Storyline
When Mae is hired to work for the world's largest and most powerful tech and social media company, she sees it as an opportunity of a lifetime. As she rises through the ranks, she is encouraged by the company's founder, Eamon Bailey, to engage in a groundbreaking experiment that pushes the boundaries of privacy, ethics and ultimately her personal freedom. Her participation in the experiment, and every decision she makes, begin to affect the lives and future of her friends, family and that of humanity.
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
28 April 2017 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Melinda's Song See more »Did You Know?
Trivia
The lead role of Mae was first offered to Alicia Vikander, which according to her, was one of the three roles offered simultaneously alongside the roles of Maria in Assassin's Creed and Heather in Jason Bourne (2016). Because of fan factor, she opted to do Bourne instead, thus having the producers moving on to casting second choice Emma Watson instead. See more »Goofs
When Congresswoman Santos is speaking on stage, the lighting on her face starkly changes between shots. In wide shots, the top half of her head is cut off by the amphitheater's shadow, whereas closer shots are evenly lit, as if she'd stepped backward or forward every time the shot changed. See more »Connections
Referenced in Midnight Screenings: The Circle/King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)See more »Soundtracks
With Fun In My LifeWritten by Ellis Taylor
Performed by James Whitney
Courtesy of The Numero Group
By arrangement with Bank Robber Music
User Reviews
Full of endless circular logic and irony
Director James Ponsoldt's The Circle depicts the story of a not-so-distant future, or perhaps an alternative present, in which one company dominates digital media, data gathering, and surveillance services. Based upon the four-year-old novel by author Dave Eggers, you'll notice some stark similarities between this motion picture narrative and the smash hit TV series Black Mirror. The biggest difference between the two is that The Circle is fast-faced and poorly written whereas Black Mirror is a slow-burning but well-written anthology series. In addition to the similarities between the aforementioned, there are certainly elements of The Truman Show in this movie as well. With a powerhouse cast, brilliant composer (Danny Elfman), and excellent editing, The Circle appears to have what a blockbuster needs; however, the hollow characters, poor character development, fractured subplots, and overall diegesis hold the film back from reaching the impact that it could have had. Having taken a digital media and privacy class in graduate school, and published a few articles, this is a film that I was looking forward to in order to analyze how the social commentary or commentary on the human condition regarding reasonable expectations of privacy and big data were integrated into the plot. Sadly, the screenplay was not strong or developed significantly enough to provide big data and privacy discussions.
