As Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror and Nintendo’s Virtual Boy have taught us, technology can sometimes be deceiving. It’s a lesson Beauty and the Beast actress and all-around good egg Emma Watson appears to be learning the hard way in the trailer for the Dave Eggers adaptation The Circle. At least she gets to hang out in some sweet semi-futuristic rooms while doing so.
Watson plays college grad Mae Holland in this techno-thriller (if people under 50 still use the term) that swirls around how things aren’t always as they seem at the mysterious tech giant known as The Circle. All similarities to Google are coincidental, we’re certain, same with how Tom Hanks’ product guru bares no resemblance *THEATRICAL WINK* to Apple icon Steve Jobs. Clocking in at under two minutes, this preview for The Circle comfortably walks the tightrope of offering up intrigue and some likely possibilities without thinking of itself as too slick. There are certainly worse hooks for getting people to watch a movie than wondering why America’s sweetheart is ranting in front of video of riot cops.
The Circle, an adaptation written and directed by The Spectacular Now filmmaker James Ponsoldt, is currently lined up to arrive in theaters on April 28, 2017. In addition to the talents of Hanks and Watson, the motion picture also boasts John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt and Bill Paxton in the cast. Also, if this movie is a sleek new covert viral marketing strategy for a relaunched Lycos or Ask Jeeves, consider us impressed and dazzled.
