The Odyssey is too loud, complain dumbstruck film fans as cinemas 'hand out earplugs' and one viewer says: 'I've seen it three times and still can't make out a word the Cyclops says'

Published: 12:11, 1 August 2026 | Updated: 12:17, 1 August 2026 Sir Christopher Nolan's blockbuster adaptation of The Odyssey has been criticised by fans for being too loud, with cinemas even handing out ear plugs. The $250million epic stars A-list Hollywood stars including Tom Holland, who plays Telemachus, the son of the central Greek hero Odysseus, played by Matt Damon. Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Robert Pattinson also star alongside them. While the film was met with huge praise in critics' first reactions after the global premiere in London last month, viewers have taken to social media to complain they left with ringing ears and migraines. Nolan’s retelling of Homer’s epic poem also left viewers claiming the sound levels were dangerously loud. Writing on X, one said: 'The volume during The Odyssey in AMC Dolby was f****** insane. People were holding their ears and wearing earplugs just to get through it.  'My ears are ringing and my migraine still hasn’t gone away. That’s not immersive. That’s reckless.' Another wrote: 'The Odyssey was awesome but pretty wild no one’s been talking about their ear drums being busted all the way open or their internal organs being liquified by the sheer volume of this f****** picture. 'My eardrum actually ruptured when I was in 6th grade and I had blood steadily trickling out of my ear and that was a less painful experience than that cyclops screaming. I’m serious when I say it’s the loudest thing I have heard in my entire life.' Sir Christopher Nolan's blockbuster adaptation of The Odyssey has been criticised by fans for being too loud, with cinemas even handing out ear plugs (Tom Holland pictured in the film) Viewers have taken to social media to complain they left with ringing ears and migraines Others said they struggled to hear dialogue over the soundtrack, with one writing: 'I've seen the odyssey three times now i still can't make out a f***** word the cyclops says.' One viewer said: 'I'm so serious someone said to wear earplugs and it was the best idea ever, I could still hear the dialogue and feel the bass.'  Other social media users reported their cinemas were handing out earplugs and one user recorded the decibel level of the film at 104.6 which can cause permanent hearing damage in less than 15 minutes, according to the Hearing Health Foundation. The film-goer wrote: 'For reference a jackhammer or motorcycle revving its engine is 100 dB and can cause permanent hearing damage after 15 minutes. This is a nearly 3 hour movie.'  One even joked that Helen Keller, a 19th century activist who was deaf and blind, 'could see and hear the movie'.      Another quipped: 'Everyone is like Odyssey this, Odyssey that, but right now I Odyssey a damn ear doctor.' The Oscar-winning director's film has even been blasted by a translator whose work he praised. Professor Emily Wilson, a classicist from the University of Pennsylvania, wrote a 2017 translation of Homer's Odyssey which Nolan cited while promoting the film. One user recorded the decibel level of the film at 104.6 which can cause permanent hearing damage in less than 15 minutes Pictured: Robert Pattinson, from left, Lupita Nyong'o, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, and Zendaya Nolan’s retelling of Homer’s epic poem also left viewers claiming the sound levels were dangerously loud Now, Professor Wilson has gutted the British director's own attempt to bring the ancient Greek epic to modern audiences. In a scathing review, written for the London Review of Books, Professor Wilson vented: 'I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script.' The renowned translator stomped on Nolan's adaptation, branding the writing as 'abysmal' and concluding that it 'has nothing convincing to say'. She added: 'It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky.' Perhaps surprisingly, one of Professor Wilson's biggest complaints with the film is that it doesn't have enough sex scenes. 'None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible,' she said. Despite the backlash, the film has generated £450million at the global box office in only two weekends after its release.