The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s cinematic retelling of Homer’s epic poem, has taken the country by storm. While on vacation back home in southern Illinois, I visited a Dolby theater with my family to experience it myself — and was not disappointed. The film delivered spectacular visuals, clever effects, and breathtaking sound design.

Dozens of scenes had my heart racing as massive jumps in decibels shook the walls around me and the seat beneath me. When the Cyclops was stabbed in the eye, its screams of agony bounced off the walls of the cave and landed directly in our theater, creating a real sense of terror. When Circe transformed the soldiers into pigs, the sound of crunching bone leaped into each aisle and made my skin crawl. The acting was superb, as was Nolan’s ability to instill energy and suspense into a story that has been told, retold, and parodied hundreds of times.

At a moment of widespread oversaturation and unoriginality, Nolan’s passionate retelling inspired and captivated. It was by no means perfect, but as a rendering of the poem’s narrative, warnings, and symbols, it excelled. I was entertained; my family was entertained; and my mother, a former mythology teacher, was so entertained that she saw it twice.