The Horror Show
Circle
by Aaron Hann, Mario Miscione
Upon initially reading the synopsis for Circle I assumed that it would be just like any other abduction or mind-game movie. If you think about it, it’s all been done before, almost overdone in some cases. Take more famous examples like Cube or Saw into consideration. Occupants wake up with no memory and are forced to put their lives on the line to escape, or the abducted must commit atrocious acts to save their own lives. So of course you can’t fault me for going into Circle with low expectations.
When the film begins, there are fifty people all arranged in a circle. The room is dark and futuristic with lights on the floor and strange, almost robotic sounds occurring from time to time. The occupants are also standing in their own little designated circles on the floor and if they try to leave them, boom! They fall down dead. After a few minutes of panic and yelling at one another, this strange device in the center of the large circle begins to come to life and after going around, a random person is executed. The people begin to freak out as every two minutes another one of them dies at random, but after finally putting their heads together, they realize that they can control the machine.
With the realization that they’ll have to pull together and vote on who in the group deserves to die, the tension gets thicker as things like racism, ageism, and sexism rear their ugly heads. Even things like “what did you do for a living” come up as if a person’s job determines their worth of life. One by one the occupants vote each other down, and naturally, collusion occurs and people are voted dead in secret so the cowards can save their own skins. One by one, the occupants drop dead, and as we inch closer to the finale, things get uglier as the horrific reality of what’s about to happen sets in.
I think what sets Circle apart from other movies like it is that ultimately we’re given a clear ending that wraps up neatly. We find out who is responsible and the basics of why they were all abducted. It’s another one of those films that leaves a lot open to interpretation but the way I look at it is very simple: survival of the fittest. The film is both clever and edgy in this way.
I enjoyed the film immensely. The characters, though most never even get a name, had just enough detail and build to them that you were able to love or hate any of them at any given time. The way the actors interacted with one another was another strong point of the film. I’m sure that when you’ve got fifty people standing around in a dark chamber that they don’t have much to go off of other than each other. The chemistry is there, and I really felt the internal struggle (or not) that each person went through while voting was expressed wonderfully.
When a film blends sci-fi and horror sometimes one or the other gets lost. While there’s definitely some heavy sci-fi in Circle I don’t believe it was lacking in the horror department. The real horror was human nature and how we, as human beings, react when the lives of others are placed in our hands. You won’t find pulse-pounding action or blood and gore with this one, but what you’ll get is a thrilling look into the horror that is the human psyche. I’d recommend a watch, or two, of Circle to anyone I know looking for something new to spend their time on.
Stevie Kopas, HMS
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