The Circle film

'Do you think you behave better or worse when you are being watched?'

Set in a not-too-distant dystopian future, Mae Holland (Emma Watson) is thrilled to be offered a job at powerful tech company The Circle, a corporation specialising in surveillance and led by director Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks).



As Mae quickly moves up the ranks, what seems like an organisation with good intentions – the knowledge used from surveillance tapes purportedly being used to prevent crimes and to promote a sense of transparency within the worldwide community – turns out to be hiding far more corrupt aspirations. Mae finds herself entangled in the inner workings of the company, her decisions bearing the weight of the entire future history of humanity.

Though Watson-with-fake-American-accent and charming-Hanks-turned-nefarious may initially seem a strange combination, James Ponsoldt's adaptation of Eggers' 2013 novel has unsettling promise.