Circle is a thought provoking movie that is definitely not worth a 9/10. So why then did I give it just that?
For reasons that I don't fully understand, I find myself mesmerized by the end of an hour and a half long serial execution by jury. This style of movie has been attempted multiple times before with the likes of Cube, Saw, and a couple underground indie flicks, where in the premise, at it's basis is kill or be killed. Though surprisingly none others quite matched up to the tone and imaginative nature of Circle.
Let me try to explain in more detail and I emphasize try:
Circle is a very simplistic movie where 50 people are trapped in a circle (thought to be trapped by E.T's), a circle that forces the unlucky individuals to choose who to kill in 2 minute intervals. Where it gets interesting is the evolution of everyones mindset on how to go about killing each other. The psychology used, the ruthlessness at the core of seemingly everyday people, the innocence, the betrayal, the discrimination, and the humanity in others is what is so mesmerizing about this indie. It is a lower budget, decent acted psychological thriller that educes the imagination in so many ways. With a semi intriguing simplistic idea, they were able to create an entertaining thought provoking humanistic experiment, simply with dialogue, and a Circle.
I give this movie a 9/10 for the simple fact that there is nothing else quite like it. And whatever is quite like it, still isn't quite like it. In general movie terms, I wouldn't dream of rating this movie higher than a 6/10. However, when you walk away satisfied yet still wanting more, disgusted yet applauding, and tired yet contemplative, I have no choice but to stick with my rating.
