The Circle

Mae Holland secures a customer support internship at The Circle, hoping the role will help support her parents, especially her father who suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is excited to join a company that promises connectivity and opportunity, but she also senses the pressure to conform to its culture. This is the start of her immersion into The Circle's world.

CEO Eamon Bailey unveils SeeChange, a network of small cameras promising real-time, high-quality video everywhere. The pitch stresses accountability and open information, electrifying some employees while unsettling others. Mae watches the bold concept reshape her view of privacy and power.

Ty Lafitte takes Mae to the room housing the cloud server where SeeChange data is stored. He reveals that he created TrueYou, The Circle's social network, and hints that it has grown beyond his control. The moment foreshadows the ethical tensions at the heart of the Circle's mission.

Ty explains that TrueYou has expanded beyond his intention and is now operating under its own momentum. He expresses concern over how the network has changed people’s behavior and The Circle’s culture. The conversation marks a turning point in Mae's view of the company's ideals.

Mae photographs her mother’s chandelier and posts it on Circle, triggering negative attention toward Mercer, who is accused of killing the deer. He confronts Mae at work and tells her to leave him alone. The incident foreshadows the personal costs of sharing private life online.

Mae goes kayaking at night and is capsized by rough waters. The Coast Guard rescues her after SeeChange cameras recorded the incident. The event highlights how surveillance can record intimate moments that people choose to share.

At the next meeting, Mae is moved by her rescue and becomes the first Circler to go completely transparent, wearing a camera and exposing her life twenty-four hours a day. She embraces sharing publicly, even when it jeopardizes her privacy and relationships. The decision marks a turning point in her ascent within The Circle.

Mae's newfound openness damages her relationships with her parents and Annie, who distances herself from Mae as private details spill into the public eye. The personal cost of her openness becomes increasingly clear.

Annie decides to leave The Circle and return to Scotland, seeking relief from the pressure and scrutiny. The distance underscores the personal cost of Mae's transparency.

During a board meeting, Eamon announces near-universal support for voting through Circle accounts. Mae takes it a step further and suggests requiring every voting citizen to have a Circle account. The idea upsets Annie and intensifies ethical concerns among some stakeholders.

At the next company-wide meeting, Mae introduces a program to find anyone on the planet in under twenty minutes and demonstrates a test that identifies a felon within ten minutes. The audience erupts in applause, and Mae frames transparency as a force for good that can improve safety.

Mae is persuaded to locate Mercer after he flees into an isolated cabin. Circle users converge with cameras and a drone, forcing Mercer to flee; he swerves off a bridge and dies. The tragedy amplifies the moral weight of The Circle’s surveillance power.

Days after Mercer's death, Mae calls Annie, who has left The Circle and moved to Scotland. Mae finds that maintaining meaningful human connections helps her cope with the trauma and loss she's witnessed through the Circle.

Mae returns to The Circle despite her parents' pleas and asks Ty for a favor. Ty reveals that he has discovered something significant, hinting at deeper exposure of the Circle’s internal operations. The revelation promises to reshape the balance of power within the company.

At the next company-wide meeting, Mae explains how connection helped her recover and invites Tom to join onstage, then invites Eamon and Tom to go fully transparent. When power goes out, the audience lights up their devices and Mae remains unwavering in her stance on transparency. The scene closes with Mae returning to her kayak, seemingly untroubled by the drones.