SUNDANCE 2021 | "John And The Hole" Fails To Capitalize On An Interesting Premise
5/12 ForReel Score | 2/5 Stars
Like many kids, John is curious about everything. He has a lot of questions and he chooses to vocalize them constantly. Like many kids, he has hobbies he enjoys; adventuring outside, playing video games, and practicing tennis are among his favorite things to do. Like many kids, he can be a brat sometimes. But John is not like most kids, and - for better or worse - John and the Hole is not like most thrillers. It’s a bleak and cryptic presentation anchored by solid performances from its lead cast, but the result of the film departs from it’s most psychologically fascinating overtones and lands in uninspired territory.
As you might imagine, John And The Hole is primarily about John: a 13 year old boy played by Charlie Shotwell who sedates the rest of his upper middle class family and puts them in the bottom of a concrete pit, allowing himself free range of the house, use of the car, and independent choice of daily activities. Meanwhile, his mom, dad, and sister played by Jennifer Ehle, Michael C. Hall, and Taissa Farmiga respectively are indefinitely trapped and subject to John’s intermittent care and their own constant hypothesizing about why John could be doing this to them. It’s a fair question for everyone outside of John’s head to wonder, but the answer leaves so much to be desired.
Much of the thrill in John In The Hole comes from trying to discern exactly how psychopathic John really is. How much is he able to get away with? What lies will he tell to cover his tracks? How far will he go to get what he wants? How much or little does he value the lives of others? It’s not long before any attentive spectator becomes as inquisitive about John’s state of mind as John is about everything in life.
But the letdown is in realizing the point of the film isn’t entirely what it leads audiences to believe. From the beginning, the ominous tone, the peculiar behavior, and a mysterious alternate storyline allude to something off-kilter about how this story is going to unfold. But by the end, I couldn’t be more disappointed to find myself trying to piece together a puzzle that never existed.
John And The Hole ultimately wastes its mystery and suspense on an inconsequential tale of a child’s perspective of adulthood. Although the theme itself has a lot to offer a story like this, low stakes and loose analogies make this exercise of exploring adulthood through a kid’s eyes more tedious than insightful. What’s more, the secondary story about a girl John’s age and her mother gets too little screen time and presents a half-baked premise that never fully actualizes its own narrative or its connection to John and his story.
Credit where credit is due however, John And The Hole bolsters solids performances from its core cast. For the time that they’re in the hole, watching Hall, Ehle, and Farmiga collectively lose their sanity is a menacing type of entertainment in itself. But it’s Shotwell who is the standout, mesmerizing with his incessant curiosity and stoic demeanor.
The speculation of how a young teenager might handle adulthood and responsibility of their own care has something to it. John And The Hole, however, pitches the concept with no particular aim. The irony being that when the movie ends, I was more enamored with the psychological trauma of the family in the hole than I was with John’s endeavors. John’s antics might’ve been frustrating for his family, but I also walk away from the experience annoyed and disgruntled as well.
Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 1 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 0 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 0 | What does this mean?