Musk releases first episode of AI version of The Odyssey using Grok Imagine, criticized for stiff performances

Musk's AI movie makes its debut. Cailianshe Download the app for exclusive early access. October 26, 2026, 19:29:15, from Beijing. Updated October 26, 2026, 19:59:12

Three months ago, the world's richest man, Musk, issued a challenge to the renowned director Nolan: redo an "Odyssey" with AI before the end of 2026. Now the first batch of results has arrived.

On the 23rd local time, Musk's AI image tool Grok Imagine released a video about 7 minutes long on a social media platform, calling it the first episode of "Odyssey." The post specifically noted a "creative collaboration" with the AI filmmaking team Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker.

Although Nolan's version of "The Odyssey" also made extensive use of visual effects, it was mainly completed through live-action shooting, with filming spanning six countries and a cast and crew numbering in the thousands. After its release in July, the film was a huge success, with global box office nearing $1.8 billion, and it is also a hot contender for the next Academy Awards.

But in Musk's view, Nolan chose the Black actress Lupita Nyong'o to play Helen and the transgender actor Elliot Page to play Sinon in order to cater to the Oscars' diversity and inclusion standards. Therefore, he wanted to redo a version of "The Odyssey" with AI, striving to restore the original Homeric epic.

Now, the first episode of the AI version of "The Odyssey" has finally appeared, but the technical demonstration Musk expected has exposed the biggest shortcoming of AI films: images can be imitated with AI, but a film is not merely a pile of beautiful images; the most basic requirement is always to mobilize actors and scenes to "tell a good story."

The famous American pop culture monthly Rolling Stone commented that this AI short film visually borrowed many elements from Nolan's version of "The Odyssey," yet lacked the corresponding impact; even some viewers who are tolerant of AI also criticized in the comments section that the characters' performances were stiff and lacked soul.

The media outlet also joked that the "historical accuracy" Musk emphasized was at least not reflected in the language—the characters in the film speak English, not the Greek of Homer's era.

The comment from the tech media outlet TechCrunch likewise pointed out that the short film's narrative and emotional appeal failed to match the realism of some shots. Viewers can feel no sense of rhythm, nor find any reason to care about anyone or anything on the screen. It is hard to imagine any viewer would be interested in watching another 7 minutes of such content, let alone a whole film.

In the comments section of Grok Imagine, netizens also generally expressed disappointment. For example, some netizens commented that it looked like many beautifully rendered AI clips spliced together, but the overall feeling was not coherent. At the same time, the actors' facial expressions had no emotional depth, there was no eye acting, and the voice acting was also very basic.

Of course, these comments cannot directly deny the possibility of AI filmmaking, but they point out a distinction worth noting: generating shots with a cinematic quality and keeping the audience engaged in a story remain two different tasks. Character development, plot progression and emotional buildup all require establishing connections between shots.

Another difference worth noting is that Musk previously promised a "complete feature film," but what was officially released this time was "the first episode of a series." It is currently unclear whether, in the face of negative reviews from netizens and the media, Musk's team will further advance the plan to produce the entire film.

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