CIRCLE: The Gameshow Designed To Ruin Humanity

[@RyanHollinger]

*Have a request? Tell me in the comments!* Thank you for watching! You’ll be amazed at what you can do with GrammarlyGO. Sign up at grammarly.com/ryanhollinger06 and get 20% off Grammarly Premium.

[@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose]

As Above, So Below (2014) Mr. Jones (2013) Underworld series (2003-2017) Soulmate (2013) Spike (2008) Frankenstein (2015 - The modern one directed by Bernard Rose)

[@roonkolos]

The Platform, absolutely

[@TheInevitableHulk]

Requesting you put the name of the film or media you're discussing in the title or easier to find in the description. The first text instance of the name of this film is hiding at the bottom of the description as a timestamp.

[@skeiththe3rd]

I would love to see your thoughts on a found footage film that genuinely and personally freaked me out called Digging up the Marrow.

[@stratosphere94]

After the Dark/The Philosophers

[@sirlenemodesto2665]

I kinda love how the end of the movie sets up a bleak reality for the world since if you're not a child or a pregnant woman there is a big chance you might be a sociopath filled with paranoia trying to understand how other people "won" the game, while not wanting them to find out about you.

[@thalesanastacio760]

That's a great observation, if you think that the survivors will be either the most innocent or the most evil of humans. The perfect environment for sociopaths to control.

[@FiercelyGold]

An interesting question would be how many of those female survivors are actually pregnant. Only the dead know how they played the game, but it would be interesting to know how many women lied and claimed to be pregnant. Only the children and obviously pregnant women could be above suspicion.

[@pinkrose5286]

This made me wonder about games that had multiple children/ pregnant women, and those that had none at all. Assuming this is a world-wide thing, there’d have to be at least a few. In the movie, the game shapes around the child and the pregnant woman pretty quickly, I wonder how a game would play out without any

[@natedoggcata]

@@FiercelyGold The other pregnant woman we see at the end is VERY pregnant, like probably 8 months or so. I imagine they picked women who were obviously showing and so the others couldnt get away with lying about it.

[@freakysmart5265]

I was going to say the catch is if this was worldwide how do we know how many pregnant women? Like what if it was a circle of just men ? Just children? Just pregnant women you see ? 😂

[@magnificmango336]

I love how the movie never flat out tells the characters how the game works. They have to figure it out for themselves, and that creates some excellent early tension.

[@SomeRandomJackAss]

There was always the possibility that no one survives and there is no "winner," since the rules aren't explained clearly. That would have been another great twist: the final guy stands triumphant and a little shaken by what he felt he had to do, only to get zapped a minute later and his body dragged off, with the camera lingering on the empty space, before getting filled with another group. Or, same scenario, but when he gets zapped, he wakes up on Earth with all the other "contestants" alive and well, revealing the whole thing to be essentially a harmless experiment, but they all still have to live with the underhanded choices they made and what it revealed about them as a person.

[@calebmarmon1310]

@@SomeRandomJackAssI did wonder how they could be certain the other people had died. If they had done that twist, it would lessen the tension upon reflection/rewatch. Though I’m surprised no one tried to say that in the movie to lessen the fear of “losing.”

[@misterjoshua5720]

On Dropout, formerly College Humour, there are a few examples of the contestants "unionizing" and taking home a pretty decent cash prize together. I think the really sinister lessons that commercial game shows teach us is that the only way to win is by betraying fellow contestants or manipulating them. Television hates to give us stories of regular people working together, there's always gotta be a winner in a story and everyone else isn't.

[@blink2nap]

Game Changer is amazing because you should never forget that Sam is your enemy.

[@runningoutofnames3CS]

I mean that’s more interesting so it makes sense to show those more often

[@misterjoshua5720]

@@blink2nap Some say he's been here the whole time...

[@rolanslide8509]

Honestly that's the biggest reason why I prefer shows like Game Changer to any other reality/gameshow I've ever seen. It's always so much more pleasant to me to see people who are actual friends having a good time playing a game together, even when they are competing with each other.

[@daphnetrodon]

also of note is that in the Game Changer episode where the players won by unionizing, that was exactly how they were *supposed* to win. as soon as they did it (even if they never said the words “we’re unionizing”) Sam immediately congratulated them for having unionized and told them they’d won!

[@_The_Archive_]

Fun Fact: Circle was filmed in just over 10 days, shooting at the unusually fast rate of 11-13 pages a day.

[@thebrideofghostface]

I'd imagine its because of the nearly singular set and repetitiveness of the action, but that's very interesting to think about

[@FTZPLTC]

The continuity alone must've been a nightmare - just having that many people on a set.

[@tgime1]

That’s pretty incredible. There was no time to decompress for anyone, which might have “helped” actors carry a sense of urgency.

[@lrts1lrts181]

It shows.

[@fightvale57]

This IS a fun fact

[@TheatreJosh24601]

I love how this film would work so well as a stage play. I'd love to see or perform in a stage adaptation of it some day.

[@Tamsin_bear]

I’d never thought of that but how amazing would that be! It would be so intense on stage.

[@rpNerd]

DUDE YES I never thought of it but now I can't stop XD

[@User2jn]

its possible. mr beast recreated the squid games

[@bensmith9253]

LOVE THIS IDEA

[@samuraipizzaman]

Especially if you write it so that the audience is a character as well, but not revealed until later

[@CinobiteReacts]

I've watched Circle A LOT, it's a shockingly successful film considering it's literally a few people standing still in a black room. The budget must have been £10 for a tin of red paint. Very impressive

[@bensmith9253]

Bottle films are ace! Have you watched Buried?

[@JC_Cali]

It's definitely a movie that stays with you!

[@msjkramey]

​@@bensmith9253what's that about?

[@DeathnoteBB]

Was it? I’ve never heard anyone talk about it before now. I watched it ages ago and loved it

[@hed0nismbot]

My uncle won the Weakest link by being bland, lol. He's very smart but he wasn't trying to make other people notice him, so to speak. Eventually he ended up in the final round against another smart girl who he could have voted out but didn't. In his closing interview, he said - I know how to win this game, you should try to get to the finals with the person you like the most :) I mean that game wasn't riverting but at least I wholeheartedly enjoy rewatching it from time to time.

[@keiththorpe9571]

I've always been rather surprised by the fact that "Golden Balls" was never linked to a subsequent murder being committed. The winner "steals", and is later killed by the loser they "stole" from. With enormous sums of money at stake, and getting screwed by your opponent...Yeah, I could see a scenario playing out like that.

[@ededdneddy4ever34]

This is what is called the prisoners dilemma. Both contestants would benefit more from cooperating with one another but due to the inability of trusting each other. They are worse off because of it.

[@keiththorpe9571]

@@ededdneddy4ever34 Yep, exactly what I was thinking of, though I couldn't quite recall the parameters of the dilemma (and I didn't look it up 🤣) Game theory in action.

[@sadie9728]

There's a game called Virtue's Last Reward that feeds on this system. So good

[@Zanaki113]

@@sadie9728 Highly recommend people play the whole trilogy, too, one of my favorite series of games!

[@ededdneddy4ever34]

@@keiththorpe9571 oh I actually learned about the prisoners dilemma in poli sci hahaha but that’s cool game theorist covered it too

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

For me, I'd have the twist be that they all survived (except maybe the last player) with it being a social experiment and they are forced to live with their choices. Given the bodies are dragged off and the ambiguous nature it would be a good way to subvert expectations, they all assume it's fatal and fight or flight sets in. So while they're alive, bar some of the more selfless players, most are left broken.

[@KingKevmonger]

Interesting take! 🤔

[@johnberg1348]

Yup. Hits *much* harder than 'aliens'.

[@sadie9728]

These days it could even be a virtual world. When they get zapped they're merely waking up.

[@I.____.....__...__]

I prefer the _House of 9_ ending…

[@danh.5998]

Imagine the ending shot being one of the survivors on a crowded street or in a store, and they see someone they voted to kill, realizing it was fake. Then they look back, and cut to credits.

[@Kuffdam]

I was on Goldenballs. Jasper was cool as hell when meeting him, s true gent. The filming of the show was savage. I was voted off by 2 women who then turned on each other - the language and naming calling was crazy to watch and the end had to be re-shot twice just to remove the swearing and abuse. They were later escorted from the building by security to separate cars. I was glad not to win based on seeing the outcome.

[@brightestblue19971]

I seem to recall Doctor Who poking fun at The Weakest Link in an episode from the first season of the "reboot"

[@nurdertim2018]

There's also a Weakest Link Doctor Who special with the cast, which can be found on youtube. It has some really funny moments.

[@yourpsychicfriendfredbear]

Is it Bad Wolf? The one where there on the Game Station

[@danielhaycroft1597]

@@nurdertim2018 wasnt that supposed to be scripted but then noel clarke decided to go for the win.

[@3possumsinatrenchcoat]

@@nurdertim2018 K-9 got voted out so soon! a tragedy!

[@eileensnow6153]

Is that the one where Tennant and Smith make everyone forget whether they’re human or Zygon?

[@connor56347]

Never heard of this movie before but very glad to watch Ryan dissect it's themes and make at least one big "however" statement

[@I.____.....__...__]

"Hawyever" is his gimmick, he's legally obligated to do it in every video, and it's super easy, barely an inconvenience. 🤷

[@Watch-0w1]

Good movie. Feel like guess who did it movie

[@CallMeVlork]

Highever

[@genaroflores939]

Worth the watch

[@icannotfly]

*hoyever

[@SavannahGeorgi]

The most neutral thing they could've done was not make any choices at all, leaving it completely up to chance

[@Imgema]

Yeah, i figured that's what i would probably suggest. Ask the group for nobody to vote and if someone is caught voting we would all vote against that person next round. This way it would be too risky for someone who disagrees to vote, even if only a few agree with the plan. Though, i'm not sure how the plan would go when only a few people are left. But i would probably be dead by then so i wouldn't care.

[@lokstir4568]

They do try that. It causes a tie break round and if there still is a tie afterward then everyone tied dies.

[@alliestevens5264]

They did, but then the orb started to kill someone at random

[@Conspirachu]

@@Imgema I love the "I would probably just be dead by then anyways so who cares" statement. Right there with you.

[@Dani-ICU-RN]

I would let the child live

[@raylee444]

Me and my boyfriend watched this once Towards the end they’re asking questions, they ask this 13 year old how her grades were in school I think she said something like “All A’s except for one B” This dude blurts out “Oh. My. God. She got a B. Let’s kill her.” It was the funniest shit ever

[@DownTrodded]

Sometimes it’s A tier other times movies says fuck it these are people people do silly things time for some B movie shenanigans

[@morbidsearch]

The girl didn't speak until the end. She just nodded when asked if she had good grades, and shook her head when asked if she got straight As

[@themug406]

​@@DownTroddedIn the movie its said to mock the idea

[@madscientist916]

I watched this as a random movie on Netflix years ago. I’ve introduced it to a few people and it was well received by all of them. This is quite the hidden gem.

[@mandalorianhunter1]

When you find out Japanese game shows actually ruin people's lives, this movie gets more and more scarier as you think about it

[@Paulog2003]

Jesus

[@mandalorianhunter1]

@@Paulog2003 look up Lazy Masquerade, he made a video on people's who lives were ruined

[@trinifernandez8870]

do you know where I could find more info about this??

[@mimikyutie4774]

Yeah, Japanese game shows are actually insane. You go from trying to find out what items in a room are made out of chocolate to putting a man in total isolation for well over a year with his only way of getting items he needs to survive is by entering contests, and the showrunners telling him he's finally finished before showing him off in front of an audience moment that's straight out of Black Mirror.

[@ViolaVines]

@@trinifernandez8870 if you Google Nasubi game show you’ll find articles about a pretty extreme game show others mentioned. It’s horrifying. There’s also a podcast by npr/this American life on it I think. A summary on arguably the most infamous season : “After being selected to participate in an unknown reality show, aspiring comedian Nasubi was faced with the challenge to stay alone and unclothed in a tiny apartment, secluded from the outside world with only piles and piles of magazines, until he won a combined ¥1 million (about US $10,000) in total from regularly applying to various magazine sweepstakes. He could only survive on what he won from these mail-in sweepstakes. Initially painting the show as a unique experiment that may or may not air on television, producers convinced Nasubi to believe that he was self-recording his day-to-day experiences for further review, when in reality his most confided moments were broadcast for the world to see and make fun of.” It’s a gut punch when they surprise him with an audience laughing at him. It’s a pretty rough few dive to be honest but fascinating.

[@ash12181987]

Did Golden Balls end, with someone tearing a stealer's throat out on national TV? Because if someone took 85k from me, I'd... stop talking or I'll incriminate myself.

[@Rynewulf]

no, but when the studio found out about that one time where the stealer split the money with the other person outside the show after filming, they threw a hissy fit and sued (and won) and massively upped restrictions on the game. Once again the house always wins, and was always the antagonist

[@frostrider3704]

I'm glad they showed pregnant women who survived the Circle at the end, showing that if the mother survived, then the child did too. Beause that ending, where he had to kill the unborn child left me haunted and almost relived that the mother didn't survive to have to make that final decision. Then he goes outside and realises at the same time as the audience that no, he was as bad as you thought. I do often wonder how many got through the inevitable survivors guilt, though.

[@PytD]

Not necessarily, assuming the aliens don't remove the corpse, the mom would effectively be in a state of miscarriage. And thus still appear pregnant.

[@frostrider3704]

@@PytD But the mother would have had to kill the baby in their own womb and given the trauma of that experience and the extreme pain of sudden miscarriage, they wouldn't be standing upright looking at the ship at the end with all the other people. They would either be completely out of it, or going into labour for the miscarriage.

[@kingti85]

Weird take but ok

[@frostrider3704]

@@kingti85 I admit, I may be looking too much into it.

[@tripledsupset7301]

@@frostrider3704 No, they didn't the only reason eric had to kill the baby was because it just happened to land on one of the circles. While eric isn't a good person, I think he's more nuanced. he was shocked, and was hesitating when he pulled his hand up at the baby. the other pregnant woman wouldn't have killed their babies because it wasn't detected on the other circles.

[@VideoGameAutopsy]

I wish that the film had emphasized the other survivors just a little bit more. When the final guy meets up with other game survivors, most of them are either kids or pregnant woman. The fact that he survived only serves to prove how selfish humans can be.

[@FiercelyGold]

One would assume the groups that played with those pregnant and child survivors were quite selfless, and with a large portion of the survivors being pregnant or children it would show humanity being full of moral people. But it also showed other men among the survivors, whom we may assume played the game as our survivor did, in a ruthless and manipulative way

[@natedoggcata]

The group of survivors at the end consists of 6 men, 6 women (only 1 of them is pregnant that we can see) and 4 children (two boys, two girls). And its a pretty diverse group as well. I think its safe to say that the men survived probably the same way the Eric did. Also it means that almost all of them thought that killing the elderly and ones with cancer were a necessity

[@I.____.....__...__]

The survivors were just going to end up in round two. Then round three, and so on until there's only one person left, and then they'll just be disposed of once the show has run out of players or the aliens get bored. Duh. Why do horror-movie people actually believe they'll be released? Why would they ever let witnesses go? 🙄

[@Zanaki113]

I don't blame him tho, selfish is how most humans survive.

[@VideoGameAutopsy]

The guy who survived was also one of the producers. That might also explain his survival…

[@dravenlee5524]

When this movie first came out, I posted about it on my instagram back in like, 2016 or something and the main guy commented on my post, so this movie will always have a special place in my heart 😅🖤

[@pinkraven7043]

Dude- I’ve been trying to remember the name of this movie for *years.* It’s kind of stuck with me because I enjoy these kind of death games, especially if the method of survival is just “talking.”

[@I.____.....__...__]

Just don't mix up _Circle_ (2015) with _The Circle_ (2017), that's a very different movie.

[@Krusti159]

And with such an obvious name as well :P

[@TicTacPilgrim]

I liked imagining a alternate ending where everyone that died actually didn't. They show up with the last survivor outside the ship and look at each other very awkwardly. Otherwise I can't imagine that person offing themself not long after. Another thing I can't recall is, does everyone have to say they won't sacrifice anyone? Cause that's reminds me of the new Vegas vault mission where people are sacrificed to get the utilities and air going. But the threat stops immediately when the last handful of survivors agree to stop the insanity and choose to go out together. Wherein the recorded loud speaker congratulates them for valuing life and what they did was the real answer all along. Two of them I think then kill themselves. Anyways, just wondering if the aliens in circle had the same answer where no one needs to die.

[@FTZPLTC]

Saw V of all things did something similar to this. But yes, I'm definitely here for a death game where everyone you 'killed' gets to choose what to do with you at the end.

[@GregsWildlife]

If I remember correctly, if they refused to chose, one was killed at random.

[@Zanaki113]

I think a good bit of people would not make it through the survivors guilt, but considering EVERYONE had to go through it there's gonna be more understanding and likely groups for it.

[@swagathachristie5242]

it feels like whoever was running this (aliens?) would actually want to keep the last person as they were deemed the most "valuable" to society. Maybe everyone just yoinked back to the real world and the survivor was taken.

[@thelion117]

It randomly picks one person if they didn't vote.

[@SixArmedSweater]

I’d have stepped out of the circle out of sheer petulant spite. I’m not giving whoever’s running it the satisfaction of squirming, I’m saying “they’re gonna kill the last one anyway, you idiots” and flipping everyone off as I die.

[@SirFooplesTheThird]

The whole judgement angle really reminds me of this game show called Who Is The Mole. It's a show about a group of people doing tasks in a foreign country for money while one of the contestants tries to screw ever the rest and reduce the money earned by failing the tests. Where it becomes interesting is when later on in the seasons it became less about the money and more about finding whole the Mole is. There were some contestants who had to leave early because they couldn't sleep because they were so paranoid they were sharing a room with the Mole or they were the Mole and couldn't handle the pressure of lying to everyone around them for months. I highly recommend watching it on KZbin. There's videos of almost all seasons with English subtitles

[@RusPitman]

They made this in Australia, it was just called The Mole. It was pretty awesome at the time 😊

[@Dryadkal]

In Netherlands it's quite the national activity lol. The reveal and post talking is always broadcasted with a huge live audience.

[@RockySamson]

AMOGUS!!

[@JackieTheCatfox]

Fun fact: The directors of this movie also directed a web series called THE VAULT. It is *really* good!

[@xRoxas666x]

oh god. really? the vault was just as much trash as this. and its basically the same concept

[@JackieTheCatfox]

@@xRoxas666x It was an indie show made on a shoestring budget, and though flawed, it still showed creativity and resourcefulness. If you didn't enjoy it, fine, that's your opinion. I did, and I still recommend it. In fact, if you didn't enjoy The Circle in some capacity, I don't know why you clicked on this video.

[@rpNerd]

Holy shit, this dude made The Vault? That actually makes a lot of sense and I can definitely see some of the similar themes here. If you want a good video breaking down that show, Hugbees has a very good video on it and it explains a lot of the deeper themes that also carry over well to Circle. I am hyped to find out they were the same tbh. The Vault had its issues for sure, but the story and experience overall is certainly worth it.

[@JackieTheCatfox]

@@rpNerd Yup! Mario Miscione and Aaron Haan were the creators, writers and directors of The Vault, and the directors/writers of Circle. Haan has seemingly retired after Circle, but Miscione is still working in the industry, mostly as a writer. The Huggbees video (which I just watched) actually inspired Aaron Haan to pursue more creative endeavors.

[@Dracinard]

It is! Binged it in an evening after this comment, actually, because I've got a big soft spot for Circle. So thank you! I don't love the ending, I think they could have tied things up a little more, but otherwise it was a ton of fun. I'm a sucker for "death games", especially the further they go from pure battle royale into more strategy, puzzles and game theory, and both Circle and the Vault scratched that itch beautifully.

[@skylx0812]

It was a writers strike that brought on the cheaper to produce reality tv shows and the revival of game shows and variety shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionare and Dancing With the Stars here in the states. Though it was entertainment on the cheap, viewers ate it up and it created a rut that lasted for decades.

[@drayckarthebetrayer2972]

I remember running across this movie years ago and the ending has that extra hit because all the survivors know what you had to go through to survive. There’s no hiding what you’ve done just because there was no survivors in your game.

[@Adonk]

I think this film would've been better as a 30-45 minute short like a black mirror type thing

[@coolboyyo654]

Yeah it felt like it wasn't a big enough concept to last 90 minutes.

[@lunavioleta001]

I disagree. I think it would be better as a series and of course, different settings. Just think like the show Squid Game, but with not as many characters so you can get to know everyone.

[@frde2190]

This concept would have made such an amazing black mirror episode

[@someanimal3506]

I think the concept was perfect. It was just long enough to go through everything it needed to, and just short enough not to get repetitive. One of the most tense films I’ve ever seen.

[@kiradattei]

I love this movie so much because it hits so many psychological and sociological beats that don't usually get good portrayal.

[@victorialeigh9127]

That feeling when one of your favorite youtubers makes a video essay about a movie you were pretty sure only you watched 😊

[@arobbo28]

my hc is that it's not killing them, just stunning them. and everyone is released at the end (though still stunned, except for the winners), and they all have to live with the knowledge of the choices they made in their circle.

[@danielgadomski5129]

"could you really judge someone for stealing the prize for themselves" Yes. Half the money is still a lot of money so it comes down to greed, plus you risk losing it all if the other contestant also steals. And even if you successfully steal, you paint yourself as a greedy backstabbing asshole in the eyes of all of the people watching the show. It doesn't matter that you won't see the other contestant ever again. Your partner, parents, kids, coworkers etc saw you doing a pretty shitty thing.

[@flickflack]

I mean, it's like someone just made a game show out of the Prisoner's Dillema

[@MrGonq]

That's my thought process, even if the prize was £500 I'd still think having £250 would be great. Let alone it being something in the thousands.

[@MissMillsonxx]

I would straight up tell them I'm stealing but I will give them some of the money and follow through (we can agree on how much beforehand). They might not believe me but I'm ok with that risk. I'm either leaving with money or neither of us are, I'm not opening up the possibility that someone could steal from me.

[@ailish2284]

Exactly. If half of a life-changing amount of money is not a life-changing amount of money you’re probably doing pretty well

[@jborrego2406]

The. Why go on a show that’s for money lol

[@lunar_moth]

I like how you brought up at the beginning how, even if we tell ourselves we would have reacted differently, we genuinely can’t know. I’d like to think I’d do the “right” thing in this situation. But I genuinely just don’t know. The need to survive is a powerful thing. I can’t even call Eric selfish because it’s not a selfish thing to want to live.

[@jackwells8107]

Now I have an idea for a slasher/mystery movie where the killer is tracking down people who stole the jackpot on Golden Balls.

[@spiderside3892]

4 minutes into the video the concept for this movie was so captivating that I had to watch it before it was spoiled for me. genuinely phenomenal holy shit

[@NEWBkiller646]

I never knew I was missing an in depth analysis of the psychology of Golden Balls until now

[@Kayjee17]

This movie reminded me of Exam and of course Cube - they all go into what I call "small cast puzzle horror", where no one knows what's going on but they have to survive or reach a goal. I like these kinds of movies.

[@klaudiso]

Any other recommendations?

[@jjenk911]

If I were put in this situation, I would sacrifice myself because I know I wasn't going to win. I know I won't have a chance and staying quiet will haunt me eventually.

[@MortalOrder]

Honestly I’d be the type to stay quiet until someone suggested killing pregnant women and children to allow others a better chance. At that point, I’d chime in and say that whoever suggested it should be voted just for that

[@TheReck12]

Honestly, these movies are written from the perspective of the writer, always making people seem feral even if real life has shown otherwise in some scenarios. I wonder now many people would refuse to play and just die

[@CrowQQ]

Only way to win at prisoners dilemma is loudly claim that you will "steal" and then leave it to other "player" to decide.

[@MetalsirenIXI]

What do you mean steal?

[@xyz7572]

You mean the steal vs split game? In that case, if one person said they were going to steal no matter what, I think most other people would choose to steal too out of spite to make sure the selfish one got nothing.

[@Zanaki113]

@@xyz7572 Agreed, the best case scenario is to tell them you're gonna steal no matter what but if you get the money you'll split it with them after the show and they'll have to either trust you'll give them half or nobody gets anything.

[@rateater1857]

@@Zanaki113 A guy actually did that one the show. Claimed he will steal, but will share the money after the show, if the other guy splits. They both ended up choosing the split ball.

[@Zanaki113]

@@rateater1857 yeah more or less where my own thought process came from was watching people analyze that video, dude was SMART for coming up with the strat on his own.

[@MSTiekims9952]

The morality part of this seems like what was being explored in The Belko Experiment. I throughly enjoyed that movie - Tony Goldwyn and his henchmen were great villains.

[@JohnDoe-hj9fh]

I really liked this movie. The fact that Eric clearly feels guilt makes his choice that much better. The only way for anyone other than a pregnant woman or child to survive is to use some sort of deception. The only part I wasn't the biggest fan of is using the unborn fetus as an emotional gut punch when logically Eric voting for the unborn baby was the better choice. It felt like it was only there to make Eric feel more evil

[@Fimbleshanks]

Your comment made me think... Even if the unborn baby had been the last one, would it even survive? Even with the mother dead, would the aliens actually save the baby from the womb?

[@winterdragon275]

I gotta agree with you there. It's not like the fetus would have lived anyway, given there no doctos to remove it from the mother, and probably no hospitals with the staff to run the equipment equipment to keep a preme alive... plus, do we assume all those pregnant women at the end killed their babies? I mean, they would have no choice, and it adds an extra layer of horror and desperate need for doctors, but taken a face value that they didn't have to vote for their babies... why the fuck did Eric need to vote against that one lady's? It's a bit of a logocal hiccup in the movie

[@tripledsupset7301]

Not sure how i feel about the baby thing. I don't like that people assume that because of that, therefore the pregnant woman in other circles had to kill there baby, even though as the pregnant lady's body clearly fell onto a previous circle, meaning the circles detect a heartbeat. But I agree with you on showing eric felt guilt. I think that makes him a much more complex character, and isn't just someone that was completely evil. it makes him very interesting, especially since he's basically a pragmatist hiding withing the kid protecting group

[@TvTrollByIvy]

YES!!!! Circle!!! I waited for so long, but it's finally here!! I feel like "Circle" is a very human movie, in the sense that it explores how vile we can be when survival is in question. People turning on each other, seeing themselves as superior over arbitrary things and displaying their predjudices in such a open and raw way is almost shocking (at least it was back when the movie came out)... The movie seems to be making the argument that no one is perfect and yet, we are still very eager to point out and use other people's flaws for our benefit. I think this movie has to be a feast for psychology students.

[@robertpchaoticking5703]

I’ve obviously never been in a situation like this but I feel like I’d definitely just off myself. Too much anxiety standing there hoping people don’t pick me. And why would I think I should be the last one standing anyway?

[@DownTrodded]

Tell other self sacrificers/morally pure people to join you in keeping the best of the best safe aka kids pregnant women people that are mentally gone people that have experienced and survived death and last but not least very capable/strong leader types only leaving people with the best of the best before you die is pretty good I mean it’s fucked but what else can you going ta do?

[@DownTrodded]

God speed on your way to heaven

[@Crocogator]

Said it before and I'll say it again. I don't like horror movies, but your channel lets me experience them. That note about the other survivors makes that such a perfect ending. Dude's schism probably shattered.

[@BestCatFriend]

Circle to me will always be a paradox. It makes me laugh with how goofy it is, the effects, plot and sometimes acting is just.. funny to me. But I also really admire what was done with so little. It makes me think of a master chef preparing a delicious meal out of left overs in the fridge. They did such amazing work with what they had.

[@arturocastroverde3349]

Agree. The man with the rose sweater is hilarious

[@advancedstupidity5459]

I love how this film is just one big thought experiment fully played out on camera. They didn't try to make it into some bigger story or set up some kind of sequel. It knows what it is and sticks to it. It's not groundbreaking but it's fun to watch and think about what you would do in that situation.

[@jonathanmulondo9206]

Circle is probably the best existential horror battle royale game movie since Cube

[@jensjrgensen930]

Steal or split final of golden balls is an adaptation of the "prisionors dilemma" a philosophical thought experiment. Two criminals are given a choice between staying silent or ratting out the other. If both stay silent they each get 5 years in prison, if one talks he is let go but the other is sentenced to 20 years, if both talk both get 20 years. In the end staying silent is objectively, the best choice as it results in the least prison time. There are a lot of permutations of this hypothetical you can make like allowing intereactions before and after the choice, leangth of prison time, numbers of people and so on.

[@drworm-s6z]

This reminds me of a quote, I believe from "Night" by Elie Wiesel: "The best of us did not survive." He was referring specifically to the fact that people would cheat, throw others under the bus, whatever to survive.

[@rynepell3280]

Yet another banger! Another great review from Ryan, I'd loved it and I loved how you interjected British game shows in as well. This is truly a good movie with a thought provoking premise. I'm so glad you were able to cover it and your reviews have only gotten better with time. Please keep doing what you're doing and don't stop the great content. I'll be waiting for the next one

[@ThePhloop]

So glad you spotlighted this little film. One of my favorites. Please consider "Pontypool" for the next video?

[@noahnadji]

Another fantastic video sir! I'd like to suggest the indie film The Human Race. Is lower budget but it had a lot of obvious passion go into, and a great premise. Group of strangers must run around a foot race track, if you get lapped, your head explodes, if you step off the track, your head explodes. There's a bonkers twist, and it feels heavily inspired by Tarantino or maybe more Planet Terror style Rodriguez. I watched this one right before I watched The Circle, and while I enjoyed both, The Human Race was my clear favorite. Strongly suggest.

[@joethesequel]

I caught this on Netflix in 2016 and didn't think anyone remembered this movie. Thanks for reviewing it! I loved the commentary about the morality of game shows. Loving these longer videos as well, would love to see you go in that direction

[@MissMillsonxx]

This movie is genuinely engaging. I honestly could not tell when certain characters would bite it. There were some I thought would make it to the end while there were others I thought I'd have to put up with for much longer. Definitely kept me on my toes. The ending was also crazy cause I fully bought his act right up until he started aggressively pushing the little girl to go and I had a split second of clarity but it was too late, just like the characters in the film.

[@captainnemo7690]

In general I agree with Ryan's point that debating how you would behave is kind of pointless, but I genuinely would volunteer to die almost immediately. I'm disabled, and I am NOT volunteering to stand for an hour and a half. Also if you get weird and eugenicist about this joke, you suck.

[@NoMoreCrumbs]

Atrocity Guide has a great video called "Nasubi: A Life of Prizes" which is all about the misery that some of these shows can cause to people

[@lurkingmoth]

One of my favorite episodes of doctor who is about a gameshow station running dozens of classic british gameshows but with death as a punishment for losing. It has a similar vibe to circle, though with less complex social commentary, as more of a satire of gameshows themselves.

[@ScaredPale]

So glad you covered this movie. Randomly watched it on Netflix and love the concept. I could see it turned into a stage play. Definitely some rough acting but it sucks you in to desperately want to know how it’s going to end

[@Cavernasu]

Watched this in college with some friends and remember really liking it, but I totally forgot about this movie.

[@Scoldy_]

Not only has someone finally discussed this underrated gem of a movie, but it’s one of my favorite channels! Thank you Ryan for this incredible analysis

[@bluewolf1795]

This was so well done, everyone in the film acted so well and I ended up caring for the majority of the people in the movie. Even when I knew that only one could live.

[@axelgarcia4003]

i've been waiting years for you to cover this film! I'm so happy this came up on my feed today.

[@ringofgaea2617]

films like these really get under my skin, these unwinnable nightmare scenarios that show the depths people can reach. on an only semi related note, i have a *really* strange suggestion, but its something that i feel is criminally underappreciated and obscure, theres this obscure little game that ive absolutely fallen IN LOVE WITH called Echo, it is full disclosure an Adult Furry Game but once you get past that initial barrier of oddness surrounding the premise and aesthetics it tells a gutwrenching and effective horror story about nostalgia and growing from trauma. if you're up to experience something odd and a little outside your comfort zone i'd seriously recommend it and id love to see some potential coverage as it is seriously underappreciated given its status as a piece of niche fandom art

[@rainmanslim4611]

Man, seeing this movie talked about brings back memories. I saw this WAAAAAY back in the day. Back when renting DVDs were the best ways to watch movies.

[@leonardoferreira2372]

Just dropped by to say that the dude that lasts to the end without uttering a word is the best character ever.

[@vincenthuet363]

I started acknowledging him just after the homophobic dude died and I tought "this sir is gonna be 4th place doing almost nothing" was glad to be right, but wished him to win

[@elitettelbach4247]

Circle is a really thought provoking film! The ending twists were wild to me the first time I watched it. The movie not confirming what exactly is going on adds to the mystique. I like the comparison to game shows. The Weakest Link is the obvious analogy, but that other game show also felt apt. There was a U.S. show called Friend or Foe that had a similar premise. Series of challenges narrowing down competitors until the final two had to face a prisoner’s dilemma.

[@ina304]

i know i watched this movie many years ago when i was going through the low-rated horror movies on netflix (back when netflix had a star rating system) but i have no memory of it beyond the visual of the circles so it's gonna be fun to watch this and see what you have to say about it!

[@craig1287]

I love this movie, I've watched it maybe 5 times now and I am always worried that I'll get bored of it when I do because of how simple it is, just people standing and talking in a room, but it always keeps me hooked the whole time. The way their minds just keep jumping around between team work, survival, figuring it out, just trying to get through alive, etc... So good.

[@caseymckenna7111]

So, okay.. this is gonna be a weird suggestion, but I think given the topic you’ll find it interesting. There was a reality game show called Solitary, put out by *ugh* the Fox Reality Network back when that was a thing. The lock contestants into these pods completely isolated from each other and have to “compete” with each other by doing things like laying on a bed of nails until they quit. Thing is, you never know when someone quits so they end up doing these things for longer than they have to. They don’t let them sleep a full 8-hours and only let them interact with an “AI” called Val and every single person on it eventually loses their entire mind. Might be tough to track down, but it’s fascinating.

[@DeSardet46]

Man, Black Mirror has some really cool episodes. Wait did you say Fox REALITY Network?!

[@caseymckenna7111]

@@DeSardet46 dude.. this was an experience. Trust me; it’s worth the dig.

[@andrewalbaugh5482]

I watched this on a whim one day and I just remember feeling dead and depressed by the end. I can't think of a better movie that made me feel true existential dread than this movie.

[@LindalaAKARose]

This literally is a more brutal version of an excercise I did in my pre first course psychology bacherlor's degree. We don't want to fall into our deepest biases but.... For survival? oh boy.

[@cab47attacks]

The entire premise of Golden Balls is just The Prisoner's Dilemma made into a game. It's absolutely a social experiment, just one that doesn't care about the data.

[@CheziahKatt]

Idk, the second game show reminds me of the prisoners dilemma. The only reason it seems advantageous is because you're worried the other person is going to cheat you. But the house is winning *Because* you're pitted against the other person If you explained it to someone as you're going to have a chance I getting the full amount if you steal, but it's also quite possible that the other person will-why wouldn't everybody just try to go in and share the money? Having a chance at doubling your money versus a guarantee just seems .. selfish? And like you don't fully understand gambling? Also this is me once again asking you for John dies at the end. It's amazing. The book is also amazing and there's an intriguing aspect of the differences between them

[@thingything00]

I absolutely adore how you tie the real-world equivalent with actual game shows in, it pushes just how terrifyingly realistic this movie is. These videos are always a delight ❤

[@FaxModem1]

This film is an interesting thought process on how humans act while in a crisis situation. Though they do make a couple of mistakes in the writing at times. The soldier, for instance, says that he has a newborn child that he's never seen and wants to see his kid. He also says that he's been gone from his wife for two years due to deployment. Eric is interesting because he had innate factors that allowed him to win. He was in the back row, wore dark clothing in a dark room, and was never chosen randomly by the ball in the center, all of which allow him to survive from sheer luck. The rest was social manipulation and letting everyone else target each other and letting others be the target. This film honestly feels like a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits epiaode made feature film.

[@Polygonyall]

what would i do? i would scream cry and throw up in that order

[@DerpinPON3]

I feel like Circle would have made a pretty good Twilight Zone episode, but being a full length feature is what kinda brings it down. I still thought it was decent for what it was being intrigued by the premise. Sometimes I can be a sucker for these battle royal/death game horror movies even if the quality can vary.

[@Monius13]

This movie had a good premise and I was pulled into watching it with fairly low expectations. I'm a sucker for psychology, though, and watching morals play out. The earlier sacrifice you mentioned was what hooked me. I was both sad and enraged, too. To see that it ultimately meant nothing to anybody got under my skin. This movie also shows why my faith in humanity falls lower day by day...

[@jvever4904]

Nice to see this movie getting covered! I really loved it when I first watched it, but it's not talked about much despite it being such an effective horror movie with such a low budget.

[@Scarygothgirl]

See, I think I would choose the option of not being the last one left, who has to find out what put you in that room and why. Survival doesn't seem like the best option here.

[@Xr3solveXofXoneX]

I really like this movie. I’ll rewatch it at least once a year. It’s simple but oh so entertaining.

[@angrykappa]

Tbh I would just simply step off my circle early on. I dont wanna stand around and wait to die or get picked off or anything.

[@biggerdoofus]

So, first I'd just like to point out that "the golden balls" is an obvious variation on The Prisoner's Dilemma in game theory. This is relevant because there's specific demographics that would favor "steal" that the show runners were probably aware of. The general population, especially actual prisoners, tend to go for cooperation because humans like trusting each other. This is a big part of why I don't really like the game in "circle" or the actual gameshow "the weakest link". They're convoluted in favor of a weird false reflection of reality. Even putting aside the issue in "circle" that not knowing the rules results in lots of mostly irrelevant death, morality in real life usually doesn't involve only a single winner. Just knowing that part makes most of the team work and social interaction in general irrelevant.

[@DownTrodded]

Case in point me and my homie sage before we went “straight” can’t fully kill criminal thinking sadly would talk about all the crimes we were going to get up to and while we were talking I remember saying perhaps not exactly “What happens if we deem it a necessity to kill one other I mean we are very similar but ideology I don’t think we are in fact I deem you as kinda morally grey towards bad I mean you seem to care more about money aka power then anything else while I seem to care far more about morals and consequences selfish and selfless can team up sure but i don’t know about the realism of them staying friendly with one another so what would you think would happen if ya know we deemed it necessary?” as usual sage would reply “I don’t know” sages “i don’t know” was his favorite quote perhaps he didn’t like me as much as I thought he did perhaps I was reading into things that weren’t there but I’ve know this man my whole life to me it always had a certain tone or implication attached to it this particular “I don’t know” sounded like worry so I said “How’s about this we just say that we’re done with the other and it ends here back up get ready to pull our weapons then when we feel it’s right we go at each other best man wins” he responded with his second favorite quote “sure” although it sounded like he said it jokingly I could tell he agreed I don’t remember how I just know that this questionable individual that till this day I can’t say I really know that was so morally and ideologically different agreed to agree to this code of conduct for my sake because god knows he most certainly didn’t care thanks for reading if you did and for those that scrolled down till the end or skim read till the end from the bottom of my heart go fuck yourselve

[@samwitherington8202]

To be fair, look at the Traitors (a newish game show). think among us with 22 players, 3 of them imposters. Every day a person is voted out, and every night the traitors pick someone to remove from the game. The game rewards the Traitors and the others for manipulation and treachery. In the UK version, the Traitors start to betray each other, even though they all get cash if they win. They all have paranoia which slowly undoes them. Throw in actual murder, it is a solid Circle esque show.

[@NYKensington]

Very clever film, and the final twists were pretty impressive!

[@4ScoreSlappy]

As an American who lived in the UK for a bit of time I have to admit that my favorite game show was by far the crystal maze

[@RottenIcecreme]

I'm not sure if anyone else thought about this but, let's say Eric was honest and jumped out of the circle with the little girl. Would the pregnant women have to vote on killing her unborn child? If so all the pregnant woman we see at the end... . . . Amazing video btw. :)

[@KingKevmonger]

Wow! Didn’t think about that…😳

[@pinkrose5286]

I was curious, a writer said that because of the way the pregnant woman fell, the unborn child ended up in the circle causing the aliens to sense its life. Ff she had fallen in a different way, it wouldn’t have happened. I think this is kinda contrived, but whatever

[@KingKevmonger]

@@pinkrose5286 Mm, I did notice the baby was perfectly on another circle in my previous watches but wasn’t sure how much that played into it. Thanks!

[@RottenIcecreme]

@@pinkrose5286 Oh okay so there was a justification for the baby "getting a vote". I suppose it would make this dark movie even more dark if all the pregnant victors had dead children in them.

[@reginaldgilmorejr.1201]

Would have been bleaker had the pregnant woman won and the light appears on her signifying that her child counts and she gets zapped regardless.

[@roonkolos]

Holy crap I forgot this movie!!! I randomly decided to watch it because it sounded interesting By the like final 3rd, I honestly was nervous, thinking how the hell this was gonna end. Those last few minutes... Absolute Zero cold Was definitely worth the watch and weirdly reminded me of The Platform. Thats also a pretty good watch

[@Zanaki113]

The ending got me so good, I was convinced man was gonna be a hero.

[@eleanorverrier1375]

Another top notch video!!! As a fellow Brit with game show fatigue, this was a very entertaining watch. Just wondering if you've seen any of the independent horror films of Scott Schirmer, would love to hear your take on some of his film's topics and the methods of low budget independent film maker's (exploitation or art?)

[@kaialexander6806]

When I first watched this, it reminded me of this exercise we had to do in English when I was 14. For the first hour of the lesson, we had to do a group exercise where we were each given character cards and had to convince each other that our characters should be the ones who survive in a situation like Circle... and I was terrible at it because I hold a belief (inherited from my mom) that all human lives are equally worthy, and I struggled to put that aside. And then it got even worse for the last half hour because we had to write an essay about why in a situation like Circle, we should survive. We were told we couldn't lie which meant my essay was not long enough to be an essay and ended up arguing the contradictory belief that I should survive because I don't think I should. You could tell I didn't believe what I was arguing. From the first time I watched it to any other rewatch of Circle, I'm immediately brought back to that lesson and the fact that even now, nearly a decade later, I still can't write that essay. Obviously, this is entirely hypothetical and you never know how you're going to react to something, but if I was in Circle, I hope I'd hold onto that belief and not last long.

[@DownTrodded]

You do what you know when you don’t know what to do if you know anything

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

Last night I saw a deep dive into The Vault a small webseries of another mind game gameshow each person has their own puzzle room and only certain people can talk to all rooms giving them leadership

[@elise.jones14]

That was an amazing summary! I needed a more in depth view of this film rather than just a straight forward summary. Idk why I never thought of this film like a game show, but in the end it was one to the aliens and viewers.

[@MrChainsawAardvark]

On one hand, I see the direct link between this and John Nash Game Theory - that split or steal show is almost word for word "The Prisioner's Dilemma" I also see the old twilight zone episode about press the button and it kills a person at random, later revealed to be the last person to be in that dilemma. My take (not sure that I know if it would work) is "none of us are as strong as all of us". Clearly there is a reason everyone is in the room, and if we refuse to play, vote for whoever is controlling the zapper, or attempt to hold hands to distribute the harm to a manageable level/all act at once would the creator of the game accept a "total party kill" as an outcome?

[@tay-lore]

Honestly, that guy who said he was going to steal then chose split had the right move. What a great play!

[@DissyK]

I have so bad balance that I would just fall out of the circle in the first 5 minutes.

[@extraplain2412]

This film is one of the best reflections on mankind ever made. It's so underrated and unknown. You could literally sit there for hours discussing every little nuance going on with the characters, and the ending gives you a lot to think about. It wouldn't be feasible for only women and children to survive such an event all over the world. You would need not just the physically strongest but the strongest willed and minds to help rebuild humanity afterwards.

[@emilykeays5434]

Excellent video! I always loved that this movie felt more like a high concept stage play. Some of the performances feel a little off, but I think that adds to the experience. Great analysis!

[@alessandrosebastiani4978]

Oh, you mean Capitalism, Ryan?