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 saw Circle. Then one thing led to another and I binge-watched The Vault. Loved them both.
To the point though. After hearing the mention of aliens on the radio I instantly assumed that both stories take place in the same universe. Then I tried to find further connections and I noticed that there's only a single character with a name in Circle.
There's also an Eric in The Vault whose fate is left abiguous. Henry only saw the other vaults noose guy, but the acting and dialogue (and the yellow socks) kind of lead away from Eric and assured the assumption that he is dead. I'm positive I just forced a connection based on the names, but it's still interesting to note.
Anyway my questions are as follows:
1) Are the two stories (The Vault and Circle) in the same world?
2) Are you going to make a second season for The Vault? It doesn't actually need a second season but it felt from the first season that you still might have ideas you want to explore further.
Thanks!
Thank you for taking the time to check out both projects. The Vault was a labor of love for us for several years and it's really rewarding to hear when new people find it and reach out to us.
Regarding a connection between the two stories, this is actually something that I was thinking about recently. We never set out to explicitly tie the universes together, and what happens in Vault is a little more... catastrophic than the invasion in Circle, but I don't think we've done anything that says this CAN'T be the same universe, either.
So all of that is to say... Hmm. Anything's possible. :)
As for the Vault, there is not going to be a second season. For us, the story we always wanted to tell was the story of the players' journey through a strange reality game show gone awry, and with the finale we feel like we closed the book on that tale. The "lives" of these characters may be far from over, but the story of the Vault ends with the escape back to the real world. We ARE planning on doing a commentary on that show for the upcoming Blu-ray that will talk a lot about how that came to be, a lot of hidden secrets and a lot of discussion about the mythology of the world and what might happen next to these characters. But that, however, is all that's currently planned for that particular story.
Thanks again!
-Mario
Just watched your movie and loved it! I'm sorry if someone before me has already asked a similar question but I don't have time to read this whole thing. Do take it as a huge compliment though that your film inspired me to write what was I think my first IMDb review and look for a place to talk with people about it!
Your film caused me to get very upset (in a good way), the things the characters said were so offensive and brutally honest that it was hard to sit through passively. I actively swore and yelled at characters I disliked while watching (again take it as a compliment).
What was it like writing and directing a script with so much societal tension built into it? I loved the way you were able to present a variety of very real, believable and controversial opinions without polarizing or praising any of them directly.
I'm sure you have/will receive a lot of criticism for the ending. I just want to affirm your choices. It would have been easy to allow it to be compromised by a more concrete finale and I appreciate your daringness to not supply closure but rather allow the mystery to remain in our minds (it is probably a big contributing factor to why I felt motivated to search this thread out).
Good Job! I would love to see more from you!
Welcome and thank you!!
In putting together the story and characters for this film, Aaron and I had a lot we wanted to discuss. We each had topics and characters that were important for us to address so we created one big list and kept adding to it - religion, various inequalities, racism, gay marriage - until we had far more than could ever go in one film. Then we took all of these scenes and characters and ideas and sat down and just worked through them, one by, deciding what would go where, what was the most important things to talk about for each of us.
We knew in writing this that we would be pushing some buttons. You cannot talk about these issues without doing that. But that's what was interesting to us. That's what made the story feel relevant. The moments and characters we were developing were all inspired by real life experiences and events, so the interactions all had precedence, but it was certainly tricky to try to handle these things in a way that felt adult and sharp without going too far into shock value or actual offensiveness to someone watching.
We were very careful to be aware of what we were saying and how we were saying it. Some words and slurs we never even considered using. You can have characters participate in a conversation about racism without using the N-word, for example. Stuff like that felt distracting and gratuitous. We also were aware of our own politics and strove to represent even points of view that we disagreed with personally in a fair way. Even then, there are undeniable villains, but even those people have points of view that are reflected in the real world.
Because we had so little time to present these characters, we did ultimately end up with archetypes and stereotypes, something even commented on by the characters throughout the film-- "of course it's the guy in the sweater vest to start this class *beep* This was both on purpose and a byproduct of the format. Sometimes we affirm stereotypes, sometimes we subvert them.
The reality is: we all know people like the characters in the film. We wanted them to feel quickly understandable in some small way, even if their points of view were distasteful. Many characters like the racist cop or the blowhard anti-immigrant lawyer took on even more significance AFTER the film was shot due to certain people and movements that happened to explode in the news. These characters of course existed long before our film, but in recent months, many of these issues have come back with a vengeance.
This has honestly been really interesting to us as filmmakers, to see these issues we filmed a couple years ago be even more relevant today. Gratifying in a way to know that we were really focusing on big issues, but also sad that some of this stuff still happens.
I personally happen to be a very political person. I try to stay really on top of what's going on in our country and the world. Not only do I think it's important to stay informed from a "citizen" point of view, but it's also a really good way to learn about people. The different types of people, the reasons why they fight, what matters to them. As someone who wants to have a career telling stories about people and why they do things, I think taking a long, hard, frequent look at society and politics can only help me do that in a better, more realistic way.
As for the ending, thank you! The response has been very interesting and very varied. I go into the how and whys of the ending elsewhere in the thread but I will say that I think ultimately, we ended the film exactly how we should have.
If you're looking for something else of ours to check out, may I humbly suggest our webseries, the Vault (www.youtube.com/VaultShow... start from the prologues!). It's a whole different beast from Circle, but it is something we're both really proud of.
Thanks again,
Mario
Hello, Team Circle. I just watched your movie and read through the thread. All of my questions were answered here. Great job communicating with your audience!
Please consider telling stories about other circles and the people who survived them, perhaps including how they're facing life after circles (how about short movies? written stories? make-believe testimonies? maybe even audio logs?). I am certain that the lore you created is a gold mine.
All the very best
from your new brazillian fan,
Gabriel Antunes.
Thanks for checking out the film and taking the time to post here.
We certainly had a lot of characters that didn't make the cut for this movie and we do think the idea is full of possibilities. There are currently no plans for a sequel or anything like that, but it's so early, you never really know! I do agree with you that there is a lot to the mythology that could be fun to explore. We'll see!!
-Mario
This movie seems to deal with various philosophy theories. the prisoner's dilemma is one that I think sticks out the most. Altruism, social contract, divine command theroy, nihilism, and culturalism all seem to have their own character in the movie. was this an intentional "battle of the philosophers" rather than just man vs man in a survival game?
I really enjoyed the movie, good work
Absolutely. I've mentioned it a bit elsewhere in the thread, but you cannot create a film about people without making a film about their philosophies. Circle is a film built around the values and morals and beliefs of a group of strangers even more than it is a science fiction tale about survival. And in addition to each of the characters having various perspectives which they brought to the situation, we also wanted to explore the nature of belief itself.
How do beliefs and philosophies inform decision making in a crisis? How do our beliefs strengthen in the face of adversity? How do they fail? WHY do they fail?
These were all things we were thinking about when we we developing the characters and the story, for sure.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
-Mario
Loved the movie guys! Really reminded me of a really good episode of "The Outer Limits".
Question: Did the cop still have his gun on him when he woke up? Could he have fired on the machine? I figure it would have been unsuccessful, given that the aliens thought of pretty much any eventuality with regards to people trying to game the system - but it seems like someone would have tried to destroy the thing, maybe throw shoes at it or something...who knows.
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"I...declare...BANKRUPTCYYYYYYY!!!"
Hi and thank you!
No, we specifically included a shot of the cop reaching for his gun only to find his holster empty to imply that the players were stripped of anything the aliens deemed to be weapons and "unfair advantages." Clothes, watches, those sorts of things were allowed, but many items, like the gun, were stripped from the players before the game started to help even the playing field.
In developing the script, we discussed how far the players would go to "break" the system and we ultimately felt that we didn't want to stray too far into trying to escape because it would eat away from what we considered the "meat" of the story, which is the players arguing for their survival based on their value systems. I can say though, I think the machine would simply fire and kill anyone who attempted to tamper with it in any way. Throw a shoe? Get blasted. And it's almost definitely bulletproof!
The circle was designed to keep the players focused. As storytellers, we wanted them to try a few things like not voting, working together, etc., to try and escape and then eventually just resign themselves to the fact that the only way out was through.
Thanks again,
Mario
I love films like this that make me 'think' after I watch them. And this is one of those films. However, in my own twisted way, I can't help but wish that in the end, with the baby and Eric, that the baby DID have a vote as babies in utero do make fists. I think the powerfulness of thinking OMG the baby survived the vote but now what? would really affect viewers on a whole other level. Again, that's just my twisted mind at work. The writing and filming of this movie was extremely well done and thought out. And again, in my own twisted way, this is EXACTLY what the world needs to have actually happen. Great film and thanks for coming here to discuss it.
shareThank you! You know we jokingly discussed "what if the baby had a vote" amongst ourselves but it raised too many practical questions for it to ever really be an option. Still, the visual of a tiny fist sticking up through its mother's stomach along with the chime of a vote does make me laugh.
We're all a little twisted I guess!
-Mario
Hi Circle,
Fun movie. Enjoyed it. Just one question.
At the end,
How far into pregnancy would she have to be for the circle to detect life?
Hmmm, tricky question! The machine works by sensing life signs such as heartbeats. Google tells me that baby's hearts start beating around 6 weeks but ultrasounds can't really detect it until about 8. 8 weeks sounds about right.
That being said, it doesn't mean that a pregnant woman always gets two shots or that babies always survive the kill-blast that kills their mother. Our pregnant woman just happened to fall in such a way that her baby, which managed to survive, was on one of the sensor spots on the circle, thus keeping the game going.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
-Mario
I just finished watching your film and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Most of my questions were already brought up in previous post. But of course, like many others I still have a few unanswered;
1) The priest/minister who stepped off the circle in sacrifice would have ultimately condemned himself to hell based on his faith (suicide). I would have loved to have seen him use this as justifications as to why he couldn’t sacrifice himself then preceded to watch his ass get blasted by votes.
2) Could you imagine if the aliens did a second round of circles. It would be interesting to see how those circles would play out.
3) I was surprised to see only (what I assume) Christianity brought up in the religious debate of the film. Was there any other religious ideas thrown around in the writing of the script?
4) I would have been indifferent to a fade out ending and the one you decided on. I think the fade out would have pissed a lot of people off.
5) Was there any discussion about dropping a few one liners for comedy in the script? For example, one of the participants dropping a nasty fart and getting voted out based on that alone. I’m not a writer obviously but you get my drift.
Thank you! Let's see what I can do about these:
1) This point was actually addressed earlier in the film during the volunteer round, very briefly. We also went into more detail about this concept in a first cut of the film but ultimately had to trim it for time. The minister believes that volunteers aren't killing themselves, they're martyring themselves. They're dying in the place of someone else, offering themselves up as a sacrifice to spare another, however briefly. As such, it's not a condemnation worthy offense. That being said, he also was having a crisis of conscience after having participated in his first ever vote at the end, so it's entirely possible his stepping off was simply suicidal.
2) This was another brief moment in the story that we had to trim for time. The Lawyer wonders if they should spare the child if they don't know what's coming after the Circle. The conversation began: "Do you have any idea what’s waiting for the winner of this thing? What if this is just round one?"
3) You're correct that we only really address Christianity in the story (The Deacon is Presbyterian, specifically. Another thing we trimmed for time.) This was for a couple reasons: One, because I think I am far more familiar with Christianity over other religions and felt more comfortable playing in that world, but also I don't think we could have had multiple religions addressed while still getting to all the other topics we wanted to in the story. We did have a Muslim woman who is killed off early on and other characters could have certainly been Jewish, but ultimately we felt like the religion aspect could be satisfied by just having a broad conversation in the context of Christianity. Also, and I may get in trouble for saying this, but aside from the nitty gritty differences, a lot of religions are kind of the same when it comes to the broad strokes - Monotheistic, similar moral codes, etc. *Mario ducks*
4) I agree. I think we were best served showing the outside world, ultimately. Especially after seeing everyone's reactions!
5) HAHAHA. Well we do have some one liners that people always laugh at and a few really dark comedy moments (like Beth's death after her big speech). Some comedy lines definitely got cut for time, especially during the religion and gay marriage conversations, which is a bummer, but the frivolous stuff is the first to go, I think, when you've gotta trim down your film. Still, we're surprised at how much fun theater audiences seem to have when we screen for big groups, so I've never worried TOO much about the comedy. For us it was always about having moments to lighten up the film without taking away from the bigger picture of the situation.
We did at one point joke about having a dog on one of the circles. Easiest elimination ever... "Here boy! Here!!" BLAST.
Thanks for checking out the film, really glad you enjoyed it.
-Mario