John and the Hole

John and the Hole is elevated by its methodical pacing, pretty cinematography, and engaging performances from the entire cast; but the film is ambiguous to the point of frustration, and all these aforementioned strengths can't make up for the fact that it tests the audience's patience over and over again and never rewards them for it.

There are several scenes in the movie in which a VERY intriguing character motivation or plot element will be introduced, and every single one of these moments is immediately forgotten and never mentioned again.

I was never bored because I kept wondering where the story was going to go next and why John was doing the things he did; what role did his family play in driving him to his breaking point, if any? But my intrigue never payed off.

I won't spoil anything because there isn't anything to spoil. There are no revelations, twists, or anything of the sort. The movie just plods along introducing a bunch of red herrings, and then it ends.

This ends this film and my memory of its existence.

The end.

This film is a disappointing example of an intriguing premise, good acting, good cinematography, and strong sound design and score not adding up to anything worthwhile. The sum is much lesser than its parts.

I am also disappointed in the writing, as Giacabone penned both Birdman and Biutiful, two astoundingly original film concepts. I suppose the difference here is that, instead of a master like Innaritu at the helm, we have first-timer Pascual Sisto who is more interested in mood and pastiche than creating a cohesive experience. Haneke or Lanthimos this ain't, and it's heavy borrowing from each winds up getting in the way of what could have been a more interesting film.

I am sure that on second viewing, one might peel back another layer or two, but I don't feel the desire. I may check out Sisto's next project, but this one was kind of a bust for all of its technical achievement.

I don't know how I made it through til the end?

In an attempt to create mood and atmosphere the creators decided to minimise dialogue, add dreadful music with sombre characters who nobody would care about.

Avoid this movie is my recommendation.

I wish I could have given this a higher score. It was well acted, interesting, great cinematography, interesting story idea and crap ending as far as I'm concerned. Sadly, society is breeding more and more of these soul less VOIDs that look like children, but there must be a POD in the back yard where something alien made this Creepy, empty, inhuman copy left with this family. And in this case, I totally do not get what was supposed to be his end game. His family are nice, educated and caring people, he wants for nothing and if some answers had come I could have rated this higher. I can't say more without spoilers, but I'm Pissed off. I've met kids like this and see more and more of them with each passing year and it frightens me. But that ending??? Seriously, Come on.. just Ridiculous and Senseless. Worth a one time watch if you don't mind being disappointed at the end and left with 1,000 questions and feeling Pissed off. Or if your a soul less human Void too, then you may enjoy this. But if your a caring person with a heart, this movie will leave you feeling angry and dumbfounded.

I mean he didn't kill any animals, so that's great. But yeah this movie is not thrilling at all (the genre is there for some reason..). It's a slow-burn drama about a kid who is "different". He asks questions and wants to know why and what or how things are. He is curious but devoid of emotion or compassion. The movie itself is like I wrote in the title, a study and a pretty lame one at that, but still overall is pretty interesting. The atmosphere is the same as the main character, so as the soundtrack. I didn't get the ending or the other story in the movie. Though I overstand the idea and meaning of the movie, because it has an underlying message about families. I don't really recommend this movie to watch in cinema or if you have something better to see, only if you have nothing and/or are depressed and want to turn your brain off. Because yeah, the dialogues in the movie are so fking bland and boring.