Matt Damon may be sailing toward some of the biggest praise of his career with The Odyssey, but one cinematic ghost from his past still refuses to stay buried. The Oscar-winning actor has survived Mars, Bourne missions, and now the wrath of Greek gods, yet none of them apparently hit quite as hard as his daughter roasting one of his biggest career misfires. And the worst part is that Damon himself knew the movie was sinking before it even reached theaters.

Apparently, critics were not the only ones sharpening their knives for his earlier movie. Damon had a brutally honest reviewer waiting for him right at home.

During an appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Matt Damon revealed that his daughter enjoys teasing him about the movies that fail to land while deliberately avoiding the ones she thinks might actually be good. The Great Wall became her favorite target, with Damon explaining that she deliberately shortened the 2016 film’s title to The Wall because, in her view, there was simply nothing great about it. For a movie already battered by critics, the home review somehow found a way to cut deeper.

“She just likes giving me shit. She’s playfully hard on me. She doesn’t go to see my movies on purpose, the ones she thinks might be good. She crushes me on the ones that don’t work.” Damon said Marc Maron’s WTF podcast.

Damon admitted that he sensed trouble while the film was still in production, as director Zhang Yimou faced pressure from Hollywood backers and the movie began losing its creative coherence. The actor recalled realizing that the pieces were no longer working together and described the experience of continuing a production after knowing the final film may fail as one of the worst feelings an actor can face creatively. The Great Wall eventually earned more than $330 million worldwide against a reported production budget of around $150 million, but poor reviews and high costs turned the giant spectacle into a major disappointment.

Matt Damon Recalls Giving Up 'Manchester by the Sea' After Christopher Nolan's Surprising Praise

Yet a decade after one wall came crashing down, Damon is now standing at the center of a much bigger cinematic battlefield, and this time, the early verdict could hardly look more different.

Matt Damon now leads Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey as Odysseus, the battle-scarred Greek king fighting his way home after the Trojan War. The epic is set to arrive in theaters on July 17, 2026, following its London world premiere earlier this month, and early reactions have already singled Damon out for some of the strongest praise of his career. Critics have hailed his performance as a powerhouse turn, while early awards chatter has pushed the actor into the Best Actor conversation. 

The role also demanded far more than simply stepping into ancient armor. Damon has described The Odyssey as the most challenging production of his career, with Nolan’s practical approach sending the cast through physically demanding shoots across multiple countries while Damon transformed himself into the battered, relentless Odysseus at the center of the journey.  

Apparently, after years of hearing about The Wall at home, Damon may finally have a movie his daughter cannot shorten quite so brutally.

Matt Damon’s Family of Five: Meet His Four Daughters and Wife Amid ‘The Odyssey’ Premiere Appearance

Do you think The Great Wall deserves the brutal criticism it received? Let us know in the comments.