The Circle

It’s no wonder that there haven’t been more internet-paranoia movies since the advent of Google, Facebook, and your grandparents being online. Online media are so well-integrated into much of American life that thriller-level intrigue over privacy settings and search histories may seem, to digital natives, like dire warnings about the dangers of automobiles or microwaves: maybe not outright nutty, but potentially hysterical. On top of which, especially dedicated internet users tend to get defensive about some mere movie maligning a newer, shinier medium. It’s hard to make a film that’s critical of digital technology without sounding like a square.
Photo: STX Entertainment

It’s this uphill battle that The Circle fights for a little while, then loses about halfway through. Adapted by filmmaker James Ponsoldt (The End Of The Tour; The Spectacular Now) and novelist Dave Eggers from the latter’s novel of the same name, the movie follows Mae (Emma Watson) as she is granted access to the fantasy of many upwardly mobile young people: an entry-level job at a Google-like digital conglomerate. The Circle is like Google, plus more (not to be confused with Google Plus). It’s more transparent, with a single and verified “TrueYou” sign-on; more accommodating (“campus” amenities include a nightclub, a kennel, and a baking kitchen, among others); and perhaps even heavier on the corporate Kool-Aid, with high-ranking executive Bailey (Tom Hanks) giving weekly talks that are half internal product launch, half preaching to the converted.