Circle

Circle is a thought provoking movie that is definitely not worth a 9/10. So why then did I give it just that? For reasons that I don't fully understand, I find myself mesmerized by the end of an hour and a half long serial execution by jury. This style of movie has been attempted multiple times before with the likes of Cube, Saw, and a couple underground indie flicks, where in the premise, at it's basis is kill or be killed. Though surprisingly none others quite matched up to the tone and imaginative nature of Circle. Let me try to explain in more detail and I emphasize try: Circle is a very simplistic movie where 50 people are trapped in a circle (thought to be trapped by E.T's), a circle that forces the unlucky individuals to choose who to kill in 2 minute intervals. Where it gets interesting is the evolution of everyones mindset on how to go about killing each other. The psychology used, the ruthlessness at the core of seemingly everyday people, the innocence, the betrayal, the discrimination, and the humanity in others is what is so mesmerizing about this indie. It is a lower budget, decent acted psychological thriller that educes the imagination in so many ways. With a semi intriguing simplistic idea, they were able to create an entertaining thought provoking humanistic experiment, simply with dialogue, and a Circle. I give this movie a 9/10 for the simple fact that there is nothing else quite like it. And whatever is quite like it, still isn't quite like it. In general movie terms, I wouldn't dream of rating this movie higher than a 6/10. However, when you walk away satisfied yet still wanting more, disgusted yet applauding, and tired yet contemplative, I have no choice but to stick with my rating.

absolute cinema 📽️

source: Circle

It's a surprisingly nicely done psycho-thriller, much like the movie Cube, only without all the Saw-type booby traps and gore. There were a few holes and flaws in the characters thinking (i.e. how did the "couple" manage to hatch a plan to lie about being married so fast without anyone hearing them, what did the girl whisper to the Latino man who didn't speak English just before she was eliminated, and once they realized they had a minister in the room, why didn't they vote him off? After all, if he believes, then he has the least to fear of all of them). I really liked how I thought it was going to end, and actually felt myself tearing up a bit that this little girl was going to sacrifice herself, only to have that ruined with the guy tricking them. Then, it just turned into a typical forced ending of ambiguity. And, of course, the young white guy is the survivor. Not only did this movie lose me at the end, they also lose serious creativity points. The ending made no sense, and brought zero closure to the whole thing. I personally would have liked to seen an ending more along the lines of the last guy is the "winner", but the prize is that he gets to be a guinea pig for the aliens, while we see the others who were "eliminated" waking up together back on Earth, realizing that they actually "won". But, that's just a thought. It was an enjoyable film, just went into the ravine at the end.

So you've read the synopsis and want to see if this is something you might be interested in. Have you ever seen, "The Man from Earth"? Did you like the movie? Where they talk and talk and show nothing characteristically typical of a Sci-Fi flik. Well, "Circles" does something similar with all the talking, except with strong horror undercurrents and themes that focus more on sociology and politics. There is a similar "Cube" feeling, that confined atmosphere of death but "Circles" has a far better pace and manages to keep the intrigue all the way to the end with only ever using one room. admittedly I first viewed "Cube" well after its release and I find it so dated and difficult to stay awake through. It lulls me to sleep no matter what time of day. But I digress. "Circles" could have fleshed out some of those intimate moments of the actors more thoroughly but I'm assuming budget effected time which meant that there were only a few takes. So boom. That one will just have to do. Nonetheless I appreciate the themes this film shoots for. I enjoy a film that enrages me a little when portraying human nature as it systematically makes my brain wheel turn. Is this plausible, are we capable and would I really behave like that? I don't think this a horror or sci-fi genre specific, rather more of a drama with the other two built in. I think if you enjoy a good drama but have gotten tired of the opaque sadness the genre likes to play in, then give this a shot. I think you'll have a good time wading through the tension. In the end it was a great film where it simply holds a mirror up to the 2010's and says, "Take a look, what do you see? Wanna talk about it"

Fantastic concept that is beautifully executed. All the decisions and rationale behind them feel disturbingly real. I found myself yelling at the characters on many occasions. My one gripe would be that it was hard for me to imagine how certain characters would survive as long as they did given their actions. That said the turmoil did cause me to become that much more involved in the story. This film falls in line perfectly with others that similarly take a unique concept and flesh them out into intriguing narratives. If you like Cube, The Game, The Box, or even Adjustment Bureau (not nearly as sappy so don't worry) you will love this movie. Side note if you watched this movie and liked it you should also check out the ones I mentioned above.

Great concept, great idea of how to use a low budget film. However, after watching the whole thing you wish you didn't see the ending. The ending made no sense, and had no real explanations that were clear. Very rushed towards the end. As a whole, I would say 3/4 of the movie was good. However does lose momentum as the movie continues.

A whole bunch of folks wake to find themselves on a circular pad that is some sort of elimination game. How is this game played? Why have they been chosen as participants? What is the point? So. After just having watched this, absolutely none of these questions came with any clear cut answers. This film was a look at socialism, morality, psychology and self preservation. While these are all fascinating topics and can cause the viewer to invest in certain characters more so than others, there is no real point to this movie. I was into it but the end had no payoff and it made what could have been a 6 or 7 star film take a nosedive all the way down to 3 stars for me. The ending didn't work for me at all. After watching all the drama among these characters the only word I could mutter was "REALLY!?!"

Looking at the votes for this film, I struggle to understand why, at writing, they averaged out at a 5.8. I would say that the unfortunate truth is, simply, most SF viewers are not very bright. The thrust of this story would have gone over many of their heads. By the time they realised that the whole film is a group of protagonists standing around in a circle, trying to deflect their own doom, they were probably grabbing their own heads and wailing about that and about the fact they couldn't follow it either. And that explains a lot about the western world - and not just SF fans, since: everyone votes. OR should vote. This story is politics distilled to its very essence. Factions, voting systems, altruism and reciprocal altruism, dirty deals, sociopaths hiding in plain site... the works. If I could fault it... I don't know, something prevents me giving it a 10. The very ending, atmospheric though it was, contained a bit too much non-sequitur for my liking, and that's a trend in metaphorical films like this - one that annoys me greatly. But it deserves at least an 8 or 9. Might get the disc of this and put it up on the shelf next to 'Cube', 'Nothing' and 'Pi'. - -- ---

A bunch of people are gathered in a black room with red circles and a weird machine kills them all. End of story. So you put in the movie, watch the first 5 minutes, you think "hmm this could be interesting" So you keep watching it. About 20 minutes into the film you know it's going to be a really crappy film with a terrible ending. This qualifies for the first place of "Give me my money back now" films of all times. Maybe more. If you're reading this and you haven't watched the movie. Please just choose something else. Anything. Go watch Bambi again or something. Such a terrible thing to compare this hideous film to The Cube. I think this movie has a larger agenda in it's sleeve. It's to make you a complete idiot after you've watched it. I kinda felt that way towards the end. It seems someone took a really nice script, put it in a public toilet, waited a couple of hours, reached in the toilet and pulled it out and then shot the film with what was left of it. Let me guess. The sequel will feature a bunch of people in a dark room with red circles and a strange black ball shoots all of them to death. End of story. Again. If you're interested in relations between different kinds of people and studies in social behavior, just go watch a court drama. I suggest any version of the movie 12 angry men. Don't say I didn't try to save you money. It's not even worth a free download. Waste of space on your hard drive. Last but not least, don't ever mention this film to your friends. You will most likely lose a couple of movie buddies instantly.