Movie review: The Circle

I've been waiting to see this movie for years. Yes, for years! Well okay, maybe 1,5 year. But that's years! I've read the book a few years ago. And a friend of mine did as well. As soon as we found out there was going to be a movie, we said to each other: 'We'll go together to the cinema'. Well, luckily we didn't wait to see each other until we could see this movie. Because it took 1,5  year. 

The book was written by Dave Eggen. I really, really loved the book. I couldn't stop reading it! It was well-written, unpredictable and it was easy to relate to the characters. So my expectations for the movie were high, really high. Especially when I saw the cast included no one less than Tom Hanks. And Emma Watson.

In The Circle, we meet Mae (Emma Watson). Mae lives with her parents and has a badly paid and boring job. Her father is ill and they're struggling to pay the bills. One day, Mae gets a phone call from her friend Annie (Karen Gillan). She arranged a job interview for Mae at The Circle, a powerful tech company. Mae is thrilled! This job would be way better than her current one. She does the interview and she gets hired. Mae starts working at The Circle at a customer relations position. 

As soon as she starts her job, she learns about the philosophy of the founders Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) and Tom Stenton (Patton Oswald). Everyone is connected (via their TruYou account) and being social is very important. The company is huge. They've thought of everything. You practically live there. Well, skip the practically. You live there. You are The Circle. They have parties. And entertainment. Drinks. Music. Sports. Anything! And on top of it all: The Circle covers for all of her parent's medical expenses. 

Mae blends in and spends most of her time at The Circle. She progresses very quickly and soon is loved by everyone. The Circle wants to connect everything. They have their TruYou accounts. They want TruYou to connect all the dots. TruYou knows everything about you. And you can use it to connect to everything! It's your login for everything. Why not share everything? Sharing is caring! How much are you willing to share? 

I was excited to see the story of the book on screen! I love the story. It's unique and innovative. But at the same time it feels so real. How far will we go with sharing our data? Both the book and the movie raise important questions. It's interesting to see such a successful company develop. And they do try to solve some real problems. If I hadn't read the book, I would have thought this was a nice movie. But I did read the book and because of that, there we some parts I didn't like as much. The book has a great build-up and tension. And I missed a big part of the tension in the movie. It was a bit too predictable and went too fast at some points. For the people who have read the book and have seen the movie: When I saw Ty introducing himself to Mae, I was so disappointed! This part, their relationship, was SO much better in the book! At that point, I just thought: Well, I'm done here! 

The rest of the movie is nice and entertaining. I like the subject. Sharing data, being online and staying connected. I love the concept and the story! It was fun to see the story develop. The cast is great! Tom Hanks is convincing as ever. He makes a really believable Eamon Bailey. The biggest surprise for me was Kare Gillan, who played Annie. I thought she was great.  I didn't know her from other movies yet, but I was impressed by how she played Annie. 

All in all, I'd say: Give this movie a shot if you love the theme! If you have the book: Just know that some things are different in the book. But well, that's always the case, isn't it? If you've seen the movie: Read the book! It's worth it!