film

Circle (2015)

A claustrophobic, psychological thriller in the spirit of Cube (1997) with an outstanding build-up matched only by the insipid, insulting, and inconclusive ending.

My experience with Circle started out pretty much like any other dig through Netflix. The description sounded alright, it had at least a B-list celeb on the cast (Julie Benz), and hell, it just seemed like it’d be more fun than going over the finer plot points of 3 Headed Shark Attack for a second time.

If you’ve already read the heading, you’ll see that not all my words about Circle are kind, and we’ll get to that, but many aspects were very well done and it’s one of the most competent psychological thrillers I’ve seen in a while.

Note:  There are some minor spoilers ahead.  I haven’t given away the biggest reveal, so you can still read through this and safely enjoy the film, but just in case you don’t want to know anything about the plot, you may want to stop reading now and come back once you’ve seen it.

It opens in a black room, with about 50 people standing in 2 concentric circles. If you’ve seen enough of these sorts of films, it becomes pretty clear that the entire film is going to take place within this “circle,” helping to set the tense and isolated mood. Almost immediately, people start dropping. At regular intervals, lighting is emerging from a sphere in the center of the room, instantly killing whomever it hits.  After a bit of arguing and panicking the captives figure out what’s happening.  There are small triangles pointing towards each person, and as a person moves their arm, each triangle will light up.  When they close their hand, they’re “voting” for whichever person the lit triangle is pointed at.  The weird thing is that each person can only see their own selection, so no one knows exactly who’s voting for who.  The person with the most votes dies.  If no one votes, then a victim is chosen at random.  In the case of a tie, another vote is taken; if it’s a tie again or if no one votes, both or all of the tied victims are killed.  The process repeats every 2 minutes or so.

Ok, so the setup is a little complicated, but it’s mainly to account for any loopholes – basically forcing everyone to vote for someone each round without somehow being able to circumvent the rules.

What unfolds is a pretty damn fascinating study on social behavior from several angles.  Race, age, class/income, family, religion…all of these aspects and more come into play at some point or another.  It’s an inherently incomplete examination of these things, though I think it ultimately tells us a lot about our own snap judgments, prejudices, and how we gauge someone’s worth and whether or not “all of us are created equal” really means anything to an individual.

Quite a few bodies hit the floor as the prisoners figure out the “rules” of this strange locale, but once the situation stabilizes the real fun starts.  One early suggestion by a college-aged person is to go ahead and vote for several older people while they discuss what’s happening.  He quickly single out 5 or 6 senior citizens to vote for in order to buy the group some time.  Surprisingly, enough people go along with this plan for it to work for a couple of rounds, until some of the older people begin questioning the reasoning.  Naturally the young man defends his position, but unfortunately this is not really a place where you want to give anyone a reason not to like you, and the first fellow to emerge as a sort of “main character” is quickly voted off next.

This dynamic constantly shifts as our characters try to figure out who should live, or who to kill, or any means by which to rationalize their decisions.  Several criteria are put forth by various characters, some leading to the death of others and something leading to the death of themselves after revealing their own flaws.  For instance, a cop singles out a domestic assailant that he recognizes in the crowd and the group has no problem ridding themselves of the offender.  However, only a few moments later that same cop gets himself tangled in some racist comments and is then executed.  The quick deliberations continue and it’s truly a treat to watch this panicked group try to decide who to kill next even when it becomes readily apparent that all save for possibly one will die anyway.

There is a catch though – when it comes down to the final two, one must make the conscious decision not to vote, or both will die.  Early on it’s established that the survivors can’t vote for themselves (although they can step out of their immediate area, which will result in their death) nor can they vote for someone who’s already deceased.  When only two are left, if they vote for each other, it will result in a tie.  If they again vote for each other, both will be killed as per the rules.  Therefore one most vote for the other and the other must abstain if anyone is to walk away alive.

Eventually the group splits into two factions.  There’s a young pregnant woman and a little girl (about 8 – 11) in the group.  One faction argues that the 2 of them are most deserving of life and should be kept alive as long as possible to make the decision amongst themselves.  The other group believes that everyone should have a fighting chance and seek to eliminate at least one of the two.  A tense game follows with split-second decisions and fun manipulations of the surviving members into voting for one side or the other.

I won’t tell you how things turn out other than to say that it’s quite a clever and ingenious surprise.  I didn’t see it coming at all and it made me appreciate what the script had been building to even more.  What bugs me is what happens next, at the very end, that which closes the film.

Basically what we have witnessed is an experiment being held by aliens who have invaded the planet.  The final minutes afford us a view of a few survivors – presumably from other “circles” – and a dozen or more circular spacecraft hovering around the unidentified city.  And that’s it.  We’re afforded no conclusion, no “why,” no glimpse of what purpose the experiment might’ve had or, more importantly, what’s going to happen next.  I dig the social commentary and I think the filmmakers came up with a pretty great way to let this scenario unfold, I just wish they’d spent a little more time hammering out the surrounding narrative and giving it some purpose as well.  I can only assume we’re supposed to gather that the point of the film isn’t so much to know “what happens next” as it is to explore the bizarre social interaction, but I still want some resolution.  The audience will certainly get something out of what they’ve seen, but when one accounts for the scenario and the twist ending, we want to know why the aliens put people in this position in the first place.

There are lots and lots of would-be great films out there that are hindered by their ending.  I don’t know if Circle is quite on the cusp of greatness, yet it is a fine film which is all but ruined by the incomplete ending.  As shocking as the twist is, it loses its impact quickly because we don’t ever find out why this is happening, therefore we can’t really appreciate the impact of the twist versus the expected ending would have.

If you get a chance, this is a fun little flick to check out, just be prepared for the sour ending.  It’s a shame that such a brilliant concept is hindered by the writer’s inability to decisively conclude the story; still it’s a ride that can be enjoyed for the most part.  If you enjoy claustrophobic thrillers that happen in near real-time and in a single location, you should be at least partially impressed by what Circle has to offer.

Written by The Cubist