as the terrifying 60-foot cyclops.
Irwin, widely recognized for his role in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, both performed and voiced the creature himself.
Even with the praise, not every response has been entirely glowing. A recurring criticism from cinemagoers is that The Odyssey is overwhelmingly loud.
“The Odyssey was the loudest movie I have ever experienced,” somebody said on Twitter. “Genuinely feel like it took years off of my ability to hear. Good movie but so loud.”
“The Odyssey was a great movie,” echoed another, before going on to complain about its volume.
“It was also the loudest movie I’ve ever been too,” they continued. “Holy hell it was loud…too loud, even. Call me a boomer, but got damn that was LOUD.”
Others raised the same issue after seeing the film.
“Was anyone else’s Odyssey movie showing WAY TOO LOUD IN VOLUME HOLY SH*T MY EARS HURT BAD,” questioned a different person.
Another moviegoer shared a more mixed verdict. Although they praised the film as ‘incredible’, they also said the sound level was excessive.
“The Odyssey was incredible, absolutely amazing,” they said, “HOWEVER it was loud as fuck and not in a good way.”
The film fan added: “The dialogue was muffled and required close listening which was incredibly hard to do because of how earth-shatteringly loud the rest of the film was.”
Another point of frustration for some viewers is the way the movie was shot. Because it was filmed on 70mm IMAX cameras, audiences who watch it outside IMAX venues are not seeing the full presentation.
That distinction matters because IMAX 70mm screenings are the version Nolan has repeatedly described as the intended experience, and they have been a major draw for fans, with many tickets reportedly selling out well in advance. In practice, that has meant strong demand for premium large-format showings and, in some cities, unusually early or late screenings to accommodate it.
Speaking about why he chose that format, Christopher Nolan told The Independent: “It’s been a very long journey, starting with The Dark Knight.
“That was the first film where we were able to go to IMAX and say, ‘Lend us your cameras. Let’s try this on things like the introduction of the Joker, the truck flip.’ But we couldn’t do the dialogue scenes because the cameras are very, very loud.”
He continued: “So knowing we were doing The Odyssey, I went to IMAX and said, ‘Look, if ever we’re gonna do a whole film on IMAX, this is the movie to do it with’.”
IMAX 70mm screenings offer a wider image along with sharper and clearer visuals, which helps explain why filmmakers such as Nolan continue to favor the format.
According to IMDb, upcoming releases including Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday are also being filmed in IMAX 70mm.