How did The Circle fail so badly? The pieces were all set up in the 2013 novel’s favor: an exceptional director who’s great at adaptations, and an all-star cast of actors such as Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. So why did The Circle turn out so bland and generic…quite a few reasons actually.
1. The Circle’s plot is trite and predictable. Even if someone hadn’t seen the film’s trailers, it would have been painfully obvious to see where The Circle’s plot is going by the first fifteen minutes—a plotline that has been seen and done multiple times before. At no point does The Circle alter course, offer anything innovative, and/or throw any curveballs into its generic, overused plot.
2. The Circle’s characters feel forced and/or idiotic. Throughout the film, the Circle’s working crew act like brainwashed sheep: mindlessly following/approving of the tech company’s methods and ideas. The problem is the company never does anything worthy of being considered effective brainwashing, meaning the majority of workers—save for the designated genius ex-member—are just blindly following the company’s questionable actions that should, instead, be raising a bunch of eyebrows. Yet the workers’s complete ignorance is nothing compared to the entire internet observing the film’s protagonist Mae after she goes “transparent” (allowing the whole world to log in and view her every move through an equipped camera). The film expects me to believe that no one on the internet—which is built on conspiracy theories, paranoia and disagreement—realize and/or question how the Circle’s technology could be used for nefarious purposes, or how a senator who questions the Circle’s legitimacy is suddenly arrested for having incriminating material? Not a single viewer around the world thought to point out and/or protest how the world’s biggest, most powerful company could possibly be using their technology unethically? The company even showcases a private meeting to the world where they essentially discuss turning the United States into North Korea, yet no one—save for the designated eye-opened worker who everyone berates—bats an eye at these glaring warning signs. And that’s not even getting to the Circle’s founders who casually give Mae incredible leverage, push their group to traumatize Mae’s friend while the whole world watches, and allow their genius ex-member to freely roam around without supervision.
3. The Circle has many great actors, but Ellar Coltrane is not one. The young man cannot act, and while his performance is slightly better than in Boyhood, it still comes across as stiff and wooden.
4. The Circle contains no well-written character bonds. An element that makes director James Ponsoldt’s previous works so remarkable is the developed relationships throughout. The Spectacular Now features a startlingly realistic portrayal of young love, while The End of the Tour focuses on a remarkably genuine interaction between two endearing characters. The Circle has neither of these and is too caught up with its dated messages and contrived plot devices to create any memorable bonds, let along interesting characters. These faults end up making The Circle a dull, contrived and forgettable experience.