However, Woo-jin isn’t having any of it, because as a scholarship student, he needs to stay at the top of the class to maintain his free tuition. The boycott was to show support for the protest that’s happening outside to urge the school’s president to step down for condoning brutal academic competition and fostering a harsh learning environment. He ignores the calls and makes his way to a classroom where only he and Professor PARK DONG-GUN ( Han Sang-jin) are present, and he proceeds to take an exam.Īs soon as he walks out, he’s confronted by his some other classmates, who heckle him for not upholding their boycott of the exam. Ten years later, a college-age Kim Woo-jin ( Yeo Jin-gu) walks past the crowd of protesting Handam Science and Technology University students while another classmate calls after him. She walks toward them, and Woo-jin says that his final evidence is “Exhibit #3: an alien.” She collapses, and he approaches her fallen form as his father and his twin call him back. And as it materializes, it crystallizes into a naked human female form ( Gong Seung-yeon). When they finally open their eyes, they see that the light contains a humanoid figure. It’s their father, KIM KYU-CHUL ( Kim Joong-ki), who comes out of the vehicle, and he runs to save them from the strange bright light.Īfter the ball of light descends from the sky, a huge supernova-like blast occurs, blinding the family trio.
The bike falls when a light from the other direction comes toward them - but it’s the headlight of a car that stops in front of them. A truck almost runs into them because of the bright light, but it misses them by a hair and crashes. Faster and faster, Bum-gyun pedals as streetlights burst when they pass along the street. They get on bike to flee, but it keeps following them. Suddenly, a white light beams from the sky, seeming to chase them menacingly. Exhibit #2 is a burnt pine cone, but this is similarly explained away by the presence of local lumberjacks who also work in the area. Bum-gyun asks for evidence, and Woo-jin is happy to oblige: Exhibit #1 is the fog, but the older brother explains it away by temperature difference. The younger twin, KIM WOO-JIN, keeps telling his older brother, KIM BUM-GYUN, that this time, he’s sure: He’s convinced that aliens and UFOs are real. The younger brother asks his older sibling: “How did you find me? Twin telepathy?” The older brother scoffs at the idea and tells his younger brother not to go wandering off into the mountains anymore. In the year 2007, two young children walk alone in the woods with a bike between them, moonlight guiding their way through the dark. So without further ado, I give you Circle. But, almost everything, from the fast pacing to the rich background stories to the high-quality acting, is on point. I was nervous because I didn’t know whether the two timelines would mesh, or whether the whole dystopian future would be executed well. Circle began with a literal bang this week, and after months of trying to find a fix for my drama slump, I’m almost hyperventilating at how good it is so far.