Some people in this world will complain about problems but never offer a solution. So, let’s give Elon Musk the bare minimum of credit for this: Earlier this year, the tech founder/recent documentary subject took issue with Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of The Odyssey, being, in his words, “historically inaccurate” — complaints he made before the movie came out, largely related to the casting of Elliot Page and Lupita Nyong’o.
However, Musk did come up with his own solution to the “problem”: Using Grok AI to generate his own version of Homer’s famous classical tale, promising that this version would hew closer to history (presumably by ignoring the existence of trans and Black people). Unfortunately, his solution sucks: A lifeless AI-rendered seven minutes of footage, purporting to be the first “episode” in Grok Imagine and director Dev Walker’s retelling of the epic.
Watching this seven-minute sequence of images (it’s hard to say they deserve to be described as “scenes” or “a movie”) reveals that first off, everything from this is actually from The Iliad: Odysseus trying to get out of going to war, followed by the stunt threatening his infant son Telemachus, and then Odysseus leading his men to war, while Telemachus grows up and Penelope starts weaving at her loom.
Incorporating Homer’s first epic poem into retelling The Odyssey is understandable — Nolan did it too, since The Iliad is essential setup — but this take shows a remarkably flat understanding of the nuances of the political story being told. Instead, it’s an excuse for big wooden ships, artificial water swells, and dirty men with beards (who are tough to tell apart) growling at each other.
If/when this “series” does continue, will it dig deeper into the complicated political situation that led the Greeks to wage war against Troy? Nolan’s version didn’t explore this in too much detail, but he did acknowledge that the reasons for the war went a lot deeper than a bunch of dudes on a boat yelling “vengeance!” Grok’s version doesn’t even include any context as to what kind of “vengeance” the Ithicans are seeking.
Also, I am not personally an expert on ancient weaponry and costumes, but the replies to this initial post include many people pointing out that Grok has incorporated anachronistic details in its rendering: user William Oakham flagged “belt buckles [which originated in the Iron Age, which followed the Bronze Age], medieval tunics and late Roman cloaks, Romanesque arches” amongst the details gotten wrong.
This might be considered embarrassing to anyone with an ounce of shame, especially considering Musk’s claims that this version would be more historically accurate than Nolan’s version. You know, the version Nolan spent years researching and developing with a talented team of award-winning craftspeople, filled with nuanced insight into who we are as a people today. Shockingly, the version farted out by computers didn’t quite reach those heights.
There are also commenters pointing out rookie issues like eyeline disasters:
Where the fuck are they looking? pic.twitter.com/3Iqzylr0hc
— Mura Вій🇺🇦🎗️ (@rufusbestia) October 25, 2026
And the location’s resemblance to Scotland. (It definitely feels like a copy of Braveheart was used in the training process.)
Pissing and moaning about historical accuracy just to make Greece look like Scotland
— aughhhhh (@tfzno_aughhhhh) October 25, 2026
Even the pro-AI voices in the crowd can only offer tepid applause at best:
First of all, congratulations. Secondly, the shots of the landscape or of the ships sailing are wonderful. Thirdly and sadly, performances remain poor. B rolls is where AI shines at the moment.
— YSY (@edu_yeh) October 23, 2026
It's just a bunch of really well rendered clips stitched together, but it doesn't feel cohesive as a whole?
— orlie (@sunglassesface) October 23, 2026
Or just flat-out disappointment:
I’m all pro-AI but don’t do this. If you don’t like Nolan’s work, pay another director to make it better but don’t try to replace years of knowledge and experience with some nerd prompting his way around.
You will never be successful and you will get mocked.
— Oncel Cebeci (@oncelcebeci) October 26, 2026
Meanwhile, whether or not AI helped generate these burns, they’re all pretty great. Note how many of them come from X premium users, who pay a minimum of $3/month or $32/year to Musk:
This looks like a film made by someone who has never watched a film.
— Simon Judges (@JudgeySan) October 26, 2026
I never thought I'd see anything worse than the end GOT
— MCO Global (@moretradingonl) October 25, 2026
Perfectly encapsulates Elon’s taste.
Absolute shit.— gabe (@gabegenesis) October 25, 2026
This was dogshit video quality aside. Just soulless slop with no thought or anything..
— DudeFella 🇺🇸👊 (@Bamfzilla) October 25, 2026
Hard pass. AI will never replace the talent of actors, writers, directors and editors. This shit slop.
— Kal. (@chicagoborndude) October 25, 2026
And this is just over the first seven minutes, which would at least be more forgivable if Musk hadn’t first announced this project in July of this year. It took months to make something this bad. To quote Consequence’s own Wren Graves: “Odysseus renamed to Shortwalkeus.” Oh, and Jonah Krueger has a theory as to why we aren’t watching the full movie right now: “Elon ran out of tokens.”
The next chapter of this story seems likely to cover the actual fall of Troy. Will it attempt to match Nolan’s breathtaking depiction of soldiers sneaking inside the walls from the inside of a big wooden horse? Or will it find its own path? Odds feel pretty good when it comes two things: One, despite Musk’s promises, we’re never getting the full movie before the end of this year. And two, even if we do get it, it’ll be just as shitty as this.