Television series

The Circle

Name: The Circle
Released: 2018
Cast: Sophie Willan, Emma Willis, Alice Levine, Maya Jama

Other titles called The Circle: the 2000 film, the 2017 film, the 2020 series (Netflix).

Social drama

The Circle is a reality competition where strangers live separately in identical apartments and interact only through a social media platform. They rate each other, vote out the least popular, and try to win £50,000 by building likability. It's fundamentally about what people reveal and conceal when performance is everything, and whether niceness or strategy wins.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy watching people perform sincerity online, the slow-burn suspicion over who is really typing behind each profile, and reality television that treats its own rules as a puzzle.

Skip it if you find people staring at screens tedious, since most of the action is contestants scrolling and posting from their flats, with long stretches between the bigger moments.

What it asks of you: 66-minute episodes across sixty-two installments, a long commitment at a patient, chatty pace where you must track who says what.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Love Island2019

Same addictive formula: strangers trapped together, forced intimacy, strategic alliance-building, and the chaos of weekly eliminations. You'll find yourself invested in people you've known for three hours.

But Heavily focused on romance and physical attraction. The coupling mechanic means if you don't care about who fancies whom, entire episodes drag.

Big Brother2000

The obvious ancestor. Real-time social dynamics, constant surveillance, the power shifts when someone is evicted and their game is finally revealed. It invented the format you're craving.

But Runs 10-13 weeks on most versions. Commitment is substantial. Some contestants are genuinely unpleasant to watch.

The Traitors2022

Psychological warfare with the same core tension: who's lying, who can you trust, and the blindsiding moment when masks come off. Every vote feels consequential because the game has real strategy.

But Slower pacing than The Circle. It's a thinking person's game show, which means less shouting and more uncomfortable silences.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Circle

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Catfish: The TV Show2012

Both explore what happens when people curate identities online and what we believe about strangers based on pixels. The Circle is the game; Catfish is the consequence.

Directly about the gap between online identity and reality. Each episode investigates whether someone online is who they claim to be. It's The Circle's core question—the deception and revelation—played completely straight.

But Genuinely sad sometimes. These are real people with real heartbreak, not contestants playing a game. The tone is compassionate rather than entertained.

Survivor2000

The gold standard of alliance gameplay and public voting. Contestants are forced into the open against each other with nowhere to hide, and every decision has visible stakes. Hugely compelling.

But Seasons vary wildly in quality depending on casting. Some feel exhausted and repetitive by the end run.

The Bachelor2003

Competition structured around one person's subjective preference, forcing contestants into endless social performance. The drama is surprisingly psychological—how do you stay authentic while performing constantly?

But Heavy on romance sentiment and fairy-tale framing. If you want human behavior without the schmaltz, this isn't it.

Made in Chelsea2011

Scripted-adjacent reality about a closed social ecosystem where status, alliances, and perception matter enormously. People navigate friendship and betrayal in real-seeming conversations.

But Relies on you caring about wealthy Londoners' feelings. The privilege can feel suffocating if you're not in the right mood.

Married... with Children1987

Early example of people performing version of themselves for an audience (literally—live studio audience). The artificiality of the performance is part of the point.

But Humor is dated and broad. The show is more interested in gags than character, which feels thin after The Circle's social analysis.

The Only Way is Essex2010

Blurs documentary and fiction in a way that mirrors The Circle's artificiality. Cast members perform versions of their lives; you're watching people managing their own mythology in real time.

But Heavily spray-tanned and aggressively Essex. Very niche appeal outside the UK, and the tone is occasionally unpleasant.

The Truman Show1998

Both are about people performing in a constructed space while being watched. The Circle is unaware of the artificiality; Truman slowly discovers it. Two sides of the same trapped coin.

Jim Carrey trapped in an artificial world where everyone around him is performing for an invisible audience. It's The Circle's existential horror: what if the whole thing is designed observation?

But Philosophical and slow in places. The comedy is gentle rather than laugh-out-loud. Some find it dated or overly sentimental about free will.