Circle

2015 minimalist sci-fi movie

Rating: 9/20

Plot: Fifty folks find themselves in a sort of arena and are one-by-one killed and whisked away. They have to figure out the rules of the little game they've found themselves in and then figure out what to do about it.

For 99% of the movie, you're looking at the setting on the poster up there. Just put some people on those red dots, and you've got it. I'm not saying a movie like that can't work, but the writing better be damned good. Here, the writing is far from "damn good" though. Characters who aren't around nearly long enough to either really know and understand or really care about get a few lines and then are zapped and dragged off less profoundly than writers/directors Aaron Hamm and Mario Miscione think it is. Everything's just so superficial here. It's all snippets, like philosophical sketches on Twitter or something, and none of the ideas about race, morality, sexuality, bias, economics, or anything else resonate. It's got about as much depth as your average reality television show, just a pointless exercise. As much as I hated watching this movie, I had to make it to the end to find out which character survives the experience. It was not worth it.