The Circle

2017 was a great year for movies ... most of the time. Here were a few notable, terrible exceptions.

You know how culture critics sometimes say you should stop being surprised when diverse films do well at the box office? They may be right, but even the most optimistic pundit probably couldn’t have seen this weekend coming. The tops spots on this weekend’s Box Office Report are a testament to their audiences, proving that Americans are ready to support films that aim for more than just the typica

In the second act of The Circle (a film so poorly structured that it feels like it has five acts instead of three), Emma Watson’s painfully earnest protagonist Mae Holland decides to go “transparent” and have her entire life live-streamed around the clock, save for the occasional three-minute bathroom break. Throughout these sequences, CGI text boxes appear on screen to display viewer comments in “real-time,” with half-baked thoughts ranging from “I just ate cheese from last year” to “My girlfriend dumped me.” Those comments, often irrelevant and ineloquent, are the only part of The Circle that feels remotely relevant or clever…or entertaining. The rest, like the titular shape, is hollow.

You know when you’re casually scrolling through Facebook reading statuses and an ad pops up for that random blender you were researching on Amazon? Or when that person you went on a really awkward Tinder date with shows up in Instagram’s recommendations to follow list? If you think the internet is terrifying now, just be glad we don’t live in a world with The Circle… yet.

Google is a wonderful company! They manufacture high-quality products and provide a web-surfing experience unparalleled in its intuitiveness and user ease. They’ve made tracking down a specific page in the endless expanse of the Internet into a few simple clicks, drastically cutting down research time. They connect people. They make the world a better place.

What’s more relevant right now than tech thriller about privacy and the dangers of the digital age? After the latest season of Black Mirror continued to explore the tech terrors of the not-so-distant future, James Ponsoldt’s latest film is all about how much a social media platform called The Circle can help humanity and potentially harm it.

The cast for James Ponsoldt’s The Circle continues to get better and better — comedian / author / actor Patton Oswalt is the latest to join the lineup, which already includes Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, Karen Gillan and John Boyega. This group of people could sit in a literal circle and play bongos and we’d still totally watch it and find it completely compelling.

The cast of James Ponsoldt’s The Circle is shaping up to be a fairly exciting lineup: Tom Hanks, Emma Watson and John Boyega were previously announced for the adaptation of Dave Eggers’ novel, and now he’s gone and cast your favorite former Doctor Who companion and Guardians of the Galaxy star Karen Gillan. Ugh, this movie sounds terrible.

In a few months, more people will watch John Boyega in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in its opening day than have ever watched his breakthrough performance in Attack the Block. He’s going to stop being a well-kept secret and start literally being a Movie Star overnight. So how does an actor with newfound career powers keep himself from getting stuck in a rut? Simple – you sign up to star alongside Tom Hanks in a movie directed by a very interesting filmmaker that couldn’t sound more different than a space opera.

Previously set to star Alicia Vikander alongside Tom Hanks, The Circle has been in the market for a new leading lady since Vikander’s scheduling conflicts forced her to bow out. But good news for director James Ponsoldt’s latest: Emma Watson has signed on to replace Vikander in the upcoming dramatic thriller, which she will film right after she’s done with Beauty and the Beast.