Sundance 2021 Review: John And The Hole – “Purposefully uncomfortable, awkward, and anxious.”

Growing up is never easy.   Sometimes, you just want to be left alone, like crawling into a giant hole in the ground.  But, why should YOU be the one in the hole?  Why should it just be John And The Hole?

The Plot

John is at that awkward stage.  He’s at that stage where he’s not really a kid, but not really an adult.  He’s rail thin and hides behind his hair, but a standout tennis prodigy.  John just wants to blend in and be left alone, but the teacher won’t stop calling on him, won’t stop putting him on the spot.

Brad, John’s Dad, does well.  He’s able to provide for his family and keep them safe.  A big home surrounded by woods, automated shutters to keep them safe at night, and private tennis lessons and cool toys for his son.

John takes his latest toy, a drone, out for a spin, and finds a huge hole in the ground.  Brad and Anna, John’s Mom, tell their son the hole is an abandoned bunker. Neighbors dug the hole to keep their family safe, but construction stopped soon after starting.  The Hole is all that was left.

The drone is taken out again, and soon gets it stuck high in a tree.  But, while climbing up the branches to get the drone back, John loses his grip and falls; hard.

The Good – John And The Hole

If you’re going to do a psychological thriller about a teen who drugs people and takes them captive, you could not cast a better father to that teen than Dexter actor Michael C. Hall.  Add to that the spoiled teenage girl from The Bling Ring, Taissa Farminga, as John’s older sister, and veteran actress Jennifer Ehle as John’s Mom.

Older Sister, Laurie’s impatience, nay disdain, for her little Brother shines through.  Brad’s annoyance with John’s loss of the drone is obvious.  The only person John acts normally with is his friend, and he moved away months ago.

Laurie groggily wakes up.  She finds herself in deep, deep…  Hole.  She looks over and finds her Mom and Dad unconscious next to her in the Hole.  But, where is John?

John eventually shows up at the top of the hole.  Eerily still and quiet, he stands there, looking down at his family.  Relief slowly turns to unease after Brad asks John to get a ladder and call for help, but John just stands there.  Laurie gets there first.  John did this.

Interestingly, Standard Definition style 4/3 format is how the aspect ratio.  Shots are mostly non-moving, locked off on a tripod as the scene unfolds around it.  Camera angles rarely change, as scenes unfold like a normal film, but we don’t cutaway.  It feels like we, the audience, are staring awkwardly at the family. 

We also see many angles shot from far away, as if we are intruding on the family.  John’s awkwardness and impatience permeate the film.  We feel how he feels, like a stranger in his own family.

Charlie Shotwell plays John pitch perfect.  Charlie gives John that numb and aloof affect you often see in a boy not yet sure what it means to be an adult, or a man.  His performance as John doesn’t give too much away, which is perfect for a film about a kid who hasn’t yet discovered himself.

The Bad

There is a spoiler that informs our story.  The spoiler could be interpreted several different ways, including how the spoiler could spoil the spoil. 

As I don’t want to spoil the spoiler, I’ll just leave the spoiler there, sitting, un-answered, just sitting.  Well, this is awkward.  Just sitting.

The Review – John And The Hole

If you ever watched Dexter, and wonder what happened to Dexter’s son 10 years after the show ended, this film could very well be that story.

Part Dexter sequel, part Silence Of The Lambs, part Home Alone; John And The Hole is about a true kid at a crossroads.  The awkwardness with coming of age, the creepiness of a potential killer, the loneliness of feeling like no one is listening or gives a freak.  You feel like a freak.

All of those feelings come shining through in this psychological thriller about those oh-so-painful teenage years.  Director Pascual Sisto’s first feature film, John And The Hole is purposefully uncomfortable, awkward, and anxious.  It is exactly what it sets out to be, and absolutely worth a watch.  

98 Minutes, Not Yet Rated.

Additional Information

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt11307724

Sundance Film Festival 2021 Movie Ranking