Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey stars Robert Pattinson as Antonius, a suitor of Penelope. Tom Holland plays her son Telemachus.
Robert Pattinson plays Antonius in The Odyssey.
The controversial ‘daddy’ line in The Odyssey trailer
The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus, the mythical king of Ithaca, who struggles to return home after the Trojan War. As he made his way home, his wife, Penelope, was beset by a string of suitors who hoped to marry her and rule Ithaca. In Nolan’s adaptation, Robert Pattinson plays Antinous, one such suitor, courting Anne Hathaway’s Penelope, much to the dismay of her son, Telemachus (Tom Holland).
One scene in the trailer shows the villainous Antinous trying to convince Telemachus of the inevitability that he will marry Penelope and that he should stop waiting for Odysseus to return. “You’re pining for a daddy you never knew,” he says. To this, Telemachus replies, “My dad will return.”
Fans divided over the language
After the trailer dropped, many viewers said they felt the line felt odd in a period epic and a more neutral ‘father’ would have worked better. One viewer argued, “If you are going to do an adaptation that has nothing accurate to the Greek culture, at least try to use a powerful dialogue that can adapt to the epic scale of this movie. Not something a 16-year-old would tell you.” Another said, “It was when Tom Holland used ‘Dad’, I was like something is wrong here. Took me out completely.”
Others were more critical in their assessment of the line. One called the film ‘A historical epic written by an emote Gen Z,’ while another labelled Nolan’s attempt as ‘the Netflixication of mythology’.
However, many defended the film and Nolan’s approach, noting that Odyssey is mythology and not history. “Historical accuracy matters, but only if it’s real,” countered one defender of the film’s trailer. Another argued that just because some films use British English doesn’t mean it is the template for historical epics. “Doing sh**in a British accent or using ‘ye olde English ‘” doesn’t make ancient GREECE more authentic,” read the comment.
All about The Odyssey
An adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey, the film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, and chronicles his long and perilous journey home after the Trojan War as he attempts to reunite with his wife, Penelope. The Odyssey is scheduled for theatrical release on July 17, 2026.
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More
