Hey guys,
We're the filmmaking team behind CIRCLE and figured we'd start a thread to chat with people who had seen the movie and wanted to share theories or ask questions. Assume this will have spoilers, so if you haven't seen the film yet, read at your own risk!
Thanks,
Team Circle
I have not seen a movie this good since 'The man from Earth', and it deserves the same rating :-D Your movie shows that with little budget, but a great cast and script, you can do exceptional work. It keeps you watching, not even wanting to get a refill of your drink or restroom break ;-) You have also shown the typical stereotypes of people, their motives, background and how this affects their reasoning hence votes or choosing to end their lives 'for the good of the group', and you weren't afraid to speak about the hard/controversial issues either. Even though these types movies usually don't really appeal to the mass, for some reason I feel this one will get their proper attention once they hear of it.
This movie good be good material for class debates.
Thank you! We were really hoping audiences would want to talk about the film and its themes after seeing it, and having people take the time to comment and has questions has been really gratifying. We've always been big believers that you can tell interesting stories for not a lot of money, and that's what we were aiming to do with this film.
Thanks again,
-Mario
Not so much a question but an observation - this could be REALLY cool if adapted for the stage. The lighting design has the potential to be spectacular; my only concern would be cramming 50 people together onto a stage in a venue that wasn't Broadway sized. I think it could be done, though. I'd see it.
shareWe often said on set that it could totally be a stage play! We shot it several scenes at a time, with the actors performing huge chunks of the story in a single go, and it all felt very theatrical. There has been some talk since the film about possibly adapting it for the stage, but so far nothing concrete. Who knows, you may see it some day!
Thanks,
-Mario
Hey I just wanted to say that this was a great story with a fascinating premise. I hate to admit that I stood up and clapped when i saw the shade come out of Eric. It was a bad as in not very nice ending that was not typical.
I am an avid movie watcher. And your movie had me HOOKED from the start. I will give it:
The Story an A+
The Scripting an A+
The Casting a D-
Only because the casting was typical. As and African American woman I was a little frustrated to see the few women of my color looking so haggard while most of the other younger and middle aged Americanized women were glam and attractive. So that made me roll my eyes. BUT it is just that Hollywood seems to portray the majority of African American women that the viewers need to take any type of note of, in a movie or show as not really glam as the white Asian or Latino women.
In Example Olivia Pope Or Cookie Lyons vs Sherry Shepard and Leslie Jones. The side African American women would not be notable, attractive or glam. And it just seemed to me that you went the Sherry Shepard and Leslie Jones route. I personally find it frustrating that Hollywood completely misses the mark on African American Female Glam even with the most notable African American woman in our history (Michelle Obama) blazing the Glam saddle for wives of world leaders all over the world.
Also i have to tell you, you had a great deal of African American men in the film more than I was really able to count. But what 2 or 3 African American women? You do know that African American women out number the African American men like 8 to 1?
BUT after I got past this typical type casting. I was really able to enjoy the plot/movie and really give it a 8. 9 If you can address what seems to be a plot hole for me. And if it were not for that issue of typical type casting not one glam African American female in the whole movie. Would be a 10 for me.
One thing that I will kind of say maybe a plot hole for me. At the end of the game. There would only be 2 left.
You can't vote for yourself so the loser has to give up their life. The machine will pick both if someone is not selected. The machine also will not pick anyone for 2 extra minutes if someone gives up their life.
So was Eric able to beat the machine? The little girl stepped off but then Eric selected the pregnant woman? How would that be possible if the girl dying was to allow for 2 more minutes of life for the last 2 people?
Why didn't the machine back down and give 2 more minutes when the girl stepped off the circle?
So was Eric like the luckiest guy in the world? He not only played his hand extremely well (plausible) was able to talk his way to the final 3, (plausible) BUT he hoped or knew he could capitalize on the fact that the machine would not stop even if he talked the little girl or the woman out of her circle? That kinda allowed the movie to play into Murphy's Law. But still a great movie.
Last thing for me. Not a plot hole or anything of the like. But if Aliens could come Billions of light years to our solar system then planet. They would just need to get on the internet to see the inhumanity of Human kind. BUT I could see really mean very bitchy Aliens doing something like this to humans. Just as a Sh!ts and Giggles kind thing.
Because I could see other circle games ending in no one winning.
But thanks for the hard work. Congrats on the success don't let it go to your head and start producing crap movies like all the others!!! And you really did a great job with this film. It really was a deep look into humanity going to some places that people don't like to look.
๎
๎ฆ My Happy Dance For Haters ๎ฆ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1avQ_nefag
Thanks for watching and the kind words!
Regarding the casting I will say first off that we (not just us, but filmmakers in general) can always do better when it comes to diversity. Casting this film, we did try to be intentional in our choices to make sure we were representing a diverse population, but I agree there are definitely character types, like the glam African American woman you mention, who could have been included.
Ultimately it was hard for us to narrow down everything and everyone we wanted to include in this film, since we had to settle for 50 people. There are a lot of characters and characters types that just didn't make the cut here.
I'll also say that our intention with The Doctor (Jackie Houston) was NOT to make her look "haggard" or anything like that at all-- She's a doctor, so we (and the actress) thought that someone working that job and those hours would be someone who just happens to dress and style themselves conservatively. Though I'm sure there are some glam doctors out there, too. But like I said, you're right, we can always do better. We're both committed to giving voices to characters who are underrepresented on screen and it's definitely something we are mindful of for future projects.
As for the final round, the Machine does give Eric about a minute before it begins its final countdown, it's "reset" once the girl steps off, but the final round is a bit different than the ones that come before it. The countdown, for example, is way longer, and a tie is forced at the end if no one has voted. We felt that this final moment of our circle (and any of the other circles) had to be different than the ones that came before it in order to reinforce the idea of sacrifice. We cut to black right before the end because we want to leave it open - Does the machine choose randomly? Does Eric vote?
Eric's overall game strategy was skill combined with luck (as most things in life, really). I think what made him such a stellar player is his adaptability-- He was easily able to adjust his strategy based on the changes in the game around him.
And I agree, just point them to the internet and they may not bother letting ANYONE live!
Thanks again for watching, really glad to hear you enjoyed it.
-Mario
Hey well thanks for the reply! And thanks for the acknowledgement! It means a lot. Far to often entertainment media places African American women in 3 categories. Biracial, Oprah or Ghetto. ๎ And for you as a movie maker to acknowledge that there are other types of African American women out there means a lot. So thank you for that. But remember in your next casting to include some glam African American women. Maybe make them the love interest. This is rarely done in cinema and will absolutely give your movie a edge that is not usually present in movies today! Also glam does not mean they HAVE to be biracial. Don't have a thing against biracial African American women. But AGAIN they are OFTEN over used to represent African American woman's beauty.
I.E. ( Hale Berry Should have NEVER been Storm. Storm should have been Angela Basset.) JMHO!
As for the doctors conservative style. I will agree that some and maybe most doctors would go the Hillary Clinton route. Stale pant suit galore. But i guess being that she was one of what 2 African American women? I guess seeing maybe 1 African American woman looks that looks like the African American women that I see everyday would have been refreshing for me.
But as for the Final Round with Eric and the pregnant lady. I think that you are saying that the the 1st person to vote wins? Is that the reason why the clock did not reset and grant the pregnant women more time? Was it because it was the final round?
Thanks for taking the time to address these questions for me.
๎ฆ My Happy Dance For Haters ๎ฆ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1avQ_nefag
I just want to say as a filmmaker still in early stages, I found Circle really inspiring for what can be done in a short amount of time without a huge budget. It's got me thinking about what I'd like to make next. Good luck with all your future projects.
shareThank you! We're firm believers that you can still tell great stories using simple techniques and small budgets. It just takes a little extra care and thought. Good luck on whatever is next for you, as well.
-Mario
Knowing that adult men are at a disadvantage in terms of getting the sympathy vote from others. Would it be fair to assume that the adult males that did survive are similar in makeup and character to that of Eric? Meaning that they have a manipulative and ruthless personality to be able to get that far, despite having odds stacked against them. Or possibly that the small minority of men that did survive, must have had a really sad story to influence others so they could make it out alive.
I guess from my female perspective, the majority of the men that would have made it out would be either a young boy, a manipulative jerk/genius, or a man with a very sad tale and life story. I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
I also enjoyed watching The Vault. It had me glued the entire time. Thank you for putting out quality entertainment back to back.
-Sharese
Thank you for watching!
Since we don't know exactly what the makeup of the other circles were, it's hard to draw any concrete conclusions, but we can speculate about circles in which the make up was totally different. For example, in a circle without kids or pregnant women, who takes the place of the "sacred" within the group?
I think it's a fair guess to assume the surviving men are manipulative and/or strategic in some way. They also could simply be lucky - Imagine a circle in which no one voted for the entire time. A circle left up to fate? We don't exactly know how the final round plays out (we left the mechanics of it purposefully a bit open), but if the machine chooses randomly, maybe the person isn't a bad guy at all, he's just lucky.
We also liked the idea of exploring the question of whom the duty of sacrifice falls on in times of crisis. We see men in the survivors group and most- if not all- people ask the question "what bad thing did they do to survive?" The implication in the question is that the only way a man should escape death in this situation is if he's evil... But if no men survive, how does the human race continue? There's no denying there are benefits to being a man in society... Is the reverse true in the Circle? These are just a couple of the things we were thinking about in developing the film.
Glad you enjoyed the Vault, thanks for checking it out!
-Mario
I am very sorry if this has been asked already as I was only able to read the first half of this thread, but assuming a very high percentage of circles ended with a pregnant lady or child being saved wouldn't reproduction for the continuation of the human species be very difficult at least for a very long time?
Eric seems to be in a very ideal situation if you know what I mean
It would be. If no men survived, reproduction would be difficult.
Men may much more of a minority now, but the question is if anyone will go near Eric if they realize what he did to survive...
-Mario
Really enjoyed the film. I don't know how many different endings you could have done, but I really hope that if there's ever a DVD release, that you did some and they are included. So many possibilities!
I didn't get the twist ending right (at least not until the split second when you realize he was trying to get the kid to jump first), but other alternate endings I thought would have left you hanging:
1) The kid or pregnant girl has some weird back story where they are actually some really terrible person. Once it's just the kid and pregnant girl, one of them obviously steps off the ledge for the other and you see the survivor with some smirk of sorts and you see the flashbacks of their history.
2) The players had the rules of the game mostly correct except for obviously the last two standing. Perhaps in the round with only two people, if no one votes they both survive (i suppose it could be if they both voted to kill the other would work too). Anyway, you find out in the final round that Eric is the father of the mother's child. You could dub it the "happy ending." They both don't vote for one another and the game lets them both walk out alive.
3) The Bearded guy successfully changes the status quo when there are more poeple left so that he ends up being hte last one standing with either the girl or the mother, and in a change of heart, he decides to step off his spot in the end and sacrifice himself.
==============
I share a lot of the same sentiment with the other viewers as well. I really liked a lot of the juxtaposition raised in the movie. Seeing generally good people being put in the most unusual of circumstances which bring out their worst for survival, the most basic of instincts.
Also, it wasn't necessary, and perhaps one of the biggest factors spurring debate, but it would have been cool to get more insight on the aliens and why they were doing it. I find myself really wanting to know more about it, and the fact it's an unanswered question probably means it was a solid scripting choice. As much as I'd want to see a sequel, I think it would probably answer too many questions and take away some of the mystery that made this movie so much fun.
I generally pride myself on my ability to find good low-key movies, and this movie was no exception. Great work ladies and gents!
Thank you!
We didn't film any alternate endings, though we did for a very long time consider ending it just in the Circle without showing the outside world. We decided against that ultimately for a few reasons (I detail some of them throughout this thread) but in terms of totally different alternate endings, there was never anything seriously considered. For us it was always about Eric tricking the girls because it was too *beep* up not to do.
For fun other ideas were tossed around, like if the Little Girl manipulated the whole game, or if she was really an alien plant. Or if Eric was, even. Whatever ending we discussed, they were almost all very dark and twisted... There was going to be no heroics if we had anything to say about it!
I agree with you about trying to find the balance between answering questions and ruining the mystery. In our minds there was just no natural way for the aliens to communicate what they were doing. Every sort of explanation would feel silly, and in real life, we may never really know why they did it. That's why we settled for a moment outside that gives clues about what's next but didn't feature an alien monologue-ing like a bond villain. Though it is definitely a point of debate, I think we made the right decision.
Thanks again for watching, really great to hear you enjoyed it!
-Mario
sorry if this has been asked already but how did the 5 way tie happen and who voted for you to it to happen and how did 4 people die? I just finished watching the movie. I loved it and thought it was like a evil twist of the TV show Survivor which is one of my favorite show. hope there is a sequel and would love to be in it:)
shareIt was answered on what is currently Page 2 of the thread. Here's the breakdown for you...
Original vote:
-Eric votes for Lesbian
-Cancer votes for Pretty girl
-Soldier votes for Bearded Guy
-Lesbian votes for Cancer Survivor (per bearded's instructions)
-Bearded votes for Soldier
-Pretty Girl didn't lock her vote in in time
Tiebreaker Vote
-Eric votes for Lesbian
-The Deacon votes for the first and only time. For Lesbian. This moment of weakness is a huge moment of regret for him, and he steps off his spot a few moments later because of it.
-Pregnant girl votes for Pretty Girl
-Cancer votes for Pretty Girl.
-Soldier votes for Bearded guy.
-Pretty girl votes for Cancer Survivor (she gets the vote in this time, per bearded's instructions)
-Lesbian votes for Cancer Survivor
-Bearded Guy vote for Soldier
-Wife votes for Soldier.
If you'd like to read more (such as why there are more votes in the second vote), look at Page 2 in thread view and scroll down until you find red text. That's the post where CirclePRIME broke down the votes.
Absolutely great film, many thanks for giving me an enjoyable evenings entertainment. I really enjoy these one room / one situation type films and I wish more were made (hint ๐).
The idea of killing someone every two minutes with the machine forcing the game along was good but the pace was a bit fast for me. I didn't feel it gave enough time to get to know the characters and worry about who would die next and that made the characters come across as a tiny bit 2D and stereotypial.
I'm not sure whether I liked the ending but I'm not sure how you could have done better. The way I see it you could have killed the last man standing, gone for a cube style end or the ending that there was. All of them have weaknesses. I think I'd have gone for just leaving him standing there.
While I really enjoyed the film I don't think I'd try a sequel, at least not with the same game. I think it would be interesting to explore what would happen if people were allowed to move around as well with limits on their movement. Perhaps stand them in a warehouse with a square tiled floor and they must move one square each time without standing on any used square. It would be like a very slow light bike game from Tron ๐
Anyway great movie, thanks.
Thank you!
Regarding a cube style ending, we definitely considered ending the film in the Circle and not showing the outside stuff. It's definitely something that we debated for many months during editing and ultimately we felt like it might be more interesting to go one moment further and show other survivors and raise questions that come with finding those people.
I think endings are typically quite hard in films because you have endings that may feel right for the film but also may clash with audience expectations, and as filmmakers we just kind of have to feel it out to find a happy medium. We also were certainly aware that Cube had ended this way and we did also think maybe we have to do something a little different.
Sequels for this type of movie are a tricky thing. I think there are a lot of other circles that played out quite differently that might be interesting to watch, but I think also we run the risk of feeling too similar to the original. We talked about allowing some motion in this iteration of the film but we wanted to make sure that the people were being killed by IDEAS and not SKILLS... Words are the weapons in our circle! Currently we don't have plans for one but we're open to exploring the world again if the opportunity presents itself.
Thanks!
-Mario