Cercle

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.

Held captive and faced with their imminent executions, fifty strangers are forced to choose the one person among them who deserves to live.

Before getting too far into the film, I was reminded of "12 Angry Men". Looking into it a bit more, it is not surprising to find that this was, in fact, the primary inspiration. Something of a modern take on how we judge other people.

As a horror or science fiction film, the material is pretty light. But as social commentary, the film is strong. A bit heavy-handed, maybe, or in some ways too obvious in its stereotypes, but still clever just the same. We are left to wonder if humanity was in such a situation, who would survive? (The film actually suggests an answer, but let us not get into the spoilers!)

'Circle.' It's a pretty tight little film, basically filmed only in the one location for an hour and a half – the location being a completely pitch black room with fifty red spots on the floor. In each, stands a random stranger and every couple of minutes one of which gets zapped by – er – something and brutally killed before their body is dragged off into the gloom. Confused? How do you think the fifty people feel?! And that's that – fifty people turns to forty. Forty turns to thirty and so on. It's a tough sell and it's probably never going to be a mainstream hit (especially as about the most well-known face is Dexter's wife from the TV series of the same name). Anyway, I think it deserves a cult following as I'm sure it will find an audience out there somewhere.

Its simple premise and delivery kind of reminded me of other (rather fun films) such as The Human race and Cube. Yes, it's hardly action-packed. The fifty people can't even move off their little red spot on the floor – if they do, that nasty zapper comes back for them again and that's that for them. What you have is a kind of morality tale about what people would do in this situation. Would they vote to kill people they don't know just to save themselves, or would they try and save everyone? It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I can see plenty of people finding it boring, or being annoyed at the ending (I won't say why – you'll have to check out the internet message boards!), but if you're in the mood for something a little different and without any major car chases or Marvel superheroes destroying entire cities then give this one a go. I found it on Netflix and was glad I did – definitely worth seeing if you're in the mood for something dark, talky and that will make you question what you'd do in this most of weird and extreme of situations.

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

Fantastic concept that is beautifully executed. All the decisions and rationale behind them feel disturbingly real. I found myself yelling at the characters on many occasions.

My one gripe would be that it was hard for me to imagine how certain characters would survive as long as they did given their actions.

That said the turmoil did cause me to become that much more involved in the story.

This film falls in line perfectly with others that similarly take a unique concept and flesh them out into intriguing narratives. If you like Cube, The Game, The Box, or even Adjustment Bureau (not nearly as sappy so don't worry) you will love this movie.

Side note if you watched this movie and liked it you should also check out the ones I mentioned above.