FILM REVIEW – The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act

By Marty Mulrooney

The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act combines the eighth and ninth episodes of the independent computer-animated web series The Amazing Digital Circus, created, written and directed by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions. Giving fans around the world the chance to see the highly anticipated finale on the big screen, two weeks before its release on YouTube, The Last Act is the culmination of a journey – inspired by the computer-generated imagery of the ’90s and Harlan Ellison’s iconic techno-horror short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream – that began in October 2023 when the pilot episode went viral.

The Amazing Digital Circus may look like a bright and colourful children’s TV show, but there has always been a strong undercurrent of existential dread bubbling just beneath the surface. My four-year-old daughter is a huge fan of the earlier episodes, with the darker moments going right over her head. However, she’ll have to continue watching them on repeat until she’s older, as the later episodes pull no punches – this isn’t a show for kids.

For those who haven’t watched the series before – and if you haven’t, you really should – here’s a quick recap. The Amazing Digital Circus follows a cast of six humans – Pomni (Lizzie Freeman), Jax (Michael Kovach), Ragatha (Amanda Hufford), Kinger (Sean Chiplock), Gangle (Marissa Lenti) and Zooble (Ashley Nichols) – who are trapped in a cartoonish virtual reality simulation. This ‘digital circus’ is overseen by an over-enthusiastic AI ringmaster called Caine (Alex Rochon), who comes up with bizarre, nonsensical adventures to keep the humans busy and distract them from their predicament. The first episode has received over 438 million views to date, with good reason: it’s undoubtedly one of the greatest pilots of all time.

The episodes that followed over the next two years more than lived up to that initial premise, giving viewers a far greater understanding of the characters while drip-feeding lore that often made the wait between episodes excruciating. Caine’s adventures were consistently entertaining to watch – even when they weren’t fun for the characters – but the real appeal was always the core cast of misfits and the complicated dynamics between them. Who were they before they entered the circus? Why can’t they find a way to leave? And is having a mental breakdown – abstraction – inevitable? It helps that the voice actors are world class, switching from comedy to pathos on a dime.

As the most recent human to become trapped in the digital circus, Pomni explores the world and connects with the other characters right alongside the viewer. Despite her jester-themed avatar, she was never the funniest character, but she is undoubtedly the most empathetic. It’s what makes her such a compelling protagonist: she’s willing to step into the headspace of those who are struggling. If someone needs to talk, she’ll listen. The nature of the digital circus and how everyone got stuck there is an engaging mystery, but it’s Pomni’s regular dose of human kindness that keeps the wheels spinning and everyone pulling together – even as the sky is falling.

The first half-hour of The Last Act is the eighth episode of the series, which has already been released on YouTube. Without spoiling too much (and assuming you’re up to date – if not, get watching already!), this penultimate episode is where everything comes to a head. Feeling unappreciated and bitter, Caine develops a god complex, performing a catchy yet creepy musical number that makes it clear he’s the one running the show. Pushed to breaking point, the gang then take matters into their own hands… and somehow make everything worse.

Episode 8 is a definitive turning point narratively – the point of no return – but I almost wish it had been left out of The Last Act. It gives some much-needed context, but it’s hard to believe many people will be watching the film in cinemas who aren’t already familiar with the series. The main event is Episode 9, which runs for just over an hour and keeps the revelations coming thick and fast. Even then, despite being the longest episode, I do feel the extra half-hour could have been used to give further narrative closure.

Thankfully, what is shown in Episode 9 is sad, funny, poignant, beautiful, heartbreaking and, ultimately, hopeful. The animation has improved dramatically since the pilot, and it makes all the earned character moments hit even harder. In particular, a sequence of events shown through Jax’s eyes is incredibly moving. All the characters have their hang-ups, but Jax was always the most closed off – often abusively so. The reveal of his backstory made several audience members gasp at the screening I attended, and his fate will be discussed and debated for many years to come.

It was never going to be possible to top Pomni and Jax’s explosive confrontation in Episode 6 (‘They All Get Guns’), but their scenes in the finale come damn close. I will certainly never listen to ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ by Stevie Wonder the same way again. Pomni’s determination to help Jax is the beating heart of the story, and it’s so refreshing to have a piece of entertainment that boils down to everyone should be kind and decent to each other. It doesn’t mean everything will work out, and it doesn’t mean everything will be okay. But we should still try. We should never stop trying.

I don’t think Gooseworx could have ever anticipated how big The Amazing Digital Circus would become. That success has resulted in an amazing, passionate fandom, but it has also resulted in keyboard warriors doing what they do best: polluting the internet with their negativity and bile. The finale isn’t perfect, and due to the nature of the story it’s trying to tell, it’s missing some of the comedy that defined the earlier episodes. It gives many answers while still leaving the specifics vague. I’m kind of glad, though – since when was the world having a little bit of mystery left in it a bad thing?

This was always the singular vision of one creator, and thank heavens the online discourse – both positive and negative – held no sway whatsoever. I wish we’d had more time with Pomni and her friends in the digital circus, and I do feel that Episode 9 could have used the whole 95-minute runtime on its own. But perhaps that’s the point: it’s sad to be saying goodbye. During a time when AI is manufacturing creativity and stealing jobs, it’s more important than ever before to celebrate stories that are 100% crafted by humans. Like these quirky, complicated characters that we came to know and love, the finale is flawed – but I’m choosing to embrace it anyway.

9 OUT OF 10