Review of The Circle (2017) by Richard S — 10 Jan 2019

Emma Watson joins a tech giant known as 'The Circle' which right from the beginning is very obviously based on a mishmash of Google, Apple and Facebook. On the surface it seems the ideal place to work with lots of benefits including the medical care her parents so desperately need. However, it soon becomes apparent that they expect a lot more in return and she finds her work, home and social life being monitored and scrutinised by the company she now works for. She eventually embraces this new way of living and helps to take the company forward with the help of nice guy but obviously sinister mentor Tom Hanks. It's not until she sees the tragic consequences of her actions that she realises she needs to escape or take the company down.

I thought this was a fairly decent film and it was good to see Tom Hanks in a different kind of role to his usual films. I think the film got it spot on in regards to how these big companies work and see the world, running their business interests and staff almost like a cult. The story seemed to me like the kind of story you would expect from the Black Mirror Universe, which is a good thing, I love these stories about how we live our lives now and how this could evolve into something a whole lot more sinister in the future.