My nostalgia for watching Cube as a kid got me to watch this. Being older now, this sort of schtick doesn't work very well. It has the potential though.
Reminiscent of The Cube series of films. I'm glad it gave a little extra at the end but like the Cube movies not enough to quell my lust for the motive.
Spoiler ( sort of ):
Around the 1:12 mark there is a noticeable wide shot where the girl is not on her dot. Took me right out of the story,
I understand that this was an underlying commentary about reality TV culture, but this mindset is very American. I had a very hard time understanding any of the characters and their reactions to the situation. It seemed too controlled.
It was too unrealistic in the fact that a large group of people in a life-or-death situation all came to indefinite conclusions without protest. Some decisions were debated, but others were agreed on too quickly. It was almost disturbing.
Like in the first ten minutes, I was mortified when everyone was simultaneously okay with killing off the elderly, as if their lives didn't matter because they were old... and EVERYONE was okay with that.
But this is all my opinion. I'm not into watching reality TV shows, and I'm incredibly opposed to it. So maybe this film doesn't resonate with me because I already know that reality TV is bad. Not to say I'm opposed to cinema exposing these themes in a bleak way, I mean I absolutely love Black Mirror's rendition of X Factor... but this film tried too hard to hammer the message in. The characters made convincing arguments, but they made fake performances.
Brilliant movie. Touching on a variety of contemporary issues such as racial profiling, classism, homophobia, religion, the notion of the family etc. In a way, the issues that were addressed were executed well but it wasn't as depthful as I wanted it to be
Very much in the style of Cube, Circle is sci-fi psychological torture porn set, for all practical purposes, in a metaphysical punishment chamber named after a geometrical shape. It's not as clever or intriguing as Cube, and certainly doesn't evoke multiple interpretations the way that film did, but as our world becomes more and more polarized, more and more hateful, I think it grows in relevance. The simple idea is that 50 people from all walks of life, ethnicities and ages have been kidnapped by entities unknown and forced to act as a jury that kills one of their own every couple minutes. A very spare film, it's just talk and death, really, but it never gets boring. Not with its deadly ticking clock element. If it doesn't leave more of an impression, it's that it's about too many things at once. Bigotry in America, classism in the modern age, partisanship and politics, human nature, ethics, reality show tactics... and it's a puzzle movie too. In the end, it's a big dramatized thought experiment, and it works on that level. Hopefully, each viewer comes away with their own ideal "what would I do", which could be a conversation starter. But since our understanding of who each character is is necessarily cursory, Circle will never have the emotional punch of a more straightforward drama about similar themes.
It was definitely a very interesting movie. Although the ending left me wanting more, I wasn't completely satisfied. A little anti climactic, but nevertheless a great movie.
Decent enough, though I tend to like the horror/sci-fi scenarios set in a single room. Ending is poor, and character motivations were frustrating throughout, but it was entertaining.
I guess the people in the end are all the ones who survived. You can see there's a majority of pregnant girls/kids (as the common sense of society suggests, in the other "rooms" they've been saved) and they watch the alien's ship going away. As they hypothesized, they weren't the only ones playing the "game".
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Comments 1 - 11 of 11
kurvduam
(removed by mod: please post in English)skinny_much
My nostalgia for watching Cube as a kid got me to watch this. Being older now, this sort of schtick doesn't work very well. It has the potential though.Houdini
Reminiscent of The Cube series of films. I'm glad it gave a little extra at the end but like the Cube movies not enough to quell my lust for the motive.Spoiler ( sort of ):
Around the 1:12 mark there is a noticeable wide shot where the girl is not on her dot. Took me right out of the story,
GremVendetta
Good concept, but was very unrealistic.I understand that this was an underlying commentary about reality TV culture, but this mindset is very American. I had a very hard time understanding any of the characters and their reactions to the situation. It seemed too controlled.
It was too unrealistic in the fact that a large group of people in a life-or-death situation all came to indefinite conclusions without protest. Some decisions were debated, but others were agreed on too quickly. It was almost disturbing.
But this is all my opinion. I'm not into watching reality TV shows, and I'm incredibly opposed to it. So maybe this film doesn't resonate with me because I already know that reality TV is bad. Not to say I'm opposed to cinema exposing these themes in a bleak way, I mean I absolutely love Black Mirror's rendition of X Factor... but this film tried too hard to hammer the message in. The characters made convincing arguments, but they made fake performances.
nihonjindesuka
The real question is whether these 50 people were actually real humans. Because they didn't behave like that.Jace Lightner
Brilliant movie. Touching on a variety of contemporary issues such as racial profiling, classism, homophobia, religion, the notion of the family etc. In a way, the issues that were addressed were executed well but it wasn't as depthful as I wanted it to beStill very enjoyable! Recommended.
Siskoid
Very much in the style of Cube, Circle is sci-fi psychological torture porn set, for all practical purposes, in a metaphysical punishment chamber named after a geometrical shape. It's not as clever or intriguing as Cube, and certainly doesn't evoke multiple interpretations the way that film did, but as our world becomes more and more polarized, more and more hateful, I think it grows in relevance. The simple idea is that 50 people from all walks of life, ethnicities and ages have been kidnapped by entities unknown and forced to act as a jury that kills one of their own every couple minutes. A very spare film, it's just talk and death, really, but it never gets boring. Not with its deadly ticking clock element. If it doesn't leave more of an impression, it's that it's about too many things at once. Bigotry in America, classism in the modern age, partisanship and politics, human nature, ethics, reality show tactics... and it's a puzzle movie too. In the end, it's a big dramatized thought experiment, and it works on that level. Hopefully, each viewer comes away with their own ideal "what would I do", which could be a conversation starter. But since our understanding of who each character is is necessarily cursory, Circle will never have the emotional punch of a more straightforward drama about similar themes.affie
It was definitely a very interesting movie. Although the ending left me wanting more, I wasn't completely satisfied. A little anti climactic, but nevertheless a great movie.Oneironaut
Decent enough, though I tend to like the horror/sci-fi scenarios set in a single room. Ending is poor, and character motivations were frustrating throughout, but it was entertaining.anxiety6
For those who didn't understand the end:boomdiddly
If aliens abducted 50 stock characters, this is probably what would happen.