Review: The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act

This weekend has been a historic time for directors who originated on YouTube. It feels like we keep falling deeper into the niche rabbit hole. Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, pulled off a rare box-office feat. It earned more in its 4th weekend than other horror films have in their 1st, passing $200 million worldwide. Secondly, we have Backrooms, based on Internet horror folklore and directed by Kane Parsons, which is A24's highest-grossing movie, passing $200 million worldwide.

Lastly, there's The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act, the series finale to an indie animated series from Glitch Studios, created, directed, and written by Gooseworx. It combines Episode 8 and an hour-long 9th episode, totaling around 90 minutes of screen time. It earned $19.5 million domestically on a limited release. It'll only be available in theaters for a few days, and by the time you're reading this, it's probably not there anymore. However, it still managed to carve out a spot in the top 5 movies at the domestic box-office. Even last Thursday, June 4th, it was the #1 film, opening with $7.8 million.

We're starting to see more and more independent talent expand from YouTube and leave their mark on the silver screen. It's worth noting how great this is for filmmakers, ensuring there's always an opportunity to show the world what you're capable of. If you can build the following yourself, or have something worth watching, you'll fill seats at the movies. But how did The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act do? Here's a review with light spoilers. Episodes 1-8 are available to watch for free on YouTube, and the hour-long finale will release two weeks after the theater premiere.

The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act spoiler-free review: Mostly satisfying, even if a bit vague

For those unfamiliar, The Amazing Digital Circus is an adult black comedy, taking place in a simulation the main cast is trapped in and trying to escape. They all put on a virtual headset, and no matter how much they try, they can't take it off. They can't remember their names, either. You might not have guessed this was a mature film, even if it's not rated. But TADC explores very dark and sometimes uncomfortable themes about mental health, physical abuse, suicide, and what it means to be sentient. The humor, too, can be raunchy and cruel to an existential degree.

These characters, Pomni (Lizzie Freeman), Ragatha (Amanda Hufford), Jax (Michael Kovach), Zooble (Ashley Nichols), Gangle (Marissa Lenti), and Kinger (Sean Chiplock), were dropped into an Alice-in-Wonderland-like digital world that doesn't make any sense. Their bodies are malleable like cartoons, yet everything still hurts. No matter how many doors they open or how many clues they find, finding the "exit" seems impossible. They could seemingly stay there forever, which eventually risks one becoming "abstracted," a digital corruption from insanity.

Caine, the ringmaster AI, was created to keep our cast sane with mind-stimulating games and adventures he designs. For years, he's known that all they ever wanted was to leave the circus. Even though he doesn't know how to let them leave, he crafted an adventure mixing truth and lies to make it seem like they could. Only, at the end, it turned out to be a false hope. It almost started to feel like their entire lives were a joke, like everything was pointless.

Episode 9 takes the show's climax in a direction you don't expect from sci-fi-adjacent media. Instead of defeating a virus, hacking the mainframe, or defeating a corporation, it's tying up emotional loose ends. It makes for a finale that's very melancholy and bittersweet. Whether it's more bitter or sweet is kind of up to the viewer.

Fans may be dissapointed with the lack of some characters' development. Ragatha by far got the least attention on her backstory and character growth. However, I'd argue her arc is more sparse. Just like how she stretches herself thin trying to please everyone, the same happened to her overall screentime. Meanwhile, Jax gets dense development, and honestly owns this entire episode. I had theories about what happened to him before he was trapped in the simulation, but it turned out to be worse than what I thought.

Pomni, in the middle of it, solidifies herself as the down-to-earth, hopeful, helping hand that keeps everyone from completely losing their minds. That's also thanks to Kinger, who gave her the wisdom and courage to figure things out.

I'd like to give credit to how abstractions were handled in this episode. For the entire series, we only see it happen once. However, it happened three times here. Although one of those times belonged to a character we've already seen abstracted in Episode 1, Kaufmo, it's given more context. It's suggested that abstractions occur when a character goes insane, losing touch with reality. But when they happen, it carries the weight of someone who gave up on life, like self-harm. It happens behind closed doors, when the character's alone, and no one can reach or stop them. Before anyone else knows it, their friend they used to talk to isn't there anymore. At least, not the same.

This nears spoiler-ville, but there were some confusing details that aren't clear where they fit in the grand "timeline" of things. It involves how the characters ended up in the Circus to begin with. Did Caine truly have no control over which "minds" were uploaded into his realm? Some details suggest he did, even though he acts surprised whenever someone appears randomly.

Conclusion

For the most part, The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act answered many, if not all, of the major questions the fandom had. It's rare for a show that's spawned countless theories to actually end with a conclusion that ties up almost every mystery. And thus ends an era of endless video essays picking apart every symbol and color choice in each frame.

Final Verdict: 8/10

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