Hmm, thankfully, The Circle wasnt watching me back…

The Circle, starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, had all the makings of a thought-provoking, tech-dystopian drama. Unfortunately, it ended up feeling like a long, dull ride to nowhere. The film, based on Dave Eggers’ novel, tries to address the dangers of unchecked technology and the erosion of privacy, but it doesn’t quite land the punch it was aiming for. Well, if it was aiming for one.

Let’s start with the plot. Watson plays Mae Holland, a young woman who lands a dream job at The Circle, a tech company that feels like a Google-meets-Facebook utopia. With surveillance and transparency as its core principles, the company’s goal is to push society toward a more “honest” world. But as Mae rises within the ranks, she embraces these ideas a little too enthusiastically. By the end, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she had fully drank the Kool-Aid—and she wasn’t just sipping. She was guzzling it and handing it out to others. Her character’s arc went from cautious participant to blind follower without enough of a meaningful reckoning for me to buy into it.

The ending was particularly frustrating. What could have been a powerful critique of tech-driven surveillance instead felt like a non-ending. It leaves you wondering if anything really changed, or if Mae just became a mouthpiece for the very system she initially questioned. Rather than breaking free or taking a stand, she doubles down, pushing the same dangerous ideals with a shiny, optimistic veneer. It’s as if the film wanted to make a statement but didn’t know how to finish the conversation.

One of the biggest issues I had with The Circle is its confusion between transparency and democracy. The movie seems to suggest that making everything visible leads to a better, more just world. But transparency alone doesn’t ensure democracy. It doesn’t hold power accountable in any meaningful way, especially if the people pushing for it are the ones holding all the cards. The Circle’s version of transparency feels more like control than freedom, and Mae’s willingness to impose this on the world felt chilling rather than revolutionary. And, she ends up distancing herself from the people she was closest to, to be responsible to her followers. She was basically indoctrinated into the cult and decided that’s where she wanted to be. As a free-thinker, this ending creeped me out. Well, if that was an ending. It was hard to tell.

Tom Hanks, as the Steve Jobs-like founder of The Circle, was fine in his role, but he wasn’t given much to work with. His character was more symbol than substance, and it felt like a missed opportunity to dig deeper into the motivations behind someone who would build a tech empire like this.

The Circle earns itself a three beer rating. There wasn’t the fun distraction of dancing or singing. I didn’t get to go to space. And the ending makes me want to push Mae out of her kayak. Another dunk in the ocean might do her good. Have you seen this movie?

Here’s the trailer: