{ "id": "epdpfzth78", "slug": "full-circle", "title": "Full Circle", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "label": "Crime and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series.psychological-and-domestic-thrillers", "label": "Psychological and domestic thrillers", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series.psychological-and-domestic-thrillers" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Crime and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "label": "Crime and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Full Circle (2023) is a six-episode Max crime thriller limited series directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, inspired by Kurosawa's High and Low, about a botched New York kidnapping; distinct from the 2023 documentary and the 2013–2016 anthology series.", "snippet": "Full Circle (2023) is a six-episode Max crime thriller limited series directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, inspired by Kurosawa's High and Low, about a botched New York kidnapping; distinct from the 2023 documentary and the 2013–2016 anthology series.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series.psychological-and-domestic-thrillers", "markdown": "# Full Circle\n\n**Full Circle** is a 2023 American crime thriller limited series directed by [Steven Soderbergh](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-soderbergh) and written by [Ed Solomon](https://www.edgepedia.org/ed-solomon), broadcast on the Max streaming service. Its six episodes follow the fallout from a botched kidnapping in present-day New York City, an investigation that uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/full_circle_2023) The series premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival and launched on Max on July 13, 2023, with two episodes released weekly through July 27.[2](https://time.com/6292842/full-circle-review/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Six-episode limited series on Max; episodes run roughly 45 to 59 minutes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/full_circle_2023) • [3](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/full-circle/umc.cmc.3myfc8gncem9okm8tt4i69o3s) |\n| Premiere | Tribeca Festival world premiere; Max release July 13, 2023, two episodes weekly[2](https://time.com/6292842/full-circle-review/) |\n| Creative team | Directed by Steven Soderbergh; written by Ed Solomon; executive produced by Soderbergh, Solomon, and Casey Silver[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/full_circle_2023) |\n| Source of inspiration | Akira Kurosawa's 1963 film *High and Low*[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2023/07/20/soderbergh-full-circle-command-z-review/) |\n| Principal cast | Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Timothy Olyphant, CCH Pounder, Dennis Quaid[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/full_circle_2023) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/13/full-circle-tv-series-review-steven-soderbergh) |\n| Reception | 78% Tomatometer from 45 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 70 on Metacritic[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/full_circle_2023) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/full-circle-2023/critic-reviews/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise\n\nThe story begins in Queens, where the Guyanese crime boss Savitri Mahabir ([CCH Pounder](https://www.edgepedia.org/cch-pounder)), mourning a family loss, attributes her misfortunes to a curse. Lifting it requires, among other things, a ransom of $314,159, pi expressed in dollars, and the kidnapping of Jared Browne, the teenage grandson of the celebrity chef Jeff McCusker ([Dennis Quaid](https://www.edgepedia.org/dennis-quaid)).[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/13/full-circle-tv-series-review-steven-soderbergh) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2023/07/20/soderbergh-full-circle-command-z-review/) Mahabir's nephew Aked ([Jharrel Jerome](https://www.edgepedia.org/jharrel-jerome)) was supposed to seize Jared, but instead grabs a similarly aged runaway who had been stalking the boy and stealing his things.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/13/full-circle-tv-series-review-steven-soderbergh)\n\nThe wrong-child abduction echoes the plot mechanism of Kurosawa's *High and Low*, in which kidnappers accidentally take the wrong child and set off a complicated chain of events.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/13/full-circle-tv-series-review-steven-soderbergh) The kidnapping drives Jared's parents, Sam ([Claire Danes](https://www.edgepedia.org/claire-danes)) and Derek ([Timothy Olyphant](https://www.edgepedia.org/timothy-olyphant)), to unravel in different directions as they scramble to meet the kidnapper's demands.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/13/full-circle-tv-series-review-steven-soderbergh) • [3](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/full-circle/umc.cmc.3myfc8gncem9okm8tt4i69o3s)\n\nMahabir's enforcer Gharmen (Phaldut Sharma) brings two young men from Guyana, Xavier (Sheyi Cole) and Louis (Gerald Jones), to New York and confiscates their passports until they pay off a debt, then uses them to carry out the abduction. Louis's sister Natalia (Adia) has been working off her own debt as Mahabir's masseuse. Reviewers singled out these Guyanese characters as the emotional center of the series.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2023/07/20/soderbergh-full-circle-command-z-review/) • [2](https://time.com/6292842/full-circle-review/)\n\nInvestigating the case is Melody Harmony ([Zazie Beetz](https://www.edgepedia.org/zazie-beetz)), a postal inspector for the [United States Postal Inspection Service](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-postal-inspection-service) whose boss, Manny Broward ([Jim Gaffigan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-gaffigan)), refuses to put her on it, so she works it covertly in her spare time.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2023/07/20/soderbergh-full-circle-command-z-review/) • [3](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/full-circle/umc.cmc.3myfc8gncem9okm8tt4i69o3s)\n\n## Development\n\nSolomon spent six years developing the series.[7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/my-seven-shows-ed-solomon) Its seed was an article he read in the early 2000s about an insurance scam ring in Queens, and Soderbergh described the result as having hints of Kurosawa's *High and Low*.[8](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/full-circle-steven-soderbergh-cast-loop-us-in-on-the-crime-series/) Solomon said the script began as a 586-page spec and ended at about 400 pages, and that he had initially conceived the story as a branching narrative in which every character was, at some point, the protagonist of their own show.[9](https://www.networkisa.org/creative-screenwriting/view/ed-solomon-on-screenwriting-full-circle-and-his-blacklist-workshop-word-by-word-part-1) • [7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/my-seven-shows-ed-solomon) *Full Circle* is the third Soderbergh–Solomon collaboration, after the 2018 experimental series *Mosaic* and the 2021 film *No Sudden Move*.[10](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-07-13/full-circle-steven-soderbergh-max-review)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical response was generally favorable but divided on the plotting. The series scored 78% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 45 reviews and a Metascore of 70 on Metacritic, where 13 of 23 critic reviews were positive and 10 mixed, with none negative.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/full_circle_2023) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/full-circle-2023/critic-reviews/) The *Wall Street Journal* and *San Francisco Chronicle* both gave it scores of 100, the latter predicting multiple Emmy nominations for the cast.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/full-circle-2023/critic-reviews/)\n\nDissenting reviews targeted the density of the plot. *The Guardian* called it a \"hit-and-miss noir\" and a \"rubber-band ball of plot and money,\" while praising Soderbergh's vérité direction and Claire Danes's performance.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/13/full-circle-tv-series-review-steven-soderbergh) *Time* found the series \"cluttered yet compelling,\" crediting the characters' realistic idiosyncrasies but judging that the underlying ideas were pushed to the margins by the unwieldy plot.[2](https://time.com/6292842/full-circle-review/) Common Sense Media described it as a movie-length idea stretched into six one-hour episodes.[11](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/full-circle) The *Washington Post* praised how quickly both the Guyanese community in Queens and the wealthy Manhattan family come into focus, while criticizing what it saw as a choked approach to political commentary.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2023/07/20/soderbergh-full-circle-command-z-review/)\n\n## Other works of the same name\n\nThe title Full Circle attaches to several other screen works. A 2023 documentary of the same name, directed by Josh Berman, follows the sit-skier Trevor Kennison after the 2014 spinal injury he suffered attempting a 40-foot ski jump, in parallel with the story of Barry Corbet, who broke his back in a 1968 helicopter crash and became a leader in the disability community; it received a limited theatrical release on October 20, 2023 and runs 105 minutes.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/full_circle_2023) A separate anthology drama series titled *Full Circle* ran on the Audience Network from 2013 to 2016 for three seasons, with casts including [Terry O'Quinn](https://www.edgepedia.org/terry-oquinn), Eric McCormack, and [David Boreanaz](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-boreanaz).[13](https://collider.com/full-circle-season-2-nick-hamm-keith-huff-interview/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Full Circle (2023), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/full_circle_2023)\n2. [Soderbergh's Tangled But Tantalizing Full Circle: TV Review, Time](https://time.com/6292842/full-circle-review/)\n3. [Full Circle, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/full-circle/umc.cmc.3myfc8gncem9okm8tt4i69o3s)\n4. [Steven Soderbergh has two shows out, but little to say, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2023/07/20/soderbergh-full-circle-command-z-review/)\n5. [Full Circle review – Steven Soderbergh's hit-and-miss noir series, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jul/13/full-circle-tv-series-review-steven-soderbergh)\n6. [Full Circle (2023) critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/full-circle-2023/critic-reviews/)\n7. [My Seven Shows: Ed Solomon, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/my-seven-shows-ed-solomon)\n8. [Full Circle Director Steven Soderbergh and Cast Loop Us in on the Crime Series, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/full-circle-steven-soderbergh-cast-loop-us-in-on-the-crime-series/)\n9. [Ed Solomon on Screenwriting, 'Full Circle,' and his Blacklist Workshop 'Word by Word' (Part 1), The ISA](https://www.networkisa.org/creative-screenwriting/view/ed-solomon-on-screenwriting-full-circle-and-his-blacklist-workshop-word-by-word-part-1)\n10. ['Full Circle' review: Soderbergh's style distracts in new crime drama, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-07-13/full-circle-steven-soderbergh-max-review)\n11. [Full Circle – Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/full-circle)\n12. [Full Circle (2023 documentary), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/full_circle_2023)\n13. ['Full Circle' Interview: Nick Hamm and Keith Huff, Collider](https://collider.com/full-circle-season-2-nick-hamm-keith-huff-interview/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Crime and thriller series › Psychological and domestic thrillers*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Full Circle\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Full Circle](https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle](https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Full Circle\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Full Circle is a six-episode Max crime thriller limited series directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, inspired by Kurosawa's High and Low, about a botched New York kidnapping; distinct from the 2023 documentary and the 2013–2016 anthology series." }