Are you in the circle?

When Mae (Emma Watson) is hired to work for The Circle, the world’s largest and most powerful tech and social media company, she sees it as the opportunity of a lifetime.

As she rises through the ranks, she is encouraged by the company’s charismatic founder, Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks), to engage in a groundbreaking experiment that pushes the boundaries of privacy, ethics and, ultimately, her personal freedom.

Her participation in the experiment, and her every decision begin to affect the lives and future of her friends, family and that of humanity.

The Circle is an accelerated hybrid of all the major technology companies that we know today – Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Apple.

Its goal is to “close the circle”, creating a community that is transparent, with all experiences being shared.

As Mae gets pulled deeper into The Circle and the founders’ vision, she begins to agree that privacy is not only selfish but that keeping others from witnessing your experiences is criminal.

Its initial founder, Ty (who also goes by the name Kalden) is portrayed by John Boyega, who says of the technology: “It was kind of a Facebook–light. A place where friends could hang out online and have fun.”

But as the technology grows under the direction of Bailey and Tom Stenton (Patton Oswalt) it becomes more encompassing and Ty states “this is not what I had in mind”.

He begs Mae to help him stop the trajectory he sees The Circle on, lamenting “everything is recorded, seen, and they can use it however they want.”

Another long-term goal of the founders is to make a Circle account mandatory for every citizen. As Bailey says early in the film: “I believe in the perfectibility of human beings.”

The Circle’s leaders want to see users’ accounts tied to their social security numbers and provide people with the ability to pay taxes and vote through the app.

As she goes transparent, it is Mae, who is now a de facto executive, who wants to continue pushing the transparency agenda stating voting should be mandatory and your voting record should be public. – Citizen reporter

Cast:

Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Boyega James Ponsoldt 7-9PGL

Director: Classification: