Aaron Pederson plays thirty-something lawyer Drew Ellis. In a bid to “find himself” Drew has left his comfortable existence in Perth to rough it in the Kimberley as a lawyer for the Aboriginal Legal Service. Cue self-reflection, self-discovery, and other existentialist malaise besides.
Seasoned television actor Aaron Pederson doesn’t possess the kind of magnetism a leading man should. Wooden in delivery, Pederson’s Ellis is neither sympathetic nor engaging. Instead of passionately connecting with Ellis’s turmoil the viewer merely sighs in recognition. The cast of supports, too, are as stock-standard as they come. Only Marta Kaczmarek as the maternal and gentle Ellie Zdybicka manages to produce some sort of spark.
Appearing sleeker than the usual small screen production, The Circuit’s ultra glossy presentation works against the story being told. The abundance of super quick zoom-ins and zoom-outs is rather jarring and, as a whole, the first installment comes off confused and messy.
A drama like this should have been character driven with the most electric moments being emoted internally. What is delivered instead is heavy handed superficiality.
Minh Nguyen
