The Circle

The Circle is a 2017 American techno-thriller film directed by James Ponsoldt with a screenplay by Ponsoldt and Dave Eggers, based on Eggers' 2013 novel of the same name. The film stars Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, as well as John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Ellar Coltrane, Patton Oswalt, Glenne Headly, and Bill Paxton. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2017, and was theatrically released on April 28, 2017, by STXfilms and EuropaCorp. It received mixed-to-negative reviews, but grossed $40.7 million worldwide against a budget of $18 million, becoming director Ponsoldt's highest grossing feature. The film's release was posthumous for Paxton, who died in February 2017, and it was the final film of Headly's released before her death in June 2017. Plot Through her friend Annie (Karen Gillan), call center intern Mae Holland (Emma Watson) secures a customer support position at The Circle, a tech and social media company. Mae takes the job, hoping to support her parents, particularly her father who suffers from multiple sclerosis, while Mae's long time friend Mercer (Ellar Coltrane) is less supportive. At a company meeting, CEO Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) introduces SeeChange, which uses small cameras placed anywhere to provide real-time high-quality video. Mae rises quickly in The Circle, embracing social networking and meeting Ty Lafitte (John Boyega), who displays suspicion of other, more enthusiastic employees. At an outdoor company rally emphasizing the need for accountability in politics, The Circle's Chief Operating Officer, Tom Stenton (Patton Oswalt), introduces Congresswoman Olivia Santos (Judy Reyes), who has agreed to open her daily workings to the public through SeeChange. Ty subsequently shows Mae the area containing the cloud server where all information collected by SeeChange is to be stored. Mae is embarrassed when she realizes that Ty is the creator of TrueYou, the Circle's social network, and she had not recognized him. He tells her that TrueYou has grown out of his control, and its current utilization is not what he intended.