Circle | Life and death in the same cycle - Vida y muerte en un mismo ciclo || Review and opinion
Welcome 馃挅 Bienvenidos
It is a psychological thriller with many interesting elements. It was released in 2015, and I saw it in 2025. It has a unique atmosphere where all the actors are present in every scene, which lowers the production cost, and none of the actors are famous.
It begins with a group of people of different genders, races, creeds, languages, ages, and professions all standing in a concentric circle, one circle inside another, in a dark room. Once the light is turned on, they wake up and find themselves there without knowing how they got there. They are disoriented and begin to panic, wanting to know what happened and what is happening. As they begin to talk and move around, a mysterious lightning bolt strikes some of them, electrocuting them, and they realize they cannot move.
They all try to remember how they got there or who they are, as their memories have been erased, but one of them remembers something and says that before his abduction, he was kidnapped by aliens, an argument that was criticized by the most skeptical.
Throughout the film, there is anguish over discovering what happened and also over staying alive, as someone dies every two minutes. So they begin to analyze what they are observing: the floor lights up if they move in any direction, lights appear and disappear violently, and there is a deafening sound when death approaches in the form of lightning. The only thing they all see is themselves, and they realize that they are caught up in a system of elimination, so they begin to evaluate themselves and learn about their qualities, weaknesses, and strengths.
Are some more valuable than others? Who deserves to live and who doesn't? The group had the power to choose and sentence someone to death with their vote, but it had to be a majority. I asked myself these questions as I watched how they made their choice. For a moment, I wanted to enter the film and give my opinion. It's very difficult to be impartial when your life is in danger.
! [Spanish Version]
Es una pel铆cula de estr茅s psicol贸gico con muchos elementos interesantes, fue estrenada en el a帽o 2015 y la vi este 2025, posee un 煤nico ambiente donde todos los actores est谩n presentes en cada escena lo que baja el costo de producci贸n adem谩s ning煤n actor es famoso.Comienza con un grupo de personas de diferente sexo, razas, credos, idiomas, edades y profesiones todos parados en forma conc茅ntrica, un c铆rculo dentro de otro en una habitaci贸n oscura. Una vez que encienden la luz despiertan y se ven all铆 sin saber c贸mo llegaron, est谩n desorientados y comienzan a sentir p谩nico por querer saber qu茅 sucedi贸 y qu茅 sucede. A medida que comienzan a hablar y moverse un rayo misterioso cae electrocutado a algunos y se dan cuenta de que no pueden moverse.
Todos intentan recordar c贸mo llegaron o quienes son, sus memorias fueron borradas, pero uno de ellos recuerda algo y dice que antes de su abducci贸n fue secuestrado por unos extraterrestres, argumento que fue criticado por los m谩s esc茅pticos.
En toda la pel铆cula hay angustia por descubrir qu茅 pas贸 y tambi茅n por mantenerse con vida, ya que cada dos minutos alguien muere. As铆 que comienzan analizar lo que est谩n observando el piso se enciende si se mueven a cualquier direcci贸n, hay luces que aparecen y se van de forma violenta y un sonido ensordecedor cuando se aproxima la muerte en forma de rayo, lo 煤nico que todos ven es a ellos mismo y se dan cuenta de que est谩n metidos en un sistema de eliminaci贸n por eso comienzan a evaluarse y a conocer sus cualidades, debilidades y fortalezas.
驴Acaso unos son m谩s valiosos que otros?, 驴qui茅n merece seguir con vida y quien no?. El grupo ten铆a el poder de elegir y sentenciar a muerte con su voto, pero deb铆an ser la mayor铆a. Estas preguntas me las hice mientras ve铆a su forma de elecci贸n, por un momento quise entrar en la pel铆cula y opinar. Es muy dif铆cil ser imparcial cuando tu vida est谩 en peligro.
Among the characters, there were some who apparently had a better chance of living: a pregnant woman, a girl, elderly people, and people with disabilities, if I remember correctly. Each one began to give their arguments to avoid being chosen. They said that they had suffered a lot in the war and that because they had gone to fight for their nation, they should be condescending. One woman pointed out that she was a cancer survivor, and so each person expressed why they should continue living, well, those who could speak and be understood, since some spoke another language or could not speak.
The more they got to know each other and were attacked by the system, the more their human flaws became apparent. I am not referring to their physical appearance or disabilities, but to their moral and spiritual values. Their egos, interests, and bad feelings came to the surface. At first, their voting decisions leaned toward the elderly, then toward their color, revealing racism, then their nationality, reflecting xenophobia, immigrants, and even jobs were evaluated, comparing a firefighter to a politician, for example. Of course, there were some who agreed to deceive the group with lies about who they were or the relationship between them, because as time passed, some regained their memory in small flashes.
However, not everything is bad; there were also martyr characters who committed suicide for their neighbors or to save someone in the group. Honestly, I felt that several had the right to live, but I also had the role of jury and sentenced several to death. This movie put me on the edge of stress; I reached my limit, even though I have seen many movies of this genre. At no point could I guess the next scene or moment. It always surprised me, even minutes before the end. I wasn't satisfied with how the plot turned out, but that was to be expected if you apply the logic of life. I also wasn't satisfied with the sudden change of direction and twist in the story. If it hadn't had such a stunted ending, I would have given it a 9.5.
Circle is a movie that every thriller lover has to see. I liked it. It left me reflecting on the system in general, on my vision and ability to judge others. I evaluated my empathy and my ability to survive in moments of extreme stress, which is zero. 馃ぃ馃槀 I think they would have easily chosen me to die first, or before they did, I would have made the decision to end my life, not to be a martyr, but because I don't have control over my life and I don't want to leave it to others. It's a movie for an adult audience, and it's one of the few I would watch again in the future.
! [Spanish Version]
Entre los personajes hab铆a unos que aparentemente con m谩s posibilidad de vivir, estaba una mujer embarazada, una ni帽a, ancianos, y personas con discapacidad si mal no recuerdo, cada quien comenz贸 a dar sus argumentos para evitar ser elegido, dec铆an como que sufrieron mucho en la guerra y por ir a pelear por su naci贸n deb铆an ser condescendientes, una se帽ora se帽al贸 que era sobreviviente de c谩ncer, y as铆 cada quien expresaba porque deb铆a seguir viviendo, bueno los que pod铆an hablar y se entend铆an, ya que algunos hablaban otro idioma o no pod铆an hablar.Mientras m谩s se conoc铆an e iban siendo atacados por el sistema m谩s se ve铆an sus defectos humanos y no me refiero a su apariencia f铆sica o discapacidades sino a sus valores morales y espirituales, sal铆an a relucir sus egos, sus intereses y malos sentimientos. Al principio sus decisiones de votaci贸n se inclin贸 por los ancianos, luego por su color manifestado el racismo, despu茅s por su nacionalidad reflejando la xenofobia, los inmigrantes, incluso hasta los trabajos se evaluaron comparado a un bombero con un pol铆tico por ejemplo, por supuesto hubo algunos que se pusieron de acuerdo para enga帽ar al grupo con mentiras sobre quienes eran o la relaci贸n que hab铆a entre ellos, porque a medida que pasaba el tiempo algunos recuperaban la memoria con peque帽os flashes.
Sin embargo, no todo es malo tambi茅n hubo personajes m谩rtires que se suicidaron por el pr贸jimo o por salvar a alguien del grupo. Sinceramente, yo sent铆 que varias ten铆an el derecho de vivir, pero tambi茅n tuve la funci贸n de jurado y sentencia a la muerte a varios. Esta pel铆cula me puso al borde del estr茅s, yo llegu茅 al l铆mite y eso que he visto muchas pel铆culas de este g茅nero. En ning煤n momento pude adivinar la pr贸xima escena, o momento, me sorprendi贸 siempre incluso minutos antes de su final, no qued茅 satisfecha en c贸mo qued贸 la trama, pero era de esperarse si le aplic贸 la l贸gica de la vida, ni tampoco qued茅 satisfecha con el cambio brusco de direcci贸n y giro en la historia, de no haber tenido un final tan atrofiado le hubiese dado un 9.5.
Circle es una pel铆cula que todo amante del g茅nero thriller tiene que ver, a m铆 me gust贸, me dej贸 reflexionando sobre el sistema en general, sobre mi visi贸n y capacidad para juzgar a otros, evalu茅 mi empat铆a y mi capacidad para sobrevivir en momentos de estr茅s al l铆mite, que es cero, 馃ぃ馃槀 Yo creo que f谩cilmente me hubiesen elegido para morir primero o antes que lo hicieran ellos yo hubiese tomado la decisi贸n de acabar con mi vida, no por ser una m谩rtir, sino por no tener el control de mi vida y no dej谩rselo a los dem谩s. Es una pel铆cula para un p煤blico adulto, es de las pocas que repetir铆a en el futuro.
Cover image created by me with canva Source with resources from imdb