The Jarring Scene No One Saw Coming In Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey

People who have been paying attention to the online buzz around Christopher Nolan's masterpiece "The Odyssey" may have noticed a certain moment being mentioned over and over again due to its jarring nature. Watching Looper's video above is a quick way to find your footing when it comes to this particular scene and what makes it so particularly unnerving. This sequence, which is among the most confusing moments in "The Odyssey," heavily features the witch Circe, played by Samantha Morton (who delivers one of the best performances in "The Odyssey" despite her character's comparative lack of screen time).

If you know your Greek epics, you may already be aware that Circe is a witch goddess who welcomes Odysseus' (played by Matt Damon in the film) men with a hearty meal — and then turns them into pigs. This is a transformation that Nolan's movie depicts in a rather gruesome manner. The filmmaker doesn't exactly make Circe an unsympathetic character, but he does take a particularly gut-churning approach to her brand of sorcery, and the images of the scene have clearly lingered with viewers.

In the source material, Circe is a stunning seductress who indeed turns Odysseus' men into swine. However, Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" opts for getting some things wrong about the story, and in this particular instance, Samantha Morton's take on Circe is deliberately portrayed as a less glamorous, unassuming figure — right up until she unleashes her powers.

In the original story, Odysseus outwits the witch by figuring out a way to gain immunity to her magic and he ends up spending a whole year on Circe's island as her lover. Narratively speaking, this particular detour arguably wouldn't mesh well with Odysseus' longing to get home, so it's understandable that Circe's storyline was reimagined for the movie.

Despite her involvement being cut short for the big screen, the gruesome and extremely physical way that Circe turns the men into pigs has captured the imagination of audiences. Looper's video above is a great way to find out everything you need to know about the scene and what fans of "The Odyssey" are saying about it.