43
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThe Circle is very much a plea for the preservation and sanctification of privacy, but it’s nicely constructed in that no one character expresses the film’s distinct point of view.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeOne of the things The Circle gets right on multiple occasions is that, once one has bought into a technology like this, the problems it creates are invitations not to abandon it but to seek further technological solutions.
- 70VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanYou could call The Circle a dystopian thriller, yet it’s not the usual boilerplate sci-fi about grimly abstract oppressors lording it over everyone else. The movie is smarter and creepier than that.
- 70Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyScreen DailyDavid D'ArcyWe’re lucky that moralists like Ponsoldt and Eggers have a sense of humor.
- 50New York Daily NewsStephen WhittyNew York Daily NewsStephen WhittyDirector James Ponsoldt — who did the very good "The Spectacular Now" and "Smashed" — is great at visuals, peppering the screen with glowing tweets and comments. He overplays the comedy, though, and underplays the mystery — there's never a feeling that Mae is in real danger.
- 50The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerIt’s hard to make a film that’s critical of digital technology without sounding like a square. It’s this uphill battle that The Circle fights for a little while, then loses about halfway through.
- 50Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleDespite appealing features, including stars Emma Watson and Tom Hanks (who morphs his patented affability into casually sinister, Jobs-ian salesmanship), The Circle never builds up a head of steam as either dark drama, modern satire or dystopian thriller.
- 40TheWrapDan CallahanTheWrapDan CallahanThe Circle takes a valid concern about lack of privacy in the Internet age and turns it into a hyperbolic and finally laughable melodrama.
- 40The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeThe Circle is all foreplay, playfully prodding without providing a satisfying payoff.