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| Circle |
Synopsis
Held captive and faced with their imminent executions, fifty strangers are forced to choose the one person among them who deserves to live.
Review
In a similar way to Cube and The Exam, Circle starts by offering the viewer nor the cast any clue as to what is going on. Fifty people wake up in a room, all standing on red spots. You cannot leave the spot. You mustn't touch anyone else. And every three minutes (or so) someone dies. I'll continue without spoilers, so this might be brief.
Give or take, this whole movie is a group of ever decreasing actors standing still and speaking. Arguing. Shouting. Either way, no one in the film moves. Can it work?
If you've seen either of the movies I mentioned above, you'll get the premise straight off. It's a social experiment. How do people behave in these situations? It's pretty solid too. I have to applaud the directors (Mario Miscione / Aaron Hann) above all else. It can't be easy getting performances out of actors who can't move. There's no point in flashy camera movement. There can be no lighting changes. People - scared people - fighting among themselves over who will live and who will die.
As the cast gets smaller, some of the actors shine. None of which are big names, which is interesting, and allows the viewer to become more drawn in. Notable within the cast are Allegra Masters, Ashley Key, and Michael Nardelli (The Collection). Bringing the big names we have Julie Benz (Dexter) and a couple of others - but they're all lost in the mix.
While the film has flaws, it's certainly worth watching, and unlike other films of the ilk, it doesn't leave the viewer confused - there is no ambiguous ending, and no sequel bait. I'd recommend it to those who like this sort of thing - not as good at Cube or The Exam, but well worth an hour and a half of time.
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