Just re-watched this pearl for the first time in a few years and it inspired me to write this review.The first five minutes or so of the movie is a story we have seen many times before. A woman is on the run in the Mexican desert. Violence happens. But unlike the other movies, in Circulation, death is only the beginning. I won't reveal any more of the plot, but I will say that it is a truly original storyline. Something that is not common in movies. The movie is beautifully shot, and the setting in the Baja California desert perfectly complements the action.This is the kind of movie that stays with you for a long time. Overall would highly recommend, though full disclosure: some scenes may not be appropriate if you are afraid of spiders! Acting is good too, especially Yvonne Delarosa in the role of Ana.

A laconic drifter picks up a pretty hitcher, after she survived a crash when kidnapped by her violent ex-husband. Together they set out on a strange journey.Odd road movie that gives away too much in the IMDb description and the opening, noir-style voice over. The direction and writing are naive, probably taking on more than they can handle, but the concept is interesting and needed more sophistication for full delivery. Shades of Tarantino and Lynch, but the dialogue is no more than functional, the editing klutzy, and there are plenty of impracticalities to take you out of the story.A previous reviewer's point about the spider-rope metaphor is good, but the insect-arachnid sequences were needed to remind us of stuff the screenplay couldn't deliver. This is literal enough to be a horror, albeit one that lacks guts. Lead actress is good, touch of Chloe Sevigny in her close-ups. The threatening characters needed to be a lot more intense and stylized.Music suited it perfectly, the most enjoyable part of a short but fairly slow running time.Overall, slightly interesting so I mark it up to 5.

I got fooled by a couple of reviews here on IMDb stating that this was a good movie. It also had a pretty good rating of 7+ stars when I decided to watch it and since the rating has dropped to 4, where it should be.I now know I need to read a little further into the comments. This was a bad movie. The plot wholes were so big you could drive a giant semi truck through them. The main characters were not like able. Nor could you relate to them in any way.There were no real redeeming values I could say this film holds. It doesn't really tell a story, in the sense of beginning, middle & end. It also doesn't leave you feeling like you need to watch more of this supposed plot, and the characters are so flat that you can't say they were doing a character study.All I can say is stay away from this one. It's not good.

Mexico is not just a foreign country for many Americans, but a foreign concept entirely. The language, the culture and the people are so distant, so strange for many of us. And in "Circulation" they become all that much more strange. We enter amidst two lives intersecting: Gene (Sherman Koltz), an American heading south and Ana (Yvonne Delarosa), a Mexican woman looking to find her boyfriend and escape her abusive ex-husband. Their journey becomes something spiritual, something transcendent.Let me offer a disclaimer on my rating for this film: Generally when I review independent films, I grade them a little bit higher than other people do, because I want to give the creators credit for going to great lengths on a limited budget. So an above average rating on an independent film may not indicate it being as good as an above average mainstream film. That being said, I graded "Circulation" on the mainstream scale. To grade it on the independent scale would mean a perfect score, because there's basically nothing more that could have been added to this film.The colors and scenery are wonderful and the setting of Mexico is a nice change of pace. The characters are interesting (particularly Gene), the actors quite professional and the music blends in as smoothly as rum and Coke. I have to give particular credit to the cinematographer or director of photography. So many shots were lined up crisply and imaginatively. Watch your standard independent film and count the unique angles and cuts. You'll find a small handful. Here, the angles keep shifting (but not to the point of being erratic) and we're given a panoramic view into an isolated world, if that contradiction makes sense.The creator of this film, Ryan Harper, knows what he's doing. The plot's pace is smooth... we aren't left dangling long enough to grow bored, but we're not rushed either. And there's a fair level of intelligence to the script that I don't see in this line of work (no disrespect to horror writers, but "teen gets stabbed" is hardly original). A puzzle is being solved and we're given pieces along the way, starting with the opening line. You might get it right away, you might get it halfway through or, if you're like many of the reviewers for this film, it might be your second viewing (and you'll want to see this one at least twice anyway).I was in the "halfway" camp. I understood the big plot point (I don't want to give anything away, though) but many questions went unanswered until nearly the end: why are people vomiting? What's with the rope? When it clicked, I realized the biggest clue had been at the start of the film before I knew I was looking for clues. Well played, Mr. Harper... keeping me on my toes.Expect this film to get plenty of rave reviews on the film festival circuit. If we're very lucky, this is the sort of film I'd love to see show up at "After Dark Horrorfest". Too "underground" to get a lot of theater coverage, I can still see this hitting theaters through "After Dark"... and while this is a bit different from their prior selections (no vampires or zombies here) I think the audience would really appreciate what is being offered. I think it goes without saying, but I'm recommending "Circulation". So rarely do we see beautiful, original and well-produced work in the "horror" genre (although this could also be fantasy or drama)... thanks for the breath of fresh air.