Tune In Or Tune Out: ‘Full Circle’ Struggles To Connect
Max’s dramatic thriller mini-series Full Circle boasts a star-studded cast and crew. Claire Danes (Fleishman Is in Trouble), Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), and Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow) lead the cast, all of whom have been nominated for one or more Emmys. Full Circle’s head writer Ed Solomon also wrote Men in Black, Now You See Me, and the Bill & Ted franchise, and series director Steven Soderbergh is behind the Ocean’s trilogy of the 2000s and the Palme d’Or winner Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Unfortunately, all of that talent elicits high expectations that Full Circle does not meet. The series explores the various parties affected by a botched kidnapping: the rich parents and grandparents of the intended victim, the Guyanese American gang that organized the kidnapping, and the U.S. Postal Inspector investigating the conspiracy behind the kidnapping. It is revealed early on that Savitri Mahabir (CCH Pounder), the gang’s leader, is enacting revenge on behalf of someone else against the McCusker family — Jeff McCusker (Quaid), his wife Kristin (Suzanne Savoy), their daughter Sam Browne (Danes), and her husband Derek Browne (Olyphant) — for something that happened 20 years ago in Guyana in order to undo a curse on the Mahabir family/crime ring.
The main cast is rounded out by Jharrel Jerome (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and Phaldut Sharma (Children of Men) as two members of the gang, and Sheyi Cole (Small Axe), Adia (The Midnight Club), and Gerald Jones (Vampires vs. the Bronx) as three Guyanese youths the gang flies over to America to help with the kidnapping. Inspector Mel Harmony (Beetz) digs around to find the truth behind the crime, with skeletons coming out of everyone’s closet throughout the series. While the performances of the entire cast are natural and nuanced, and Soderbergh brings a stunning, cinematic style to the series, whatever Full Circle is trying to say about privilege, globalism, or accountability falls flat against trivial theatrics and a lack of actual mystery.
Meet The Whole Circle
The first episode establishes characters and their basic motivation quickly and clearly, and in later episodes, every main character has enough screen time to compel the audience. Full Circle is an agile ensemble piece, avoiding any confusion as to who any one character is, even after jumping between over a dozen right from the start. Each character is quickly established in their ordinary world before the adventure begins, giving the audience a sense of their basic goals and frustrations — Harmony wants to follow a more interesting case, Sam is frustrated running her childish father’s business, the members of Mahabir’s gang either want power or to simply make it in America. Throughout the series, each character reacts authentically to events; whether it be glib, frantic, selfish, or calculated, each character is clearly defined and internally cohesive. The cast brings such a nuance to their roles that no matter where the writing goes, the performances are never stiff or artificial. The characters get scared, lie to others, pretend they’re better people than they are, lie to themselves, and reveal what really is or isn’t important to them in messily authentic scenes.
That being said, the lead characters could have more depth and be more sympathetic. Harmony and the McCusker/Browne family are preoccupied with themselves, granted this is satirized in Jeff and partially addressed through a hard decision for Sam at the end of the series. However, shallow personal problems are given a lot of screen time in the face of themes like gang violence, immigration, corruption, and exploitative global capitalism. The series’ many secrets are framed as family squabbles, with major sources of tension including affairs, breakups, and frustrating bosses. Watching the primary characters selfishly protect themselves and their petty desires is interesting in its mundanity and realness, but their relatively happy endings portray them as redeemable heroes. Even this angle might work if the audience could see more of what matters to each character besides themselves and, in the end, obvious lines of morality.
The plot lines around the Guyanese American gang and the immigrants they traffic to do their dirty work deserved more screen time. These characters are fighting to survive, fighting against the lie that is the American dream, and fighting to get home. Not only that, but they are battling questions of loyalty, tradition, and authority. For example, Xavier (Cole), who Mahabir flew over from Guyana along with his friend to carry out the kidnapping, becomes stuck between becoming successful through the gang or staying loyal to his friend in the wake of the crime. This desperate, high-stakes internal conflict is what is missing from the primary characters. These plot lines also most directly explore the larger themes of race and class that the series touches on. However, the audience does not get to see what life is like in Guyana or how the actions of people like the McCuskers really affected others.
Was It Tune In Or Tune Out?
As Full Circle underdramatizes its broader themes, the series overdramatizes conspiracy without laying out a satisfying trail of clues. The series alludes to the backstory of the kidnapping early on, mentioning revenge, Guyana, and people getting kicked off land. Thus, when the details come out in a final reveal in the last episode, there are no real surprises. Furthermore, most of the clues that lead Harmony down the right path are minute. Oftentimes, a character will fail to directly answer a question and Harmony will jump to the conclusion that they are hiding something; she will very quickly assume what they are hiding which always just so happens to be the truth.
There are a few details the viewer can pick up on — from a subtle mention of the wrong kind of shoes revealing mistaken identity to characters being brought up in passing and then coming into play a few episodes later. The pacing picks up around the fourth episode as Xavier and his friends’ futures become uncertain and they try to return to Guyana. The only deaths also occur in the last couple episodes, adding a level of threat that was previously absent. For viewers that can appreciate it, the cinematography, music, and directorial style add tension through swelling scores, prolonged, foreboding close-ups of objects, and an auteurist visual style.
However, with all the allusions giving the conclusion away rather than building tension, very few clues to follow, and trite personal secrets like affairs occupying a lot of screen time, the plot fails to remain intriguing or thrilling.
Who Will Like It?
If you can turn on a thriller and consciously appreciate the directing, cinematography, and acting outside of the plot, or if you enjoy conspiracy and interpersonal drama, then you might enjoy Full Circle. If you’re looking for an engaging thriller or a deep exploration of global themes, then Full Circle is not the place to go. The A-list actors and director do a lot with what they have, but the plot overemphasizes conspiracy without delving deeply into the mystery, characters, or the real world issues the show raises. While there are a number of genuinely intriguing moments, the series ultimately struggles to follow through in a satisfying way. All six episodes of Full Circle can be streamed on Max.
