John and the Hole (2021) Review

John and the Hole (2021) Review

From debut filmmaker and artist Pascual Sisto and Academy Award-winning writer Nicolás Giacobone (Oscar winner for his script for 2014’s Birdman), the film co-stars top-rank genre actors Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Jennifer Ehle (Saint Maud), and Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story), and features a breakout performance by Charlie Shotwell in an enigmatic meditation on what it means to grow up.

13 year-old John decides to hold his affluent family captive in an underground bunker behind their house. Left without supervision, John experiences newfound independence, exploring the difficult passage from childhood freedom to adult responsibility in this chilling psychological horror-thriller.

Scripted by Nicolas Giacobone, and adapted from his own short story ‘El Pozo’, like the titular character the film is one big blank. It’s big on metaphors and affording the audience the opportunity to think things through for themselves, which is normally a plus for me, and yes it’s clever but did it really have to also be so dull too.

I couldn’t fathom out how a young lad could manage to drag/carry his two parents and sister to a hole in the middle of nowhere and when I can’t follow something on a basic sense level then no matter how well made the film is it’s chances of having me stick with it from that point on are dramatically scuppered.

It’s very well made and acted but I didn’t much care for it either. It’s not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just one that is difficult to warm to. There was no ‘hook’ and it’s not exactly difficult to figure out where it’s heading. The director aimed for a detached vibe and they got it perfectly, in fact I was so detached from what was going on onscreen that I really didn’t care much for it either.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE