The Circle

The Circle follows four New York friends in their mid-twenties as they navigate rent hikes, debt, career dreams, and the quiet ache beneath their carefully curated freedom. When one begins attending Redeemer Downtown in Manhattan, the group’s banter turns to deeper questions about worth, trust, and whether true freedom might come from surrender.

INT. COFFEE SHOP – LATE AFTERNOON

Cold November light through dusty windows. Four friends at a corner table, crowded with mugs and laptop bags.

Maya stirs her drink slowly. Ryan scrolls his phone. Jess checks her email between lines in a script. Ben fidgets with sugar packets.

JESS (24, sharp, restless)    
Landlord’s raising rent again.

RYAN (26, skateboard leaning against the table)    
Cool. Guess I’ll build a tiny home out of cardboard and shame.

MAYA (25, sweater sleeves over her hands)    
We could pool for a place. All four of us.

JESS    
Four’s too many. I like my space.

Ben glances at Jess when she says that — not long, but long enough.

BEN (27, hoodie, eyes down)    
Wouldn’t fix the real problem.

RYAN    
Which is?

BEN    
I’ve been going to this church. Pastor at Tim Keller’s old church. Says even if you get the rent handled, job sorted, you’re still chasing something that owns you.

MAYA    
Here we go.

RYAN    
Owns me? I’m barely keeping myself alive.

BEN    
He calls it trading masters. You think you’re free, but it’s just a new boss.

JESS    
What’s my boss, then?

Ben hesitates. Doesn’t look at her.

BEN    
I don’t know. Career? Being the one who’s got it together.

Jess smirks, but her eyes stay on him longer than she means to.

MAYA    
And yours?

BEN    
…Probably being liked.

A short silence.

RYAN    
Mine’s surviving. That’s it.

Ben nods.

EXT. STREET – DUSK

They walk, bundled against the wind. Music from a bar spills out — lo-fi indie track. Jess slows near the open door, like she wants to go in, but keeps walking.

RYAN    
That band’s terrible.

MAYA    
They sound like everyone else.

JESS    
Hey, it’s paying gigs for someone.

MAYA    
Says the struggling actor.

Jess smirks.

JESS    
Better than selling insurance.

Ben glances at Jess, then away.

BEN    
Pastor said the things we think will make us whole can’t hold us.

RYAN    
So what — God’s the thing?

BEN    
That’s the idea.

MAYA    
Feels neat. Too neat.

BEN    
Yeah… maybe. I’m just saying — it’s got me thinking.

INT. SUBWAY CAR – NIGHT

They sit together. Rumble and sway. Silence except for announcements.

JESS    
You know the part I don’t get? If this is true, why am I just hearing it now?

BEN    
Same thing I asked. Pastor said maybe it’s been drowned out. Too much noise.

RYAN    
Or maybe it’s not true.

BEN    
Could be.

Maya watches Ben closely, like she’s trying to decide if he believes his own words.

MAYA    
So you’re not all in yet?

BEN    
I’m… not sure. It’s like—    
(beat)    
If it’s real, it explains a lot. Why I’m tired even when things are okay.

RYAN    
That’s just adulthood, man.

Ben looks out the window. His reflection stares back.

INT. APARTMENT – LATER

Small living room. Pizza box open. Steam from mugs.

MAYA    
Got my loan statement today. Thirty years left. I’ll be fifty-five.

RYAN    
That’s when life starts.

JESS    
You’ll still look twenty-five.

Maya smiles faintly.

BEN    
Pastor says we measure ourselves with numbers like that. But it’s never enough.

MAYA    
What’s wrong with wanting to be stable?

BEN    
Nothing. But if it’s where you get your worth—

RYAN    
You really think God fixes that?

BEN    
I don’t know. I want to.

Jess watches him from across the couch, unreadable.

EXT. ROOFTOP – NIGHT

Cold. City lights stretch out. Ryan leans on the ledge, back to them. Jess stands apart, arms crossed, script in hand. Maya sits beside Ben, knees tucked in.

Maya brushes a crumb off her sleeve — or maybe it’s an excuse to lean slightly closer to Ben.

MAYA    
You’ve been different lately. Quieter.

BEN    
Thinking more.

MAYA    
About God?

BEN    
About… if I’ve been running in circles. And what happens if I stop.

Maya studies him.

MAYA    
You want me to say it’s safe.

BEN    
Maybe.

Across the roof, Jess closes her script, walks over.

JESS    
You know, I’ve been listening. Not saying much.

Ben looks up.

JESS (cont.)    
If it’s true, it’s older than us. Older than bad politics, rent hikes, all of it.    
(beat)    
That’s why it scares me.

Silence. Ryan turns from the ledge.

RYAN    
Maybe the scary thing’s the point.

They all look out at the city — four figures, not touching, but close enough that the cold air feels different.

FADE OUT.

Pitch Sheet – The Circle

Genre:    
Drama / Character Study

Setting:    
Present-day New York City – coffee shops, subway cars, cramped apartments, and rooftop nights.

Format:    
Short screenplay (dialogue-driven) — adaptable for stage or film.

Primary Logline

Four friends wrestle with the cost of freedom when one begins wondering aloud if surrendering to God might be the truest kind of liberation.

Alternate One-Liners

1. In the city that never sleeps, four friends talk about rent, love, and God — and discover their lives may not be as free as they think.

2. A coffee shop conversation spirals into a rooftop reckoning when gospel ideas hit a group of twenty-somethings chasing authenticity in New York.

3. Between subway rides and late-night pizza, four friends test each other’s definitions of freedom, love, and worth.

4. A sparse, modern conversation play where friendship meets faith in the quiet spaces between words.

Tone & Style Comparisons

• Before Sunrise – conversational intimacy, unhurried pacing

• Manchester by the Sea – emotional undercurrents, silences as story

• Lady Bird – generational voice, understated but piercing honesty

• A Bright Room Called Day (Tony Kushner) – cultural commentary in casual conversation

• Hemingway/Steinbeck sparseness with emotional truth layered in like a Taylor Swift bridge

Themes & Hooks

• The cultural gospel of “be yourself” vs. the biblical gospel of surrender

• Friendship as a mirror for belief and doubt

• The unspoken romantic tensions that live under long-term friendships

• Contemporary young adult struggles: rent hikes, student debt, gig economy, politics, “authenticity”

• Gospel themes revealed not in sermons but in the hesitations, glances, and small risks of honesty

Audience

• Indie drama and faith-adjacent audiences who want story before sermon

• Young adult theatre-goers drawn to contemporary realism

• Viewers who resonate with dialogue-driven narratives and ensemble casts

• Faith and secular audiences willing to engage in nuanced conversation about belief

Why It Works for Stage or Indie Film

• Four core characters, minimal set needs, contained locations

• Dialogue and subtext drive tension — low production cost but high emotional engagement

• Universal questions embedded in specific, authentic voices

• Flexible tone: could lean toward subtle faith film or purely secular character drama with faith as one thematic thread