Film of the Week: The Circle

This film cropped up out of nowhere one day, which is strange because it has a few big names involved, including Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, and Bill Paxton. This film explores how technology can become dominant in everyone’s life. The official term for this type of film is a techno-thriller, and I have to disagree with most of the critics who gave this film a negative review. There are a couple pacing issues, but the overall effect of the film is gripping. The narrative explains with detail how technology can become a massive con in people’s everyday lives.

The technology presented in this film may not be completely real, but I doubt we’re far from something similar. There’s nothing too eccentric, it’s all down to earth and focused on the message that’s carefully interweaved throughout without the audience having the feeling it’s being rammed down their throats every second.

The most realistic parts of the film you don’t actually see much of, and they are the comments that flash up on the screen whilst Mae Holland (Emma Watson) is broadcasting herself to the masses. Those comments capture exactly how a typical audience reacts during any live stream, and if you read them all and understand what they’re saying in the context of the scene that’s happening in the foreground; that’s where the message that this film wants to give lies more so than anywhere else.

Mae gets lost in this world, and is essentially brainwashed into believing what she is doing is good until the reality starts kicking in, and her life begins to crumble around her. She omitted her relationships with her friends and family whilst publicising her personal life every day, leading her to make a change. If used correctly, the technology that was making her life hell can make people’s lives better instead – but there is a fine line between the two extremes, something this film does well to explore.

The only real issue is not exploring Mae’s feelings after the tragic accident and death of one of her friends whilst streaming live to the audience. We see that she’s deeply affected that that she now understands the cons involved, but that’s all we see and know. She springs back to being her bouncy-self too quickly to justify the tragedy that happened. In the films timeline it’s been several weeks, but to us audience, it was only mere minutes, and that aspect not thoroughly being explored as much as all the others does make the pendulum swing in only one direction. However, the pieces that we can stick together does make you think, but unfortunately, maybe not enough.

In conclusion, The Circle explores a thought that most of us have already explored, but this is a reminder to those that haven’t done so for a while. The list of big names and therefore immense talent involved overshadows the problems this film has, but that doesn’t stop it from being a one-time viewing only kind of film. I would happily watch this again, and maybe I might just see something I didn’t before. This does feel the type of film that would have hidden messages throughout, but I’m afraid to go hunting for them because I might be disappointed for not finding anything.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)