Movie Reviews

‘JOHN AND THE HOLE’ Review – A Tense, Comedic, and Enjoyable Thriller That Never Explores the Why of Its Premise

By Michael Cook
August 4, 2021
No Comments

Synopsis

A coming of age psychological thriller that plays out the unsettling reality of a kid who holds his family captive in a hole in the ground.

Being a teenager isn’t easy. There are all of those new hormones, emotions, and responsibilities. You’re longing for freedom, but unable to have it. Adulthood is right around the corner, and yet still so far away. Every new experience feels more intense and important than anything you’ve felt before. Honestly, it’s enough to make anyone act a bit irrationally. John and the Hole, however, takes this idea of teenage angst to a whole new level.

Ostensibly a psychological thriller, but more a dark comedy in execution, John and the Hole is one of those films where everything works brilliantly – except for the narrative. The good easily outweighs the bad, though. The performances are incredible, especially Charlie Shotwell’s. There isn’t a dull moment in the film, even though the pacing is a bit slow. And the cinematography perfectly captures that slow, creeping, dreadful feeling. The one glaring problem? The movie never fully explores why John puts his family in the hole.

A Simple Plot

In John and the Hole, John (Charlie Shotwell) lives an average upper-middle-class life with his family – dad Brad (Michael C. Hall), mother Anna (Jennifer Ehle), and sister Laurie (Taissa Farmiga). His school life doesn’t seem so great, and he occasionally asks weird, unsettling questions. But life is otherwise fairly normal. Until John decides to drug his family, and trap them in an old, unfinished underground bunker he found on their property. And that’s kind of where the plot stalls. By the half-hour mark, John has trapped his family in the hole. And the rest of the film shows what he does afterward – mainly things a teenager believes adults do. He eats a lot of junk food, drives around town, invites his friends over, and occasionally stays underwater in the family pool for an alarmingly long time. You know, typical adult behavior.

It’s an interesting approach to a story like this. Focusing less on the family trying to survive the hole and more on what John does after trapping his family. It’s an approach that’s often more darkly comedic than tense or disturbing. I mean, there’s something funny about this kid’s idea of adulthood, driving around and listening to classical music as the loneliness of his situation dawns on him. And this oddly humorous tone extends to the scenes of Brad, Anna, and Laurie in the hole. Honestly, all of their scenes feel like they’re from a different movie. They’re so broadly comical, even bordering on farcical, that they stand in stark contrast to the rest of the film. But somehow, it mostly works. The first half-hour may be super tense, but the last hour is pretty funny, which keeps the film entertaing.

A Short Story Stretched Into a Feature Film

John and the Hole is based on a short story written by the film’s screenwriter, Nicolás Giacobone. And it shows. As I was watching the film, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would’ve made an excellent 30-minute short film. But, for whatever reasons, the narrative was expanded into a full-length film, with all of the narrative-padding that comes along. (Including a very random, very underexplored, and almost entirely unconnected subplot that’s far more distracting than revelatory.) This expansion could’ve worked had the film explored why John’s done what he’s done. But it doesn’t. Not really. The closest it comes is a vague suggestion that John wanted to know what it was like to be an adult, so he created a situation where he could basically be one. But that’s not really a concrete why. It’s a bit too ambiguous, and the movie seems to revel in this ambiguity.

I’m not sure this approach worked. The idea of someone committing some senseless, disturbing, random act like this is far more interesting if you’re following the people suffering from this act, rather than the person committing it. But John’s family are scarcely seen once they’re in the hole. And when we do see them, the film doesn’t seem to know what to do with them. There’s no lesson for them to learn, no big “come together” moment that has to happen. We just see them slowly losing their grip on reality. And so instead, John becomes the focus. And since John’s motivations are never explored, it’s hard to be invested in his character arc. It’s kind of a shame because the first thirty minutes of the film promise the kind of tense, character-driven thriller you long for. And that’s just not what John and the Hole delivers.

The Performances

John and the Hole is still quite enjoyable, however, largely because of some excellent acting. Hall, Ehle, and Farmiga do a remarkable job with the little they’re given. Brad and Anna are your typical upper-middle-class parents. They care about their kids, but they’re probably a bit more protective than they need to be. Laurie is the typical older sister. Her brother annoys her, but she still cares about him. And that’s really all the actors are given to work with. Most of their exploration is in the first half-hour of the film, leaving them with little to do in the hole. However, the trio spends that time reveling in this weird, over-the-top dysfunction. And it’s a lot of fun to watch. We don’t learn anything new about their characters, but the actors seem to be having so much fun that it’s easy to have fun with them.

Predictably, Shotwell shines the brightest. Every time he’s on-screen, you can’t help but watch him. And sure, some of this comes from the film’s framing – both narratively and visually. But it also comes from Shotwell’s total command of the screen. The script may be vague as to why John is doing whatever he’s doing, but Shotwell’s acting suggests the actor’s given his character some motivation. There’s logic to his performance, and it helps ground the character in this somewhat over-the-top scenario. Throughout the film, you can’t quite tell if you empathize with John or if you’re repulsed by him and his actions. But the fact that that’s even a question is a testament to Shotwell’s acting. He juggles this sympathetic side and this disturbing side with the kind of finesse many adults struggle to have. John and the Hole is easily worth watching solely for Shotwell’s performance.

Tense Cinematography

The other reason John and the Hole is successful is because of its expert cinematography from cinematographer Paul Özgür. The film’s visuals are just deeply unsettling throughout without actually showing anything particularly upsetting. The 4×3 aspect ratio feels extremely claustrophobic, like the frame is going to close in on the characters at any given moment. The way Özgür films John is also quite striking. John is often filmed from far away, as though the camera is spying on his actions rather than being a part of them. It puts a bit of a barrier between John and the audience, and it only adds to the film’s tension. It’s even more telling as the camera is fully willing to get down into the hole with John’s family, but stays farther away from John.

While the script allows the tension to dissipate some as the film goes on, Özgür’s cinematography only ups it. It never stops feeling slightly off, and a bit disturbing. The camerawork keeps you from getting too comfortable with what’s happening, and I found it wildly successful at keeping me within the world of the film. I’m kind of curious what it would be like watching this film if you knew nothing about it. For me, the cinematography and dialogue of the first thirty minutes created this overbearing tension because I knew that John would be trapping his family in a hole at some point. But what if you didn’t know that? I still feel like Özgür’s cinematography would give you an unsettling feeling, enveloping you in the story. And I love it.

Final Thoughts

While John and the Hole may have some narrative problems, it’s carried by a very tense opening act, some amazing performances from its cast, and a lot of visual tension. It would’ve been nice if the film had delved deeper into the psyche of its title character, better explaining his motivation for trapping his family in a hole. But as a sort of dark comedy about a teenager grappling with the desire to grow up quicker than he is, the movie works surprisingly well.

I can see it being quite dividing, however. The people wanting the more conventional psychological thriller promised by the logline are gonna be disappointed by the lack of psychological exploration. And the people hoping for a black comedy are gonna wish there was more of it. As for me, I enjoyed the film a fair amount. Once I accepted it wasn’t gonna explore John’s motivations very much, I just enjoyed the movie for what it was doing. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely not boring either. If you’re into these kinds of ambiguous, darkly comedic thrillers, then John and the Hole is easily worth a watch.

Rating: 3.5/5

John and the Hole debuts in theaters and on-demand on August 6, 2021.

Director: Pascual Sisto

Writer: Nicolás Giacobone

Producers: Elika Portnoy, Alex Orlovsky, Michael Bowes, Rowan Riley (co-producer), Sam Slater (co-producer)

Executive Producers: Nicolás Giacobone, Pascual Sisto, Ross Jacobson, Jennifer P. Dana, Tony Pachella, Mark Roberts, Phil Hoelting, Marco Vicini, Fernando Tsai (co-executive producer)

Rated: R

Runtime: 1h 43m