Circle: Star Power


A rare breed has appeared! We don’t often get to see sci-fi kdramas! Or at least ones as amazing as this where I finished it in 2 days! Circle tells the story of fraternal twins, Woo Jin and Bum Gyun. However, the drama is split into two timelines. One is set in 2017, after the twins grew up and are in their college years. The other timeline is fast-forwarded another 20 years into the future where S. Korea has completely changed due to technology and pollution. During their youth, the twins encounter an alien, who takes on the form of Byul/Jung Yeon. She possesses a form of advanced technology which allowed her to view her memories in a video format. However, this knowledge was too dangerous for the world to handle, so the twin’s father decided to erase her memories and let her start a new life as a regular human girl. However, this did not sit well with his fellow researchers who were desperate for the knowledge. The father ended up disappearing while the twins grew up while enduring a rough life. Bum Gyun was convinced that the alien had made his father disappear and dedicated his whole life into finding her. He ended up in a psychiatric hospital as well as jail several times due to his fanaticism. However, Woo Jin tried to forget what happened in his past and was just struggling to survive. He was the sole breadwinner of his family while still keeping up top grades. He sacrificed social life in order to garner every chance of study or money making opportunity. The twins had a hard time getting along as Woo Jin was always having to chase after his brother who would wander off trying to find the alien. It got to the point where Bum Gyun was eventually kidnapped! Meanwhile in the future timeline, Bum Gyun as Kim Joon Hyuk, a detective who has been searching for his younger brother for the last 10 yrs. He has no memories of his past life and only knows about himself through a video footage of Woo Jin’s memories. In the future, Korea has become inhabitable because of dust levels and a new Smart City had been created. In this city, everyone has a chip in their brain that helps regulate extreme emotions which results in a boasted no-crime rate. However, the chip has a more sinister use of being able to delete a person’s memories. Thus, in the two timelines, each brother is searcing for the other frantically!

A beautifully intertwined story that have two parts that are mirror reflections of each other. I loved both timelines equally as each story was heartwrenching and full of emotion/intrigue. Yeo Jin Gu is one of the best young male actors of his generations. He is able to portray that deep seated angst and frustration. He makes each scene incredibly intense and when it culminates into finally meeting his brother, I bawled! Meanwhile, Kim Kang Woo as the older Bum Gyun was excellent as well. I have always loved his action acting and he has the same type of intensity as Jin Gu. He was always able to draw on his younger counterpart’s character so that it was a seamless transition! I also enjoyed Gong Seung Yun who played Jung Yeon/Bluebird/Byul. She performed her alternating stoic alien personality versus her human self roles perfectly. While the filming was not high budget, the acting really upgraded the drama. I don’t usually fall in love with dramas that fast nor finish them in 2 days! However, this thriller really kept me clicking the next episode with each cliffhanger!