The woman behind the witch: A deeper dive into the Circe of Nolan’s Odyssey

Following the release of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey, there has been disappointingly little discussion of the minor characters who appear in the film, who seem to be discarded as mere obstacles on Odysseus’ journey, rather than real individuals with their own motives and personal history.

This article contains film-specific spoilers for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

One prominent example of this can be seen in the powerful and infamous witch, Circe (Samantha Morton). A key moment in Nolan’s adaption of the famed epic is the deeply unsettling transformation of Odysseus’ men into pigs. This scene was not only discomforting because of the visceral and grotesque display of just how this transformation was curated, the men’s faces gruesomely pulled apart and contorted into animalistic features, but also because of the surface-level presentation that it left of Circe herself.

Circe … is powerfully portrayed by Samantha Morton as a cunning, artistic, conniving and deceptive misandrist

This artfully designed and chillingly horrific transformation arguably makes it one of the most memorable moments of Nolan’s Odyssey, as we are left with a horrifying image that cannot seem to be erased from our minds. We are introduced to a Circe who is powerfully portrayed by Samantha Morton as a cunning, artistic, conniving and deceptive misandrist. Yet, as quickly as Circe appears, she is gone.

It can be said without a doubt that Samantha Morton is a perfect fit for the role of Circe, but Nolan gives the character minimal screen-time and a distinct lack of depth, leaving us with the feeling that we have only been shown one side of the coin.

For a character who has fascinated readers for centuries, Nolan’s Circe leaves surprisingly little trace. Whilst impactful in the moment, we quickly forget Circe, who is seen as a mere obstacle for Odysseus and his men to bargain with, rather than the complex and misunderstood woman that she is. Her encounter with Odysseus is brief and her motivations go greatly unexplored, as the film gives us very little sense of the woman behind the witch.

Nolan’s The Odyssey … provides us with marginal opportunity to understand the intentions and reasons behind Circe’s actions

Whilst Nolan’s The Odyssey gives us a striking visual spectacle, it provides us with marginal opportunity to understand the intentions and reasons behind Circe’s actions. Perhaps this is because Nolan is curating a stricter adaption of the Homeric epic, which does indeed revolve around Odysseus with little exploration of minor characters like Circe.

However, for a modern audience who have come to know and understand Circe through contemporary, feminist re-tellings, such as Madeline Miller’s novel, Circe, it is no wonder that aspects of the character in Nolan’s Odyssey can at times feel absent or fall flat. And this absence is difficult for us to ignore.

We must ask the question of why a work with such creative freedom does not give more life to the individuals onscreen. Whilst Nolan’s The Odyssey may be more in-line with the Circe of Homer, his decision not to be in conversation with other contemporary retellings results in a Circe that we cannot show sympathy for. She is presented at surface level, as merely an evil, and quite insane, witch.

But Circe is more than that. She was once vulnerable. She is broken. She was trusting and had been hurt too many times by the people she trusted and loved. She is hospitable and merciful and kind-hearted. She was exiled and shunned and left by her own family.

That is enough to break a person, and these aspects of Circe make her a humanised and relatable character who we can even begin to understand. And this understanding of Circe, as more than a witch, as a woman who just wants to be protected and loved, is the greatest understanding of all. This is how she should be remembered, not as an evil witch but as a misunderstood individual capable of great power. Read Madeline Miller’s Circe if you wish to discover what Nolan left out.