Review of The Circle (2017) by Spangle — 30 Sep 2017

The Circle is a film that came out at the perfect time. With news reports rife with information about how integral Facebook or Google have become in our lives, how dependent we are on our phones, he loss of privacy, and the centralization of information to these corporations with profit-based incentives, The Circle could have been a film that shined a light into this dark world. Unfortunately, as it spins and sputters along, it becomes increasingly clear that this timely film with some thoughts and ideas on its mind is going nowhere. Seemingly never starting its engine and leaving its ideas undercooked, The Circle is a film that is filled with bloat and poor acting until it just ends with nary a whimper. While not boring and occasionally thought-provoking, The Circle is one of those films that just seems unfinished with the audience constantly waiting for the inciting action to occur, right up to the moment that the credits start rolling. The Circle introduces us to Mae Holland (Emma Watson). A boring girl who seems to do nothing but kayak and work at The Circle, Mae is a useless character but she is nonetheless the audience surrogate into this insane world. Getting a job at The Circle through her bland - but Scottish - friend Annie (Karen Gillan) and meeting the mysterious founder Ty (John Boyega) who is wary of what he creation became, Mae gets inducted into this cult of a workplace, hangs with CEO Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks), and deals with her father's (Bill Paxton) multiple sclerosis as well as having to cope with seeing her parents have sex via a hidden camera. Dumping up exposition for the entire first act but never really explaining anything beyond "Mae really likes kayaking", The Circle (the company) remains a mystery. Seemingly a take on Facebook and social media, the film tosses out attempts to explain what it is and does so half-heartedly but nonetheless throws terms at the audience and companies (True You) that it assumes the audience will figure out what they are/mean, but never holds their hand. While this is welcome in many films, The Circle is not a film that can get away with this lax approach. Not only does it dump out exposition throughout about the inner workings of the company and Mae's family life only to come back and short change the audience on other crucial information, but this information seems to play a role in the story and relies on terms and sites that do not exist. Some explanation - even forced - would be welcome to let the audience acclimate.

In both dumping exposition and not, The Circle builds an interesting world on the campus of this mysterious social media giant that has its hands in everything and wants even more power, but it never seems to really go anywhere with all of this. Instead, the film introduces a new product that gives them even more product, cuts back to Mae's family life and her kayaking, before then hinting at some cover-up. In watching the film, it is assumed the plot will start here. But, no. Instead, we learn more about Mercer's (Ellar Coltrane) antler chandelier that he makes, his fights with people on social media about him being a "deer killer", Mae's attempts to be more transparent by broadcasting her life 24/7, and her strained relationships with everybody. Then, the film comes back and mentions the whole conspiracy thing again but then it forgets about it in time for the credits to roll. The Circle is a film that seems to never start or figure out what story it wants to tell. Is this a film about a company having too much power? Is it a film that pulls back the curtain to show how little privacy we have left? Is it a film that celebrates the lack of privacy? Is it a film about health care? Is it a film about Mae kayaking? The Circle certainly does not know, instead it barrels forward to a conclusion that might finally reveal what it was all about and building towards. However, with an ending to do nothing more than hint at more things to come, The Circle ends and will leave audiences wondering if scenes were abruptly cut off of the ending.

While The Circle never seems to figure out if it truly wants to be a techno-thriller with the plot to match, the film meanders about and seems reluctant to delve into a plot. Representing a lack of belief on the part of the writers in their ideas, the film seems content to just show Mae's kayaking, her adventures with Mercer, her facetime with Annie right before the climax, get used to working at The Circle, hang out at parties, and more. Avoiding the plot and the apparent shady dealings going on at The Circle to leave audiences guessing as to what Eamon was really up to at the company, the film is one with considerable bloat. Beating around the bush to the point that it drags considerably with excessive, unnecessary, and underdeveloped subplots, The Circle is a film that never dedicates adequate time to its story to make it one worth watching.