Yeah, this is probably right, well, half right- Film Theory: Jax is not who you think he is reaction

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:08]What's good everyone and welcome back to another reaction video. Today we're reacting to Film Theory. Jax is not who you think he is. The Amazing Digital Circus.

[00:00:21]So overall, just by looking at this, it's obvious to say this is a Jack's theory.

[00:00:31]What it's specifically about, I have no idea in general, and we're going to find out in a moment.

[00:00:38]But overall, all I can say is it's personally about Jax.

[00:00:45]Probably because of his behavior in episode 8. At least in my opinion, I think that's the case.

[00:00:53]Or I could be wrong. Hard to say.

[00:00:56]But yes, with this all said, uh I hope you'll enjoy this reaction video.

[00:01:03]Like, comment, subscribe, hit the notification button, be notified immedely when your video comes out. If there's any videos you like to recommend that I react to, put in the comment section below and I'll react as soon as possible. Link to this video is going to be down description below. So yeah, be sure to check that out and be sure to give Film Theory some love and support for the video that they made.

[00:01:24]Now, with this all said, let's get right into this video, shall we?

[00:01:27]>> Jax from the Amazing Digital Circus is not who he appears to be. Sure, he's hidden his true thoughts and feelings for this entire show, but beyond that, there might be an even bigger secret that this purple rabbit is hiding. And to find it, we got to get digging.

[00:01:44]Hello, internet. Welcome to Film Theory, the show that can escape if you just push that big red subscribe button. Come on, just slap it, please. It's right there. And real quick, but special announcement. In the near future, you're going to see an entire movie get uploaded to this channel. Yeah, the movie studio Lionsgate reached out to us and asked if we were interested in posting some of their movies completely for free. And I said, "Yeah, of course."

[00:02:08]So, I I just didn't want that to catch you completely off guard. Here's your heads up. Also, expect to see a bonus theory about that movie later in the week. It It's a fun experiment. But anyway, back to The Amazing Digital Circus.

[00:02:20]>> Okay, one that is actually really cool.

[00:02:22]Kudos for you guys for being able to uh upload movies.

[00:02:30]So, and I hope things go up for you guys. So, this is going to be an interesting thing. That is for sure.

[00:02:40]Yeah.

[00:02:41]Anyway, uh I guess it's time to get back to the main thing because All right, let's get back to it.

[00:02:47]>> So, the finale for the amazing Digital Circus is almost here, and and man, this is just such an exciting time to be a fan of indie animation. The Digital Circus fandom and subreddit are some of the most passionate out there, theorizing and dissecting every second and frame of this show. And, you know, I I wanted one last go at it before this finale drops. Last time we talked about just how tragic the story of the amazing digital circus' ring leader Kane really was. Something even more evident thanks to his death in episode 8. And I originally had a small section at the end of that script talking about how Kane's demise was going to leave a power vacuum open for another character to step up into the role of the bad guy.

[00:03:28]But well, that last video was 25 minutes long and that small section kept growing into a multi-page idea. So, I I had to call it that needed to be its own video.

[00:03:38]So, here we are. Let's not waste any time, loyal theorists. The circus is falling apart, and along with it, so is Jax. So, grab a bucket and throw it on your head, cuz we're diving straight on in. So, a lot has been going on with Jack since we last really checked in with him and and talked about how his character was going. We've learned about his philosophy in the circus, about how he believes that the castmates all fall into archetypes and that they should just embody them. About how he used to be close friends with other characters like Ribbit before she abstracted. About how so much of his prickly jerk persona is just armor that he wears so he doesn't let anyone else in. And in episode 7, we see Jax pushed almost to his breaking point. Like legit, Jax almost abstracts at the beginning of that story in a scene that accurately recreates how it looks and feels to not sleep for a few days. The shout outs to Insomnia. It's not a fun time, kids.

[00:04:29]Then at the climax of this adventure, when it looks like the cast may have a chance to actually escape, Jax rushes forward and pushes the button that means they all stay. It's a huge moment for the character and and one that also reveals just how feudal the attempt to escape even is since nothing about this adventure or escape was even real. And somehow it just doesn't end there for new insights we get into Jax. There's a great moment in episode 8 where the cast are doing their best to distract Kane while Kinger goes into the code of the circus to change Kane. However, Kane starts to catch on.

[00:05:02]>> If I didn't know any better, it seems like you're trying to Where's Kinger?

[00:05:07]Just terrifying line delivery there to be honest. And in a lastditch attempt to keep Kane's hundreds of allseeing eyes off Kinger, Pomny makes a pretty dangerous choice.

[00:05:17]>> WE THINK YOUR IDEA SUCKS.

[00:05:19]>> She starts antagonizing Kane as a last resort, and the others follow suit, and they just really lay into him, telling him that they make fun of his adventures behind his back. They vent about their real feelings, and as we've talked about in the last episode, this really pres on Kane's weaknesses and fears. And of course, this causes our smiling friend to just absolutely crash out as he glitches and distorts.

[00:05:42]>> I'm going to put you FREAKS IN YOUR PLACE. WHAT COMES NEXT is a bit of a window into what each of our characters really fear. They're taken to dark voids where they're antagonized by well, a lot of things. Pom is attacked by realistic candy crocodiles resembling Gummy Goo and his friends from episode 2, mauling her and biting into her limbs. Raggatha is forced to sit at a dining table with several other dolls who have been stabbed with knives. A figure stands at the head of the table resembling a distorted version of Ragatha herself and knives start flying into Ragatha's doll body. Gengal is thrown into a room full of art representing her comedy and tragedy masks while Zubil is taken to a room with hundreds or thousands of body parts trying to drag them down all while being forced to look in a mirror. Oh, hey, wait. Do you see that thing in the mirror? What is that?

[00:06:34]>> Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:06:37]We're not doing that.

[00:06:40]Even though it looks interesting.

[00:06:48]>> More from us. And I am so excited for you to see it when it launches later this month. We'll have more info soon, so stay tuned. But for now, >> so if you want to check what this whole thing's about, go ahead and look at the original video again. Go ahead, look in the link down below in the description.

[00:07:05]It's right there. It'll take you to this video. You can see what it's all about and all that. Oh, and be sure to get film some support. Once again, now back to the amazing digital circus.

[00:07:18]Now, on the face of things, every one of these situations is terrifying. But if you've been following our theories, you'll also know that each of them have an additional layer. Each of the castmates bodies have been created to perfectly represent their mind files, as Kane put it. But that also means that they've incorporated much of their own insecurities and mental struggles into those bodies. We've talked at length about how Zubel struggles with body dysmorphia, similar to many non-binary folks. And though we can't diagnose her, Gangal does exhibit many of the symptoms of bipolar disorder represented by those masks. Like of course those details would haunt those two here. Uh Gangal section also incorporates art becoming like monstrous using details from her backstory as a quote unquote failed artist and ends with her getting hit by a truck. That's a detail from episode 4 that I've never really found a way to bring up, but it's heavily implied that Gengal was involved in some sort of automotive collision that caused some deep-seated trauma. Something perfect for Kane to pick up here for these horror sessions. And using that as a jumping off point, we can learn a lot about the other members of the cast here. The fact that Pomn is haunted by monstrous versions of Gummy Goo and his friends probably tells us that she feels really guilty about them in some way.

[00:08:33]that what she might view as a failure to help Gummy escape is metaphorically gnawing on her. Like the crocodiles are literally gnawing on her. As for Ragatha, clearly this is showing us some form of familial trauma. Being at this dinner table is the opposite of a safe place for Raggatha. And this figure in the shadows, this silhouette, which may represent her mother or matriarch of this family, is hurting her. She's disappointed it in some way. Or perhaps this is a reflection of Raggatha and she's worried that she is like this or becoming like this. Perhaps turning into her mother. There's a lot here. But the vision that Jax sees and why we've spent so much time talking about it here is just fascinating. See, in his space, he's surrounded by silhouettes that are laughing at him. And at first, they appear to just be regular default people. But as they spin and spin around Jax, we see them approach and turn into silhouettes resembling Pomni, Kofmo, and Ribbit. Yeah, the clown who abstracted in the first episode and the frog we've seen in other flashback material. As the story has gone on, we've seen how close that Kofmo and Ribbit were to Jax. These three were a group of good friends, which also makes it tragic that Jax doesn't allow himself to publicly grieve for Kofmo after we see him abstract in episode 1 and during his funeral in episode two. We also see his friendship with Pomny slowly develop throughout the series. How they became close, how Jax pushes Pomni away after he realizes just how much he's opened up to her and how she doesn't let him get away with it.

[00:10:09]But it doesn't stop there. Eventually, these silhouettes pull on Jax, and in what might be one of the most brutal moments in this show, they literally rip the skin off of this cartoon rabbit. He becomes a bare, almost woodenl looking rabbit outline. I mean, you don't get much clearer than this, right? Jax is terrified of opening up to others because of the way he's worried that they're going to react. his biggest fear here, the thing that Kane is playing off of are the people Jax cares about the most laughing at him, ridiculing him, that their relationships weren't real and never were, and that they won't like the real Jax underneath it all. Funnily enough, that's very similar to what Kane was feeling, isn't it? Wanting the validation of the people that they really care about, which also makes me wonder how exactly Jax is going to respond to the current predicament the cast find themselves in at the end of the episode. See, in episode 7, when Jax freaked out and chose the option that would keep the cast in the circus, even though it didn't end up being a real choice, the rest of the characters were furious with Jax for ruining the adventure and their chance to escape, whether or not it actually would have worked.

[00:11:18]>> Well, really hate to say it, guys, but I told >> Don't you even do not evening begin to say that sentence like you didn't try to keep us all trapped here forever. So, will the cast offer that same energy to Kinger for quote unquote messing up too?

[00:11:33]And when they likely won't, will that make Jax angry that they weren't upset at Kinger like they were at him?

[00:11:40]Honestly, it's enough to make me worry about where exactly Jax is going here, like as a character. And that's only been compounded by other details that keep popping up. See, the poster for the theatrical release of The Last Act does feature all of the characters, but one more prominently than the others. Yes, Pomny, Zubel, Kinger, Gangal, and Raggatha are all walking through this maze, but Jax's head and face are all over this. In fact, this whole topsyturvy version of the circus is like coming out of his head. It's like an MC Cher painting. Likewise, the thumbnail for the trailer for episode 9 is just a closeup on Jax's face, but it's different. Gone are the emotions, the fear, and the funny. And in its place, we see unnaturally wide eyes and an uncanny smile. This right here is the look of a horror villain. Now, to be clear, they've used imagery and shots of these characters that didn't make it into the final episodes as thumbnails for the trailers before, so that doesn't necessarily mean that this is going to be in the show itself. But just like they used an image of Kane standing in for Truman in a thumbnail inspired by the Truman Show, they are clearly signaling intent here. Jax is the villain, the bad guy, or at the very least the antagonist for the final part of this story. Now, to be clear, I'm not trying to say that Jax has secretly been plotting this, that he is actually an EVIL AI BURIED DEEP INSIDE of the circus that wanted Kane gone and is now unshackled and can torture the rest of the cast. While I did think that might be the direction they were going at some point, now it's a much better story if Jax is himself a tragic character that can't deal with this new reality and steps up into that sort of ringleer role here in the broken circus. We know that characters can all conjure or change things like Kane could, but they're just not as naturally good at it. Well, that leaves open a lot of space for one of them to really step up into that role, to become that good and to use those conjuring powers to become the next Kane, so to speak. And of everyone, even Kinger, Jax seems to have the most control here in the circus.

[00:13:45]>> You can pretty much do whatever you want. Just let loose.

[00:13:48]>> But there may be another reason why Jax would be a good fit to step up into this villain or antagonist role into the ring leader. See, despite basically being the second most important character in the show behind Pomny, how much do we actually know about Jax and his backstory? Like hard facts. What has he told us versus how much that we've had to infer? We know that he's scared of Korn. We figured out that he was close to Kofmo and Ribbit. And we know that his cruel personality is more of a coping mechanism than what he actually is and wants to be. And it doesn't seem like he actually has anyone that misses him or even knows that he's in the circus.

[00:14:28]>> What's the rush? You got someone waiting for you outside, >> don't you?

[00:14:32]>> Yeah.

[00:14:33]>> There may have been other tidbits of information here or there that Goose Works has mentioned online, but that's all we really know about Jax that we see for sure. So, I have to wonder, is Jax really who he thinks he is? Is he actually who we're being led to believe?

[00:14:48]Now, I I know I know this series doesn't really lean into the idea of big reveals or twists you can theorize about.

[00:14:56]>> Yeah, that's obvious. When it comes down to it, I think Jax is the most complicated character.

[00:15:06]for some characters.

[00:15:08]With the episodes that came out, we were able to understand them pretty well enough to a degree that we can figure them out.

[00:15:23]Thing is, uh, Jax is like the most mysterious character of them all.

[00:15:34]We've talked about that in depth, but listen, man. Jax has been acting weird.

[00:15:39]Like, beyond just freaking out and almost distracting. Jax has really been acting out of character. When it looks like the group might actually escape the circus, Jax starts freaking out. He's hyperventilating. And like we said at the top of the episode, he freaks out and aborts the adventure. It's possible that he's terrified to leave because he's lonely or doesn't like the life he left behind. But what if he doesn't actually know a life outside of the circus? Like, he literally didn't have one. On top of that, did you notice Jax's reaction here during Ker's exposition dump?

[00:16:09]>> What is going on right now?

[00:16:10]>> He's not being his typical self. He's not making snide comments or sniping at anyone else. He looks genuinely confused. Now, this could be for a lot of reasons. I mean, they are getting pretty life-changing information here, but Jax's typical reaction to even that is ridicule. It's to laugh in the face of the terrible circumstances they're stuck in or deflect the feelings of his castmates into jokes and jabs. That's not what's happening here. And not only that, but he ends this interaction early. I >> I should go distract Kane so he doesn't listen in on this.

[00:16:41]>> And then he just leaves. And right after getting outside, he says, >> "Oh my god, this is real.

[00:16:46]>> This is such a visceral experience. We hear the ringing in Jax's ears. The pupils on his eyes start freaking out.

[00:16:53]He is having a panic attack almost on the verge of abstraction. All because of the revelations made here. Or perhaps because of one very specific revelation.

[00:17:04]Listen to this.

[00:17:05]>> His circus name was Scratch. That man was a genius.

[00:17:08]>> Wait. Uh, >> notice how Jax is basically hyperventilating in the back here at the mere mention of Scratch and his real life at all of this backstory lore info dump about how the circus was created and who created it. Well, given the idea that we think Scratch helped create the circus to find a way to live despite the tumor in his brain. Well, what if it worked? What if somehow Jax is Scratch?

[00:17:32]A new version of this character somehow recycled and resurrected back into the circus. Does that sound out there? Yes, it absolutely does. And and I wasn't even sure I wanted to talk about it until I heard this. Yeah. The thing that solidified this idea for me was the fandom pointing out that when you play the clip of Pomney saying Jax's name from the episode 9 trailer backwards, it sounds like she's saying something else.

[00:17:57]Listen.

[00:17:58]>> Jax.

[00:17:59]>> Did you hear that? Here. Listen again.

[00:18:01]>> Jax.

[00:18:03]>> She's saying scratch. Now, part of me is still skeptical here. I I mean, we've tried to theorize time and time again about the deep secrets of the series, only to be met time and time again with no as an answer. I I just can't get around the fact that some hidden lore and complex way out of the situation just doesn't seem to be the direction this series is going. This is very much a show about accepting the hand that you've been dealt, finding meaning in a life that isn't glitzed up to the max, and being happy with the good things that you do have. And that's why I'm hesitant to plant a flag and say something like Jax is secretly not Jax.

[00:18:40]But the connections here are a lot. It's enough that I'm planting that flag. And I can't wait to see if I'm right or so so very wrong. And and I I'm not going to lie. It would be absolutely crazy if it was revealed that Jax is actually secretly an AI. And and I would I'd freaking crash out. I'm not going to lie. But hey, that's just a theory. A FILM THEORY. AND CUT.

[00:19:05]>> OKAY, now that that all said, I have my own thoughts about Jax, it's hard to really come up with what he could do in the end. I'm not going to say 100% he's going to end up taking Kane's place or anything like that, but I can say in that things aren't going to turn out well probably in the final one final episode for him.

[00:19:38]I mean, the digital circus is destroyed. No more adventures.

[00:19:45]They're literally stuck.

[00:19:50]If if anything, maybe the final episode is just going to be Jack's almost breaking.

[00:20:05]Like, he almost breaks.

[00:20:09]If the digital circus is everything he knows and if he is in some delusion that he's not in a real place or anything like that. He's like dreaming in a coma or whatever you want think.

[00:20:32]I think this episode's gonna be about Jack's learning to come to terms with everything because what he said episode 8 when he said it's real honestly says a lot more than I think any of us would think.

[00:21:06]He probably doesn't really believe he's in the amazing digital circus or anything like that. He probably believes in something else and episode 9 is gonna have him confront everything.

[00:21:28]Maybe episode 9 is Jax's episode.

[00:21:35]Not only do they learn a way of what to do next, maybe destroy everything, maybe return to their bodies, maybe something else.

[00:21:50]The key point here is Jax is going to go through something.

[00:22:00]And in all the previous videos slash episodes, we learn bits and pieces of every character to a degree. We've learned their insecurities. We know there's problems and all that.

[00:22:18]And while we don't know every exact detail for certain characters, mainly Pomi and Rag right now, but then again, we don't know more true and depth stuff about the other characters as well. But yeah, I'm thinking they're going to have a talk with Jax where they're going to help him cope with everything they went through and actually prevent him from abstracting or something like that.

[00:23:08]It's hard to really say in all honesty, but yeah, at least that's what my theory is when it comes down to it.

[00:23:23]Am I right? I have no clue. Is film theory right? I have no clue.

[00:23:30]in in this one series in the two series that I have seen involving indie films and whatnot indie games and films.

[00:23:47]The only two series that I know that where you can come up with a conclusion and yet be completely wrong are the backrooms and the amazing digital circus.

[00:24:02]It's what makes them both really entertaining because it leads to more and more stuff that you can assume that you can think of and yeah, all that.

[00:24:16]But yeah, this all said, I uh I hope you all enjoy.

[00:24:25]Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.

[00:24:28]Hit the notification button. If I mess out, tell me your thoughts and theories on what you think episode 9's going to be about. I think this is going to be Jax's episode.

[00:24:41]We talked to Jack. We learn more about Jax, his situation, what he can remember, his time at the Amazing Digital Circus, and we learn more about the others as well.

[00:25:00]And whatever happens at the end will happen.

[00:25:05]Hard to say, hard to know.

[00:25:08]But yeah, other than that, hope you'll enjoy and I'll see you all in the next one.

[00:25:16]Bye.