Ben Shapiro backs Nolan’s Odyssey amid right-wing backlash

Ben Shapiro used an 18-minute YouTube review posted Saturday to give Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey a strong endorsement, calling the film a “masterpiece” amid criticism from some conservative voices over its casting and historical accuracy, Variety reported.

The political commentator singled out Nolan for the biggest praise, saying in the video that the filmmaker is “unparalleled” and “the best director working today,” according to Variety. Shapiro said Nolan keeps turning out memorable films and placed The Odyssey firmly in that run.

Shapiro also praised Matt Damon, who stars as Odysseus. In the review, he said Damon is “great in nearly everything” and said the actor vanishes into the role more than he does in many of his other films, Variety reported.

Cast praise, with one major objection

Several supporting players also earned approving notes from Shapiro. He called Robert Pattinson’s Antinous an effective villain, praised Tom Holland as a well-cast Telemachus and said Anne Hathaway performs strongly as Penelope.

His review was not all applause. Shapiro criticized the casting of Elliot Page as Sinon, describing the choice as an “absolute puzzler,” according to Variety. He argued in the video that Page’s stature and voice made the role fail for him.

No response from Page was included in Variety’s report.

Shapiro defends Lupita Nyong’o casting

Shapiro pushed back against complaints about Lupita Nyong’o playing Helen of Troy. Variety reported that he addressed critics who had compared Nyong’o with Diane Kruger, who played Helen in a previous screen version.

In the YouTube review, Shapiro said Kruger “doesn’t look very Greek” because she is German, while calling Nyong’o a beautiful woman. He also said Nolan’s script explains that the Trojan War in the film is not presented as having been caused only by Helen’s beauty.

The casting of Nyong’o has drawn criticism from right-wing figures, including Elon Musk, Variety reported. Nolan has addressed the wider backlash in an interview with The Telegraph, saying online criticism is part of making a major studio film.

Nolan told The Telegraph that his years working on Batman taught him not to shape his choices around audience pressure. He said that when he began Batman Begins, decades of writers and artists had already built expectations around the character, and the lesson he took from that trilogy was to respect the original material by interpreting it as strongly as he could.

Shapiro’s review lands as The Odyssey continues to draw intense attention around Nolan’s take on the Greek epic, its star-heavy cast and the politics of who gets to play some of mythology’s most famous names.

This story draws on original reporting from Variety.