Circle

First 3/4 of movie were pretty good even if it was somewhat flawed but nether the less kept me entertained. However the movies ending was rushed and poorly executed and raised more questions than it answered and left you thinking " Really is that it" but overall it is still a fun and tension filled movie.

Watching it felt like being robbed of my precious time. The dialogs and human interactions were meant to be good, but the acting is terrible. I hoped the 86 minutes will be payed-off with a theatrical ending. Unfortunately they did not and the gran-finale was something I've expected after the first 5-10 minutes. I would rather recommend the movie Exam (2009) or... The Cube (1997) if you don't mind some gore scenes.

This is a fairly simple movie, a bunch of people wake up in a strange room and are rapidly picked off one by one. However the kicker is that they get to vote off who dies next. I really enjoyed this, it felt like a reality show from hell.

The film gets going almost right away, there isn't really any build up or character development before people start dying. As the group gets smaller we slowly start to get to know some of the characters, but no one main character is ever really determined. I like that they did this, it made it so it was pretty unpredictable as to who would die next. The film is also pretty heavy on dialogue, I am pretty surprised that they were able to find a fairly unknown cast that was able to pull this off well. The majority of the characters are believable and deliver solid performances.

There are a few negatives that are worth mentioning though. One is that some of the kills were too random, it's pretty much like "Why would they randomly kill that person when they could have easily killed the person who is clearly giving them a reason to do so?" Not a huge complaint but just kind of took away from the film in my opinion. Also the ending was a bit stale, not so much to ruin the movie but wasn't exactly the payoff I was hoping for.

Overall this is a very entertaining film, it held my attention throughout and actually had me on the edge of my seat a few times. If you enjoyed films like Saw and Cube I would definitely suggest checking this out.

7/10

So you've read the synopsis and want to see if this is something you might be interested in.

Have you ever seen, "The Man from Earth"? Did you like the movie? Where they talk and talk and show nothing characteristically typical of a Sci-Fi flik. Well, "Circles" does something similar with all the talking, except with strong horror undercurrents and themes that focus more on sociology and politics.

There is a similar "Cube" feeling, that confined atmosphere of death but "Circles" has a far better pace and manages to keep the intrigue all the way to the end with only ever using one room. admittedly I first viewed "Cube" well after its release and I find it so dated and difficult to stay awake through. It lulls me to sleep no matter what time of day. But I digress.

"Circles" could have fleshed out some of those intimate moments of the actors more thoroughly but I'm assuming budget effected time which meant that there were only a few takes. So boom. That one will just have to do.

Nonetheless I appreciate the themes this film shoots for. I enjoy a film that enrages me a little when portraying human nature as it systematically makes my brain wheel turn. Is this plausible, are we capable and would I really behave like that?

I don't think this a horror or sci-fi genre specific, rather more of a drama with the other two built in. I think if you enjoy a good drama but have gotten tired of the opaque sadness the genre likes to play in, then give this a shot. I think you'll have a good time wading through the tension.

In the end it was a great film where it simply holds a mirror up to the 2010's and says, "Take a look, what do you see? Wanna talk about it"

Eerie? Yes. Smart? Kind of, yes. Interesting? Also, yes. Worth an oscar? No, definitely no. Worth your time? Maybe, if you are into weird movies like "the cube". 50 people in a circle, don't know how they got there and every 2 minutes someone gets zapped and dies. Talking seems to be the only way to get through this... So this sounds interesting and it actually is. It will keep your eyes and ears awake and luckily its not a long film, so it never becomes dull. If you are having a movie night and plan to watch 3 movies, then watch this one in the middle. 6/10