Photo: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story So, you’ve survived Christopher Nolan’s epic adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey . What to watch next? Well, there are plenty other reimaginings of classic Greek texts worth seeking out—Don Chaffey’s Jason and the Argonauts and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Medea among them—but another option is to simply take in a few more finely rendered movies (or television series!) based on great books.
Of course, that genre, such as it is, is incredibly vast, so consider the nine selections below—some of our staff’s very favorite adaptations, ranging from arthouse classics to pulpier, more contemporary fare—a thought starter.
It’s rare for a TV adaptation to truly capture the book, but season one of Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman’s perfectly cast, juicily executed HBO series nailed the quintessential beach read by Liane Moriarty. HBO followed that up with a second season of real estate voyeurism and A-grade histrionics, setting the bar for escapism at its best—with a third season to follow next year. —Michelle Ruiz
At a friend’s recommendation, I read the book before I watched the movie (granted, I can’t think of a case where this rule shouldn’t be true.) Both Contempts follow the marital life and tragic conflict of a writer who takes on script work to support himself and his young wife. When the opportunity arises to consult on a doomed adaptation of The Odyssey with a brusque (and sleazy) producer, life, love, and work fall apart. What the book offers is a gripping psychological portrait of the protagonist’s self-inflicted demise. Inevitably, the movie is not quite as interior as the novel, but Jean-Luc Godard uses each male character’s contentious interpretation of The Odyssey as a reflection of their own egos. As Godard portrayed it, the Greek epic was almost fated to attract and stump the most ambitious directors of our time, something that The New Yorker recently explored on the eve of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation. —Alexandra Hildreth
Full of witty dialogue and relatable existential musings, Rachel Reid’s hockey romance Heated Rivalry has a unique charm that’s earned a dedicated fanbase. It’s only fitting that its onscreen adaptation was led by Jacob Tierney, who previously worked on Letterkenny , another series loved by hockey fans. With Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, Tierney’s six-episode saga captures all the endearingly awkward moments and heartfelt emotions of the book, while bringing scenes to life with beautiful cinematography and read-between-the-lines body language. It pulls at the heartstrings to keep you on the edge of your seat. —Donya Momenian
I actually went about my adaptation journey backwards, seeing the movie The Hours when it first came out in 2002. I was absolutely stunned by its sweeping, mournful beauty—the soundtrack, the performances, the cinematography, it all had a profound effect on me. I immediately ran out and bought the book by Michael Cunningham and was equally dazzled. It’s a meditation on life and death, and uses Virginia Woolf’s fluid and wandering book Mrs. Dalloway to connect the lives of three women in different periods of time. (The film is an acting class, with Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, and Nicole Kidman all giving career-high performances.)
When I went back to read the source material at the time, it was a frustrating experience (Woolf is not an easy read!), but I re-read Cunningham’s book every…