The Circle Review

How would you feel about working for a company that has a lot of possibilities? That has great health benefits, that make you feel welcome, that allow you to socialize, that increase your opportunities, that is trying to make the world a better place? That all sounds good. What if this company is trying to take over the world, that wants to but into your personal life, that guilt trips you when you want time away from others and to be alone? Would you want to work for that company? I sure wouldn’t. Here is where you get the movie The Circle, that new movie with Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, and John Boyega. The one thing you will be hearing is how it’s a cautionary tale of the dangers of technology taking over our private lives, and it could be seen throughout the movie. It also seemed like it went to extreme lengths to show the dangers. If you want to inject paranoia into people about using their Facebook or Instagram accounts, you take them to something like this.

Please note, I am going to get into spoilers below, so you have been warned.

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While watching this movie, the second half reminded me of EdTV, you remember that one with Matthew McConaughey back in 1999, I didn’t see it all the way through, but basically the idea was that Matthew McConaughey has his entire life broadcasted on TV, just about 24/7, and it hits moments where his true friends distance themselves from him because they don’t want their lives public like that. Emma Watson’s character literally hits that point at the midpoint of the movie, where she decides to have her life broadcast 24/7 for everyone at this place The Circle. I kept sitting there thinking how uncomfortable it would be to have your life broadcast like that, no privacy whatsoever. Her parents get sick of the attention that they unplug themselves really quickly. This idea was presented back in 1999, apparently no one has learned that this is a bad idea. Still an interesting idea no doubt, I mean that I don’t know why people think it would be a great idea to implement in real life.

The one moment that hit really that really creepy vibe in my bones is when two employees approach Emma Watson and basically guilt trip her into not using their social accounts at The Circle, and not showing up to social events (even though they declare that it’s optional) during the weekends. That would be the killer for me, especially just how creepy that moment was.

The more and more I reflect on the movie, the more I realize just how over the top a lot of the situations are. Emma Watson learns of a cool design that her friend did, which was a chandelier made of deer antlers. She takes it and posts it on the Circle social media network, and there are many activists that see the post and declare the friend as a deer killer, to the point that they send him death threats, and he admits that he does not use his email much, and to see that shocks him. Honestly, out of anything going on in the world, and they go after a guy for making a chandelier out of deer antlers. What is more bizarre is when he comes to visit Emma Watson’s character to explain the situation, how they begin to video the conversation. Seriously who in all does that.

I do admit I see the dangers of technology invading our privacy, but I don’t ever see it going as far as many of the scenarios that are present in this movie. It felt like they were pushing beyond the boundaries of what could happen. Maybe I am wrong and I am downplaying this whole scenario, but this is beyond paranoia in my opinion.

The biggest flaw I found in the movie is John Boyega’s character. He plays a founder of The Circle, and admits to Emma Watson’s character when they first meet that the company grew in a way that he was not proud of, it was not how he envisioned it. He takes her to places to show some of the secrets of The Circle. Even near the end, he helps her uncover many of the darkest secrets of The Circle. Someone with such a high profile, and no one bothers going after him, especially when they go after many other characters for all their secrets. I was seriously waiting throughtout the movie for Tom Hanks and Patton Oswalt to expose him, but no, he never gets touched.

After all this, you would expect a big resolution, where The Circle disappears, or that it becomes this great company with John Boyega runs it and all is happily ever after. Well, you would be wrong, it didn’t seem like much really got resolved. Did Tom Hanks and Patton Oswalt go to jail? I just like Patton Oswalt’s pout face at the end when Emma Watson exposes all his secrets. Tom Hanks plays it off even though he is upset, but Patton Oswalt wears the face when someone sunk his battleship. Anyway, The Circle is supposedly shut down and redone, and it didn’t seem like anything got resolved.

I did like the majority of the performances. In case you didn’t know, this was Bill Paxton’s last movie, he played the father of Emma Watson who is struggling with Multiple Sclerosis. I also liked the concept it had.

This is one of those movies I am glad I saw. I actually did enjoy it, but I have a hard time recommending this one, unless you have a strong desire to see it.