Opened: April 28, 2017

Directed by: James Ponsoldt

Starring: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Ellar Coltrane, Patton Oswalt, Bill Paxton, Glenne Headly, Nate Corddry, Mamoudou Athie, Poorna Jagannathan, Judy Reyes, Eve Gordon & Beck

Though the dream team of Emma Watson and Tom Hanks seems hard to resist, the flat script and forced acting of The Circle turns this dream into a nightmare.

When Mae (Watson) begins working at The Circle – a tech and social media company – Mae’s life completely changes. She connects with CEO Eamon Bailey (Hanks) who offers her the chance to kickstart a new campaign of transparency, which broadcasts her every moment to the world.

While there are warnings about the dangerous implications of advancing social media, none of them make a strong enough statement to really feel their wrongness.

The script also has issues with making characters believable. It’s like you can see the words they’re reading off the paper because almost no one – except Hanks – acts naturally in the film.

Final say: Uncomfortable and not thrilling. ★☆☆☆☆