A Book A Week

"Secrets are lies."

In recent years, there has been tons of commentary about the effect of technology, social media, constant connection to the web,  and specifically the effects these things have had on society. In media, films like The Social Network and television series like Silicon Valley and Mr. Robot have successfully utilized these discussions to create entertaining stories with thoughtful subtexts. The Circle, a film based on Dave Egger's novel of the same name, attempts to add a new perspective to this discussion.

Fresh off of her smash performance in Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast, Emma Watson finds herself in a role that is grounded in reality. She plays Mae Holland, a twenty-something-year-old who has an art degree that she's not using. Instead, she works grueling phone bank temp jobs that barely pay her enough to get by on. At home, her parents are facing the crushing financial and emotional effects of fighting an incurable disease. Bill Paxton, in his final role on film, plays Mae's father and shines as one of the film's most sympathetic characters. Mae's luck changes when her friend Annie sets her up with an interview at the tech giant The Circle.

The Circle is the epitome of all tech companies. Imagine one company that combines the innovative technologies of an Apple or Tesla with the social media relevance of Facebook and Twitter, and you've scratched the surface of what The Circle is. Lead by a charismatic figurehead Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) and fueled by the business acumen of co-founder Tom Stenton (Patton Oswalt), The Circle has become the wealthiest and most influential company in the world. The company prides itself of making information readily available to all people at all times. They believe that the way to improve society is to make citizens more connected to each other and ever accountable for their actions.

When Mae begins her career with the company as a customer service representative, she is easily drawn into the fast-paced and ever connected community that they provide. More so, The Circle quickly adds her ailing father to their health plan, alleviating all of their financial burdens. As she rises in success and popularity in this new community, the promises of her future seem limitless. But cracks in this euphoria soon begin to surface. If one company holds the information that fuels the entire world, who holds that company accountable?

Just like Watson's character, I was immediately drawn into the slick and idyllic world that The Circle presents. The film does a great job of building The Circle into a believable entity. It truly feels like an amalgamation of all the top tech companies that we see today. The elegance of this world building, however, is betrayed by a narrative that can't seem to decide what it wants to be. In attempting to comment on privacy, life/work balance, accountability in business, etc, The Circle quickly devolves into a clunky story that defies logic. The way that Watson's character in particular reacts to specific events seems more to adhere to a predetermined narrative arc than to accurately reflect the emotions of the character. To be clear, I enjoyed the movie as a whole, but I wish that the story, especially the ending, lived up to the promising premise that is truly worth exploring.