'Circle.' It's a pretty tight little film, basically filmed only in the one location for an hour and a half – the location being a completely pitch black room with fifty red spots on the floor. In each, stands a random stranger and every couple of minutes one of which gets zapped by – er – something and brutally killed before their body is dragged off into the gloom. Confused? How do you think the fifty people feel?! And that's that – fifty people turns to forty. Forty turns to thirty and so on. It's a tough sell and it's probably never going to be a mainstream hit (especially as about the most well-known face is Dexter's wife from the TV series of the same name). Anyway, I think it deserves a cult following as I'm sure it will find an audience out there somewhere.
Its simple premise and delivery kind of reminded me of other (rather fun films) such as The Human race and Cube. Yes, it's hardly action-packed. The fifty people can't even move off their little red spot on the floor – if they do, that nasty zapper comes back for them again and that's that for them. What you have is a kind of morality tale about what people would do in this situation. Would they vote to kill people they don't know just to save themselves, or would they try and save everyone? It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I can see plenty of people finding it boring, or being annoyed at the ending (I won't say why – you'll have to check out the internet message boards!),but if you're in the mood for something a little different and without any major car chases or Marvel superheroes destroying entire cities then give this one a go. I found it on Netflix and was glad I did – definitely worth seeing if you're in the mood for something dark, talky and that will make you question what you'd do in this most of weird and extreme of situations.
Circle
2015
Action / Drama / Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Circle
2015
Action / Drama / Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Plot summary
In a massive, mysterious chamber, fifty strangers awaken to find themselves trapped with no memory of how they got there. Every two minutes, one of them must die... Executed by an electrical pulse generated from a source within the chamber. At first the attacks seem random, but, soon the strangers realize that they, as a group, have the power to decide who will be the next to be killed: by the power of the vote. Mob mentality at its finest hour. A chance to control the machine. How will they choose who deserves to die? What happens when there's only one person left? "Circle" is a film about humanity. How we value one another and how people react when they are forced to make decisions under the worst possible circumstances. It's a film that speaks to the very core of what makes us human - Who we are, what we believe and ultimately, the lengths we will go to in which to save ourselves.
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Public speaking has never been this much fun (to watch!)
Sadistic Aliens Invade Los Angeles
50 randomly selected people wake up in the middle of a dark room all standing in a circle. In the middle of them all is a black orb that shoots certain people one-by-one every two minutes. Somehow the survivors find out that the selection process isn't random but that they have a say in the matter.
Hmmm, where have I seen this concept before? "Saw", "Die", "Nine Dead"; except those were all better.
"Circle" was basically an alien social experiment in which people die. But what was the goal? It seemed like nothing more than some type of perverted game in which some other-worldly creatures get joy in watching people kill one another. They could've parked their UFO over Chicago for that. Really, what was the objective? To see how depraved human beings are? To see if chivalry is dead? To see what people will do to save their own lives? In any and all cases the movie was awful.
1.) It wasn't that original 2.) There were too many characters to keep track of 3.) It wasn't explained at all. We're figuring it out as the captives figure it out and all the while people are dropping dead so you get no closer to a resolution other than everyone is going to die. And that just sucks.
This movie treated us to political, religious and social debates, the ugliest side of human beings and death. Scary? No. More like depressing. Bravo.
Social Commentary
Held captive and faced with their imminent executions, fifty strangers are forced to choose the one person among them who deserves to live.
Before getting too far into the film, I was reminded of "12 Angry Men". Looking into it a bit more, it is not surprising to find that this was, in fact, the primary inspiration. Something of a modern take on how we judge other people.
As a horror or science fiction film, the material is pretty light. But as social commentary, the film is strong. A bit heavy-handed, maybe, or in some ways too obvious in its stereotypes, but still clever just the same. We are left to wonder if humanity was in such a situation, who would survive? (The film actually suggests an answer, but let us not get into the spoilers!)