Ludwig Göransson's score for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey meticulously reconstructs ancient Greek instruments, yet the resulting soundtrack is bloodlessly forgettable and fails to enhance the film's emotional depth, according to composer Tom Smail. Writing in a recent commentary, Smail argues that while Göransson's research is laudable, the music ultimately supports an uncomplicated hero rather than reflecting Homer's complex protagonist.
Göransson's Ancient Soundscape
In a 2026 Vanity Fair article, Nolan asked Göransson to avoid an orchestra and create a recognisable but unfamiliar world. Göransson employed bronze gongs, struck metallic objects, and reconstructed the aulos and early lyres, blending them with synths and intimate vocals. The goal was an earthy, raw, and bleak soundscape, echoing research by Oxford's Professor Armand D'Angour, who reconstructed ancient Greek music from papyrus fragments.
Smail, composing his own opera of The Odyssey for a 2027 Athens premiere, notes striking similarities between Göransson's brief and his own for the film Last Words, which used an orchestra of stone, wind, and metal. Despite understanding the approach, Smail finds the final score unconvincing.
Mix and Emotional Heft
Critics have noted a lack of emotional heft and recognisable music, with some saying they barely noticed the score. Smail attributes part of the issue to a heavy layer of sound design that drowns out the music. Listening to the soundtrack alone, he found inspiration rare, with exceptions like the Sirens and Calypso scenes featuring adventurous vocals. However, much of the vocal writing is predictably Hollywood, and extensive large drums sound like a traditional score with synth substitution.
Smail felt the music sometimes fought against the film, particularly in moments where it seemed misplaced. The merging of ancient soundscapes with traditional elements was, in his view, unsuccessful.
Odysseus as a Complicated Man
Emily Wilson's translation famously describes Odysseus as a 'complicated man,' but Nolan's film, according to Smail, fails to focus on his flaws and contradictions. The score reflects this lack of emotional complexity, with Odysseus's loss of power, glory, and family reduced to surface-level grief. 'This lack of emotional complication in Odysseus himself, so integral to Homer's story, was reflected in the music,' Smail writes.
Göransson, a three-time Oscar winner known for his work on Oppenheimer and Black Panther, has proven pedigree. Yet Smail concludes: 'In The Odyssey he has, in my opinion, succeeded in serving the film, but I do not think he has enhanced it.'
