The Odyssey's disturbing body horror scene was filmed without using CGI
The Odyssey may spend most of its runtime being a more traditional Nolan action-thriller but with suits and guns swapped out for armour and bows, but in a few of the scenes the director pulls off some absolutely bone-chilling action sequences.
The Odyssey tells the ancient story of Odysseus’ return home from the Trojan war, facing several supernatural and terrifying challenges in his long voyage home.
Nolan’s adaptation brings many of these to life in terrifying realism, with a scene involving the Cyclops terrifying viewers and leaving some saying they were still thinking about it’s scream days later.
If you ask me though, this is not even by far the scariest scene in The Odyssey, and has convinced me we need a Christopher Nolan horror movie asap.
A disturbing body horror scene with Samantha Norton’s Circe was filmed fully practically
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In their time trying to return home from Troy, Odysseus and his men encounter a Cyclops, giants, curses from the Gods, and even the dead, but the most terrifying encounter is with Circe.
This sees Odysseus’ men sit at the table of a seemingly kind old woman played by Samantha Norton, only for her to turn out to be a witch.
As they’re distracted by their food, unable to stop eating, she proceeds to mould their faces like clay and slowly turn them all into pigs.
Tom Holland however revealed that these scenes involved no CGI whatsoever, telling IMDb: “When they turn the people into pigs, that’s all real.”
Anne Hathaway and Holland explained that they used animatronics, with Hathaway adding: “They worked with an artist to create something Samantha could sculpt with live on camera.”
Nolan has spoken about his desire to do a horror movie, but stated he needs the right concept
The scene has convinced pretty much everyone who’s watched it that what we really need next is a Nolan horror movie.
One fan tweeted: “The entire Circe sequence, especially the way she physically manipulates and moulds Odysseus' men into pigs, was deeply unsettling.”
Another said: “I really cannot stop thinking about the Circe scene in The Odyssey, likeeee full body chills I was horrified in the best way.”
A third simply said: “I NEED THAT CHRISTOPHER NOLAN HORROR MOVIE NOW.”
Nolan himself was asked this, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “It very much whets my appetite for more. But I’ve always believed that horror as a genre has to be approached very carefully from a conceptual point of view.
“In other words, you have to have an amazing idea.”
He directly referenced the recent smash hit Obsession, telling them it’s an ‘amazing idea’ and adding: “That movie works like a motherfucker. It’s not about the technical side.
“It’s not about what technical itches I would have to scratch. It’s about story. So I’m always looking.”
The Odyssey is available to watch in cinemas now.
Topics: Christopher Nolan, Tom Holland, TV and Film, Film
Michael Slavin