Christopher Nolan makes films so layered in detail that re-watches bring forth new discoveries – and The Odyssey is no different.

The director’s new movie – a certified blockbuster – is in cinemas now, and people are flocking to sold-out screenings to watch his version of Homer’s Greek poem, which features Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, and one Robert Pattinson line delivery (”can somebody get these BEGGARS out of here”) that’s sent the internet into meltdown.

After leaving the cinema, film fans are highlighting several moments they spotted in the film that might have been missed the first time around. Below, we run through the five best hidden details.

Why did the soldier suddenly want to escape the Trojan horse?

In the scenes set inside the Trojan horse, one of Odysseus’s soldiers suddenly grows terrified as the horse is dragged into Troy, and attempts to leave it prematurely. The reason for his sudden fear is due to the crowd outside, who start to chant for the horse to be set alight. To quell any wariness of a trap, a Troy leader slices his sword into the horse to ensure there’s no one inside – and even catches the shoulder of one of the soldiers. However, another is shown to quickly wipe the blood off the sword as it’s removed, ensuring their presence remains a secret.

The extent of Odysseus’ struggle inside the Trojan horse

After Odysseus removes the door in the stomach of the horse – a play on the phrase “the belly of the beast” – we get a subtle nod to just how much of a toll it took being confined inside the horse for so long. As Odysseus climbs down the rope and lands on the ground outside, he can be seen limping, hinting at the extreme amount of cramp he must be experiencing.

**Why Odysseus’ soldier was so terrified after leaving Hades **

When Odysseus and his soldiers are leaving Hades, one soldier, Polites (Andrew Howard), becomes terrified when he sees the army of the unburied dead charging them as they leave. “Is this our fate?!” he bellows, reaching breaking point and being held back from certain death by Eurylochus (Himesh Patel). But what was the moment that made him crack? One of the undead is Elpinor (Jovan Adepo), the soldier whose body they left behind in Cyclops’ cave – and whose ring becomes a recurring reference throughout the film.

The truth behind Zendaya’s character

There’s a debate raging surrounding Zendaya’s character. In the film, she plays the goddess Athena, whose spirit appears to Odysseus in his biggest moments of remorse and sadness over his murderous actions in Troy. In the film’s closing moments, when Odysseus is explaining his guilt to Penelope – while disguised as a beggar – a wistful Athena appears next to him, holding his hand as he speaks. In flashback, we then see the Trojan War, but different compared with the euphoric way it was presented at the beginning of the film. In this version, the brutality is emphasised as innocents are mercilessly slain, including one character played by Zendaya. As Odysseus sanctions her beheading, the camera cuts to the statue of Athena having its head chopped off. The suggestion is that, all along, Zendaya was actually not playing Athena, but an innocent person whose death Odysseus was responsible for, and her appearance as Athena – a guiding force throughout his journey home – was actually a manifestation of his guilt.

The string pluck at the end

Much is made of Odysseus’ status as the only person who could string his bow. And how he would, as his trademark, pluck it before firing an arrow, with the string making a loud twang. Early on in the film, it’s revealed that he plucks the bow while hunting as he believes it to be honourable to warn the animal of its impending death – something that’s very much at odds with the Trojan horse trick, which is another detail hinting at his eventual guilt. In the closing scenes, when Odysseus returns to Ithaca and strings the bow to reveal his identity, he plucks it, and the loud twang that emanates tips off his wife Penelope (Hathaway) that her husband is finally home. However, Hello! editor Emmy Griffiths noted on TikTok that this also serves another purpose – to alert the suitors that he’s about to massacre them. Antinous (Pattinson), who hunted with Odysseus as a child, immediately runs for the door, knowing he’s about to become the hunted.