Circle Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAlpm2oRzy8
(On poster: In here everything gets you killed)
The science-fiction/drama Circle is about a large group of strangers trapped in a mysterious place where their only options are to vote on one person to kill every minute. Throughout this, everyone is constantly judging those around them, figuring out who should ultimately be the last person left alive at the end of this sadistic game.
The movie summary reminded me of a film I watched years ago called Nine Dead (2009). It had similar traits to Circle in regards to how random people of different backgrounds are left in a strange room. Both have characters who attempt to solve the mystery of how they got where they are while dealing with terrifying challenges, but unlike Nine Dead I felt like this film left me in even further mystery by the end, in a bad way.
The concept was interesting and how the characters decide to kill somebody was even more fascinating. They switch from one major topic to another to determine their final decision on who must die and some of these topics are actual conflicts we can face in real life including:
What kind of person is worthy to live?
Do we define worth simply based on age?
Is someone more suited to die if they have no family to their name?
Is it right to spare someone of death because they have children?
Is it wrong to harm a child if it means you have a better chance at living?
All of these and more are sensitive topics that usually come up through times of desperation, and with these characters, they were definitely in a tough position and we get to witness some of them do or say things that they would otherwise not act upon.
Yet despite all of that, given that the movie starts off with FIFTY characters and they are only given a minute to decide who is the next to go, it gives the audience little to no time to truly learn about them-this includes the characters that turn out to be more important to focus on than others later on.
As the circle of people decreased, I either couldn't remember which person had what backstory or I didn't care enough to be concerned for their well-being.
The characters in this movie are diverse, but they held no value to me. This issue comes also from the fact that some of the actors were subpar to laughably horrible. I noticed this more in the females, specifically with a married blonde woman and a little girl. Whenever they were in danger or felt scared (which was basically most of the movie), it looked like they were forcing a grin to spread across their face rather than cry. The directing for the little girl was especially bad since she didn't behave like a child.
I don't care if a kid claims to be brave or doesn't cry easily to things, the second the child knew what she was going through amongst everyone else, she would have been screaming, pleading, or even try to run away from the situation. A couple of adults did just that, how would this little girl not panic at the sight of that chaos? How can she be able to stand patiently and quietly where she was?
(Little girl (left) next to woman in Circle)
I remember not even knowing there was a child in this movie until about...20 minutes in, I believe. She said nothing at all in the beginning and only spoke very few in the entirety of the movie. If her acting was better, maybe I would have let this slide, but to me, it seemed like she was an example of an unrealistic child character.
The mystery behind why the characters are in this situation is also addressed among them; but it didn't feel resolved. The victims of this story express that they think aliens kidnapped them and are trying to see how humans choose who is worthy, yet there is no confirmation of this. These stay as opinions and not facts so did aliens really capture them for this purpose? I wasn't sure.
The atmosphere of the setting is dark, sometimes too dark to see some characters clearly but otherwise it's an eerie setting nonetheless and an effective one that gives off a tense aura. Once the timer counts down, ready to kill the most voted person out of existence, it's almost just as scary witnessing it as the people enduring it. ALMOST.
In the end, Circle is a movie with great potential but lacks good actors and leaves with a lot of questions in the worst way. Still, if you are having a slow day and have nothing better to do, watch this tense film and try to guess who will be the lone survivor.
I'll give this movie 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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It was funny how they killed that white guy with the dark brown hair so quick. The one who was trying to organize things and suggested that people tell their stories. I thought he'd make it to the final 5 at least.
Of course they play the race card in this movie. Of course!
Just because the big guy with the hat speaks Spanish and only Spanish, he deserves to die? I know they later ask if he is a legal citizen, but some people agreed to kill him before bringing that up.
I was surprised this movie actually had the guts to even suggest to kill the kid and the pregnant woman. I couldn't even bring myself to say that I didn't like the people who thought killing them was okay, everyone wants to live and they were finding a strategy to do just that. Like they said, everyone is of equal value.
Okay, why was the last guy standing and the pregnant woman's unborn child in a tie? Did...the child NOT die when its mother died? Obviously so, but...how?
I literally don't remember seeing the male survivor in the movie and I don't remember his story, so he felt random and out of place. Was that on purpose, or was he really that forgetful?
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