Review of Circle (2015) by Todd S — 14 Feb 2016

One of those films that you've never heard of before, but with such a simple premise, you just know it's going to make for easy watching. Its a case of there being several people trapped in a room with a weird lightning bolt type contraption that kills someone every two minutes.

That's pretty thick and fast stuff but with fifty people at the start of proceedings, there's a lot of numbers to get through. Naturally you don't even begin to familiarise yourself with any of the characters until you get down to the bare bones but it's very much a psychological journey that it goes through.

By having a secret vote to cast on who bites it next, the victims have to decide whether it is best to remain silent, reveal more about themselves, or plan strategically in order to survive. Throughout this there are several stereotypes that get brought into play, racism, sexuality, ageism, career choices, relationship status', criminal records, and family ties, all of which influence who gets evicted next.

It's so low budget and simple as no one moves an inch throughout and the whole movie is conducted through the power of speech. The ending was a little surprising and also a tad confusing, but the truth of it all is that it's the sort of conclusion that we're used to seeing with these type of straight to DVD types.

Ideal for having on in the background as it requires very little concentration to follow, but it's never going to set your mind on fire or give you any burning desire to sit through it again. Once is enough, and a one time viewing is all its going to get.