THE ODYSSEY

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens in the kingdom of Ithaca, where a bard (Travis Scott) is reciting a song of the legendary warrior Odysseus (Matt Damon). Somewhere on the shores of Ithaca, the soldier Sinon (Elliot Page) is seen outside the Trojan Horse. Two Trojan soldiers fire arrows at Sinon, pinning him to the horse. With his dying breaths, Sinon says that it was a gift for Athena.

Odysseus’s home is now overrun by suitors, looking to wed his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway), who refuses to hear the song. Among them are Antinous (Robert Pattinson) and Polybus (Corey Hawkins), the former who claims he would have fought in the war under Odysseus, though it is revealed he weaseled his way out of fighting so Sinon would take his place instead. Odysseus and Penelope’s son Telemachus (Tom Holland) has never known his father since Odysseus left when Telemachus was still a baby.

Telemachus spars with Mentor (Ryan Hurst), his guide, before speaking to the partially blind swineherd Eumaeus (John Leguizamo). He recounts to Telemachus how he was there with Odysseus when he chose his hunting dog, Argos. To this day, the old dog loyally waits for his master to return home.

Telemachus then goes to speak to his mother. Penelope only considers remarrying because Odysseus granted her his blessing to do so before he went off to battle. While they both knew that going off to fight for King Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) was a dangerous task, Odysseus feared Agamemnon would come for Telemachus, as the king had sacrificed his own daughter to the gods for favorable winds. Penelope also tries to get Telemachus to string a bow and make it hum the way his father did, as Odysseus was a skilled archer.

In the dining hall, Telemachus confronts Polybus for being cruel to Argos, who is now old and frail. Polybus attacks Telemachus until Penelope intervenes and orders him not to hurt her son. Telemachus confides to a handmaiden, Eurycleia (Kate Fuglei), that he is setting out to the seas in the hopes of finding Odysseus himself. Mentor later joins Telemachus with a small crew of men on a boat.

Odysseus is currently on the island of Ogygia, haunted by visions of the goddess Athena (Zendaya) speaking to him and urging him to remember his past. His only company is the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron), who keeps his memories blocked by feeding him the Lotus Flower. He cannot remember his family or what happened to his crew.

Odysseus’s memories begin after the Sack of Troy, with Odysseus and his men getting ready to return home after ten years on a path separate from Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus (Jon Bernthal). After raiding a village for food and water, the men carry on with their voyage and end up on another island. Odysseus leads his men into a cave, which turns out to be home to the cyclops Polyphemus (Bill Irwin), son of Poseidon. Polyphemus traps the men inside the cave after using a large stone to seal himself and his flock of sheep inside. The men try to stay out of the cyclops’s sight, but Polyphemus grabs and devours two soldiers.

The men wait until the morning to rush their way out of the cave. Polyphemus eats a few more men while Odysseus and the rest remain inside. They wait until the cyclops goes back to sleep, and Odysseus blinds his eye with a fire-tipped spear. Polyphemus roars in agony and briefly speaks in whispers. He opens the cave once more, allowing the men to escape, but Odysseus fires an arrow at Polyphemus, leading the cyclops to chase the men back toward the water, where he kills a few more before the rest are able to flee. Odysseus is chided by his men, especially Eurylochus (Himseh Patel), for his actions, as this now means Poseidon will not make the voyage any easier on them.

Telemachus arrives in Sparta to meet with Menelaus and his wife, Helen of Troy (Lupita Nyong’o), the “face that launched a thousand ships”, now slightly disfigured after the war. Menelaus invites Telemachus and Mentor to sit at his table. He recounts to Telemachus his time being inside the Trojan Horse with Odysseus and the other Ithacan soldiers, and how Sinon was left behind as a diversion to pretend to be a deserter. After the horse was brought into the city, Odysseus led the soldiers to slaughter the Trojans and opening the gates to let the entire army enter and lay siege to the entire place. However, Menelaus has no current knowledge of Odysseus’s whereabouts to provide Telemachus.

Odysseus continues his memories to Calypso by mentioning how they encountered a rough storm before coming upon the island of Laestrygonians, giant brutish warriors. A child Laestrygonian taunts the men when they request food, and he shrieks to alert the other giants. The Laestrygonians pummel and bash many of the men, chasing the rest back out into the sea.

After landing on another island, Aeaea, Odysseus splits off from the rest of the men, while Eurylochus leads the others in finding food, as they are starting to question Odysseus’s leadership. Eurylochus and the others encounter Circe (Samantha Morton), who feeds them but reveals herself to be a witch that transforms the men into pigs. Odysseus realizes something is up since there are other animals on the island, many wild cats, but none try to attack. He shoots an arrow at what he believes to be a deer, but after being killed, it turns back into a man.

Odysseus runs to Circe’s home, not knowing who she really is, but he is able to avoid falling for her tricks. When confronted with the revelation that she turned his men into pigs, Circe rants to Odysseus about her feelings on men before saying that she can turn them back to normal. She tells him the only way for him to find out how to get home is to enter Hades. Circe turns the men back to normal, and they gather whatever provisions they can (except the meat that Circe gave them).

The men carry on and arrive past the great river. They offer their sacrifice and are met by the spirits of the dead, including Sinon, who realizes he was betrayed and left to die. Sinon also informs Odysseus that Antinous is plotting against him, and how he weaseled his way out of joining the war. Agamemnon also speaks to Odysseus, who warns him against returning home, since he arrived home to a celebration, but his wife Clytemnestra (also Lupita Nyong’o) murdered him in vengeance for sacrificing their daughter. Odysseus is then met by Tiresias (James Remar), who tells him that the gods have willed it that only he will survive the rest of the journey. The dead soldiers then chase Odysseus and his men out of Hades.

Back in Ithaca, Antinous tries to make a case for himself to win Penelope’s hand in marriage. After she won’t say where Telemachus is, Antinous finds out from Melantho (Mia Goth), Penelope’s traitorous servant, about where Telemachus is heading. He conspires with other suitors to catch Telemachus and his crew to prevent their return to Ithaca. Eumaeus overhears the scheming as well. Meanwhile, Telemachus, who has been practicing archery with Menelaus, believes it is his time to take over the throne of Ithaca.

Odysseus continues to remember his past. The crew first had to cross through the land of the sirens, with Odysseus ordering his men to tie him to the mast so that he does not do anything after hearing the siren song. At least one crew member jumps ship, while Odysseus is left screaming in pain. They then come upon the whirlpool of the creature Charybdis. Odysseus leads the men away from the whirlpool, but this leads them into the path of the monster Scylla, who devours some more of the crew. Eurylochus and the remaining men lose further loyalty to Odysseus for this decision, which he argues was the safer pick.

The men come upon the isle of Thrinacia. Odysseus tells the men not to hunt the cattle of the god Helios, as Tiresias told him the men would perish from doing so. They go against his orders out of hunger, and ultimately die during an unforgiving storm, in which only Odysseus survives. This is what led him to being found by Calypso.

Calypso reveals to Odysseus that she has kept him with her for seven years under the influence of the Lotus Flower. She admits that she had fallen in love with him and could not bring himself to restore his memories, until now. Calypso returns to Odysseus a token that Penelope left him with before the war so that he could remember her. He then boards a makeshift raft and sails into the sea.

Odysseus washes up on the shores of Ithaca with help from Athena. He poses as a beggar and finds Eumaeus after he was attacked by a group of conspirators, led by goatherd/Melantho’s brother Melanthius (Logan Marshall-Green). After Eumaeus tells him where Telemachus is going to be, Odysseus reaches his son’s group at the temples, where the conspirators are waiting to ambush him. Mentor is killed, but Odysseus slaughters the conspirators and saves Telemachus, though he does not reveal his identity and addresses himself as Sinon. When they return to the palace, Odysseus sees Argos, who wags his tail one last time upon seeing his master again before he dies. This causes Telemachus to realize who his father really is, but Odysseus continues to keep up the charade.

Odysseus is brought to the dining hall with the other suitors. Antinous and Polybus treat him cruelly until Penelope steps in and orders them to stop. After the suitors have been cleared out of the room, Odysseus speaks to Penelope but continues to hide his identity. He expresses his regrets for the entire Trojan War, and all the bloodshed that occurred. A flashback shows him decapitating the statue of Athena, which is presented as though he did it to the goddess herself, and explains why he keeps seeing her. Antinous attempts to kill Telemachus but misses his chance.

Penelope has the suitors gathered by dawn for a challenge that will decide who she will marry. She orders them to string a bow and fire an arrow between several positioned axes. Predictably, none of the men are able to carry out the task, until Odysseus volunteers to go. Penelope knows it’s him once he succeeds and makes the bow hum, and then he fires the arrow as intended. Once the suitors realize who they are dealing with, Odysseus begins to battle the suitors, beginning by firing an arrow at Polybus’s neck.

Penelope and the others stay hidden, but she keeps Melantho out for her deception. Melanthis breaks into the armory and drops weapons down for the suitors to fight Odysseus with, while Antinous can only hide and bark orders. Telemachus fights Melanthius and eventually manages to slit his throat. Odysseus takes several hits but still kills most of the suitors, and others have begun to surrender and kneel to him. Once Antinous is the last one left, Odysseus corners the bastard and returns to him Sinon’s token before impaling him through the stomach.

In the aftermath, Odysseus tells Penelope that he only came to see Ithaca one last time, but he must travel west to honor his fallen men. Penelope joins him on his voyage while Telemachus takes over the throne. Penelope promises to Odysseus that their civilization will rise again someday.

The last we see is a final flashback of Odysseus in the middle of the war, looking up as the Trojan Horse goes up in flames.

Following the end of the Trojan War, the legendary warrior Odysseus begins his voyage home, only to encounter a number of dangers along the way. Due to his actions, Odysseus's crew falls victim to the cyclops Polyphemus, the giant Laestrygonian warriors, the witch Circe, the sirens' song, and the monsters Scylla and Charybdis.

After entering Hades and his crew being lost by the wrath of the gods Poseidon and Helios, Odysseus ends up in the captivity of the nymph Calypso, who keeps him for seven years and wipes his memories with the Lotus Flower. Calypso admits to falling in love with Odysseus but ultimately lets him go home, where he is guided by Athena.

Back in Ithaca, Odysseus's wife Penelope has been hounded by suitors all seeking to take over as king. Their son Telemachus tries to find Odysseus himself, but one of the suitors, Antinous, conspires to have Telemachus killed so that nothing will stand in his way to marry Penelope and take the throne. After Odysseus returns and expresses his regrets about the war, Penelope arranges a challenge for the suitors to complete, knowing none of them would accomplish it. After Odysseus succeeds and reveals himself to everyone, he battles and kills most of the suitors, with some help from Telemachus. Odysseus kills Antinous, while the remaining suitors surrender and kneel to Odysseus.

Odysseus sets sail for the west with Penelope to honor his fallen men, while Telemachus takes over as king of Ithaca.