With the recent release of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, audiences are once again returning to one of humanity’s oldest and culturally relevant stories; the journey of a man who crosses oceans, battles monsters, defies Greek Gods and slaughters men all for one simple reason:
He wants to go home.
Although it’s been almost 3,000 years since Odysseus first set sail in ancient Greek Mythology, his story continues to live in our hearts for it perfectly encapsulates a feeling all of us undoubtedly resonate with; the longing to return to home, whether it be a place, a person, or an identity.
This universal desire to go home isn’t exclusive to ancient myths. For generations, the search for home has become one of the strongest, most motivational storytelling narratives, especially in pop culture. Home guides humanity’s greatest stories.
Let’s unpack that!
Matt Damon as Odysseus in The Odyssey (2026)
The Odyssey: Home as a Destination
Thousands of years ago, Homer, an ancient Greek poet, wrote one of the greatest stories of all; The Odyssey. After fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus, King of Ithaca, spends ten years attempting to return home to his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus. He journeys to the Underworld (facing his fallen comrades), fights monsters (like the six-headed Scylla, Polyphemus the Cyclops, and even Sirens), all while defying Gods like Poseidon and Zeus. Every time he comes remotely close to returning home, something stands in his way.
Yet, what makes his journey so raw is that he isn’t searching for treasure or power.
He just wants his wife. His son. His kingdom.
Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus in The Odyssey (2026)
Even when offered immortality and a life of comfort by Calypso, a goddess who had fallen in love with him, Odysseus refused. A paradise without his family is nothing more than a glorified prison. Because to Odysseus, home was never just a destination, it was never just Ithaca; it was the people waiting for him at the end of his perilous journey.
And that itself, has made his 20 years away from home all worth it.
Matt Damon as Odysseus in The Odyssey (2026)
Finding Nemo: Home as Someone Worth Fighting For
Sometimes, home isn’t a destination we journey to; it’s something (or someone!) we fight to bring back.
In Pixar’s Finding Nemo, Marlin crosses an entire ocean to find his son, Nemo, in hopes of bringing him home after he was taken away. Marlin, an overly paranoid and protective clownfish, is stuck facing his biggest fears; sharks, humans, birds, all for the love he has and the drive he possesses to ensure his son is safe with him again.
Marlin when Nemo gets taken away
Throughout his journey, Marlin understands that to grow and save his son, he has to endure any parent’s greatest challenge; learning to let go and believe! At its core, Finding Nemo isn’t a story about a lost fish, but rather how far love pushes a parent to find their child, the one person whom they consider their home.
Marlin learning to let go and trust Nemo at the end of Finding Nemo
Project Hail Mary: Home as Unexpected Connection
In Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, Ryland Grace wakes up alone in space, with no recollection of how he got there. As he continues his mission to save humanity, and progressively remembers the life he used to have, one desire remained constant:
He yearns to return to Earth.
Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace in Project Hail Mary (2026)
In the film, Earth represents everything he’s known, while simultaneously representing everything he’s now lost. However, as his journey continues, he forms an unexpected friendship with an alien, Rocky, who then treats him in ways humans never have. By the end of the film (and book), Grace finds his concept of home evolving; not as a place he left behind, but as a sense of belonging found in companions that show us what it truly is to feel at home.
Rocky and Grace in Project Hail Mary (2026)
Coco: Home as the Memories We Carry
Finding home can sometimes come in the form of discovering where we came from. In Pixar’s Coco, Miguel longs to become a musician, in a family that has banned music for generations. However, after Miguel accidentally enters the Land of the Dead, Miguel starts to understand that his journey isn’t about pursuing music, but understanding its significance within his family’s history.
Through discovering forgotten stories, old photographs and realising the significance of remembering those who’ve passed long before us, Miguel learns that home is built through the experiences and people who shaped us; it’s important not to forget them.
We are who we’ve come to be because of them, and that itself, is home.
Miguel discovering the truth about his family’s history in Coco (2017)
The Lion King: Home as Finding Ourselves Again
Sometimes, coming home means facing who we are. In Disney’s The Lion King, Simba runs away from the Pride Lands, thinking his father, Mufasa, died because of him. Carrying the weight of this guilt, Simba flees far away from the land that now, supposably, belongs to him.
For years, Simba pushes aside his past, thinking that running away from your problems makes them easier to handle, to ignore. But the irrevocable truth is that no matter the distance, he cannot escape the truth of who he really is.
Mufasa’s passing in The Lion King (1994)
Simba eventually returns to the Pride Lands, ready to overthrow his uncle, Scar, and reclaim the land that was rightfully his. Coming to terms with accepting who he was always meant to be, and who he is at heart, Simba’s journey isn’t just that of a physical one, but rather an emotional journey of self-forgiveness, healing and rediscovering himself.
Because oftentimes, the journey home can be difficult, if it means having to face ourselves. But that is the strongest journey of all.
Simba returns to Pride Rock to reclaim the throne in The Lion King (1994)
Interstellar: Home as the Person Waiting for Us
Christopher Nolan has made yet another home-esque film with Interstellar, a story following Cooper, who leaves behind his children, Murph and Tom, to journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere. In this dystopian world, humanity faces extinction, to which Cooper attempts to save. He travels to unknown planets, through different galaxies and even enters a wormhole in hopes of finding a habitable home for mankind.
While the science of Interstellar is one of the film’s biggest strengths, its heart lies in a simple fact; a father wishes to return to his daughter.
Cooper telling Murph he is leaving on a mission in Interstellar (2014)
Cooper’s greatest motivation throughout the film is Murph, as he desperately clings unto promises he made that he may, unfortunately, not be able to fulfill. The universe is vast, filled with galaxies and planets beyond human comprehension, yet Cooper’s heart is constantly tied back to his daughter’s room in the little house they own by the fields.
Because the world is our home. But the term ‘world’ may not necessarily tie to Earth, but rather, a person who makes our whole world worth coming back to.
Shrek: Home as Acceptance
Dreamworks’ Shrek may just be a funny, fairytale adventure to some, but to many, Shrek serves as an emotional story about finding a place where we are accepted for who we are, free from prejudice and judgement.
The film follows Shrek, an ogre who lives alone on a swamp, away from people who fear him for his appearance. Unlike the other characters who are searching for their ‘homes’ or returning to them, Shrek already has one! His one objective is to keep it. His space, where he feels safe. He believes that living alone in his swamp is an indirect way of protecting himself from a world that despised him.
Shrek on his swamp in Shrek (2001)
However, his peaceful life is ruined when his home is bombarded by fairytale creatures. And so, Shrek sets out to take his home back, to reclaim the home he believes he’s already lost. Throughout the film, Shrek’s relationship with Fiona, and friendship with Donkey shows him that being accepted doesn’t mean changing himself to fit into society’s expectations, or locking himself away for being different. Instead, belonging comes from being himself, and finding people who love him for who he is.
That is the heart of home. A place where we feel safe to be ourselves unconditionally!
Shrek gets married to Fiona on his swamp
Maybe Home Was Never Just A Destination!
Stories have always, and will continue to, circle back to the concept of home.
Odysseus wanted to return home. Marlin wanted to bring someone home. Grace wanted to find home somewhere unexpected. Miguel wanted to understand his home. Simba wanted to reclaim his home. Cooper wanted to reach home. Shrek wanted to keep his home.
Each journey home is far more complex than simply a destination. And that is precisely why us, as humans, keep returning to the concept! Because at the end of the day, what truly matters is a journey to discover where we belong, a yearning for comfort and a place, whether physical or metaphorical, that encompasses who we are. Throughout the journey, we may wind up somewhere we never expected, but the hope that is home is what keeps us going.
Written by: Ashley
Edited by: Sarah
