The Circle (2015)

Strong and Moving!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is the Swedish version of "The Craft." Six high school girls suddenly get the calling and discover they have powers. One can move things, another has invisibility, another can control minds, etc. They are reluctantly mentored as they have a task, to save the world from demons and make it through high school.I really liked the Kate Bush swagger music as Anna-Karin (Helena Engström) an unpopular picked on chubby girl suddenly has an entourage of followers. The film is long and builds slowly. The special effects are minimal and unimpressive, but effective for this type of film. Leona Axelsen plays the goth chick. while Irma von Platen is the smart geek. One person in the group (Hanna Asp) doesn't want to be a witch which causes some internal conflict.Guide: F-word. Implied sex. No nudity.

A Swedish young-adult urban-fantasy-drama based on the first book of the 'Engelsfors' trilogy. If you are a Hollywood films follower, then you would find it a very familiar theme. Except it was not a loud and grand narration produced with the money grabbing agenda. But yes, earning back for what they have spent on it is a very important for any film and sadly it failed on that. Because of too much of dramatisation for a teen film. I liked it because the drama was not a big deal to me. A very refreshing film and nothing like too childish, so even the grown ups can give it a try and have a good time.Engelfors is a small fictional town in the Sweden and the story revolves around six teenage girls who are the chosen ones by the secret witch society to save the world. All the girls are entirely different and does not like each others. So joining the hands to counter the evil force that's posing a threat for their kind becomes hopeless. Until they understand their full capability and discover who's behind all the strange events. That brings the ultimate battle which is what everyone of us is waiting for, that decides the fate of those girls and to end the first installment.It was a slow presentation, that's where the problem lies to find the audience for it. Because youngsters won't like the films that lacks its pace, though it was based on them. It was not a visual extravaganza as we have seen in the American counterpart films. Yet the story was very ordinary with the characters close to the actual world except their supernatural abilities. So saving the world means not anything close to 'The Avengers' films, everything here is on a small scale, but properly arranged.The fate of the sequel was based on the result of this film. It got a mixed response, in that, mine is positive. The film came out from all the obstacles while it was in production, so by seeing it all I don't think they're going to make another film in the series. Surely I want it because I enjoyed it which I consider a very rare type, especially in this theme, unlike where the world cinema is obsessed with graphics and fancy stunt sequences for a similar concept."You were born selected. The Magic has always been within you."It is a very long film which is definitely a drawback for a todays film. Had all the opportunities to go deep into every character to expose their qualities and they did that, yet feels like they should have done more for this kind of runtime. Because in many parts it was a limping development.From all the above it does not look like a film to watch on the big screen. Maybe a television series would have been a fine idea, but still I'm happy for this because I always choose films over the television series. Mainly for the sound mixing, which are usually have the multiple track digital surrounds where in television, they're just stereo. But for this film, they were just okay as I said earlier, it wasn't a grand film.I have seen many Swedish films, but not enough to recognise the actors from the local market. I think all the main cast in this was mostly the fresh faces and they have done greatly. An awesome production and wonderful music tracks.I don't know how it is compared to the source material, but the mysteries behind the deaths were well illustrated. The twist did not surprise me, but surely unpredictable. There are many unexplained theories lies open that is going to be clarified in its follow-ups. But now I have to wait for it which I'm confident that's not going to happen, not anytime soon.I can't go for the book, because I'm not a reader. So it seems my journey ends here for the 'Engelsfors' trilogy. Better I'll pray for the Japanese or the American version to come. In my opinion, this film was underrated, because people are addicted to the commercial elements which seriously lacks in it. Other than that it deserves respectable status among other films associated with the magic. I'll definitely suggest it, but I don't know how many of you will feel the way as I did. Anyway, I still say go for it.8/10

I was looking forward to watch a Swedish movie, which I don't do very often. The reason is that Swedish film is known to be.. it's hard to explain, but cringe-worthy is definitely one way to put it. Swedes are pretty awkward in real life, but on film we're even more awkward. A good example of this is to compare the original first Millennium film with the Fincher remake.I had heard that this movie was good, but it wasn't. FYI i have not read the books.The villain was disappointing in execution and anything but threatening. I didn't believe for a second that the world was in grave danger.The acting and dialog was cringe-inducing quite often, in typical Swedish fashion. The movie felt rushed and the lore of this universe was barely explained.I give it a bonus star for portraying teen life and goth fashion pretty accurately (movies from all countries usually fail at this).

I am always sceptical when it comes to the movie version of my favorite books. They leave so many things out and you always feel like the parts missing are so vital to the story, it's a shame they've been left on the cutting room floor. This time they really put the movie business to shame! The casting, the soundtrack, the acting, the special effects...it was all on point. The actors really fit the images I had made up in my head whilst reading the book and the music gave it all an eerie feeling along with some creepy scenic shots of the ghost town of Engelsfors. Go watch it and be ashamed of the fact that you ever doubted people in the film industry will never make a good interpretation of your favorite literature.