John and the Hole: What's it like to be an adult?

-

Kids do stupid things all the time, but screenwriter Nicolas Giacobone (Oscar winner for Birdman 2014) takes this concept beyond just stupidity, to something authentic and alarming. The film metaphorically shows two sides of a coin—the first one is 'how kids think about adulthood', and the second one is 'what adulthood really is'.

John and the Hole (2021)
Genres: Drama, Psychological Thriller
Cast: Charlie Shotwell, Jennifer Ehle,
Taissa Farmiga
John and the Hole movie poster
Image: IFC Films

John (Charlie Shotwell) is a 13-year-old kid, raised by wealthy but busy parents. Anna (Jennifer Ehle, recently appeared in Saint Maud), and Brad (Michael C. Hall), are shown as parents. Laurie (Taissa Farmiga) is John's elder sister. John is good at tennis, plays the piano, can imitate his mother's voice, and asks a lot of questions.
What's it like to be an adult?
When do you stop being a kid?
When he asks these questions to his mother, she explains to him that adult life is a bag full of responsibilities that you have to carry on your shoulders throughout life. John didn't like that version of adulthood.

One day while John was playing in the woods nearby his house, he stumbled upon an abandoned bunker. Then, the other day he was dragging his unconscious family members there. He took them captive and started living his version of adulthood.

This is the type of film that gives the audience little explanation at the end, so the audience has to understand the story from their perspective.

John And The Hole Movie Explained

The theories of this metaphorical movie depend on observation and understanding of the individuals. The way John is completely emotionless and unaware of the consequences of his menacing actions, it is all a metaphor.

John thinks that adulthood is all about having a luxurious house, driving an expensive car, playing games with a friend, and having big bucks in the bank account. So John's story represented how a kid thinks about adulthood. The little girl represents the taunting reality of adulthood, who is forced to shoulder all the responsibilities with little money. The film shows these two sides of adulthood.

The first half creates an engaging tense atmosphere, yet it's slow-paced. But the second half leads to an unexpected conclusion (or confusion). The swimming pool scene is intense and nerve-racking. Yet the film isn't as thrilling as it seems in the trailer. The metaphors are very complex.

The director (Pascual Sisto) tried to turn it into an arthouse film. I liked the cast overall, Charlie Shotwell's acting is appreciable. The aspect ratio (1.33:1) and neat filming style make it even more interesting. If you like indie psychological thrillers, then you should give 'John and the Hole' a watch.

 John and the Hole (2021) Official Trailer

Comments

Post a Comment

Trending This Month

Mare of Easttown: Family Trees & Characters Details

-
Image
'Mare of Easttown' has many characters, so family trees and connections are essential to understand the ongoing circumstances, especially for beginners. Here we're going to include The Sheehan, The Rose, The McMenamin, The Hinchey, and The Delrasso families. The Sheehan Family Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) : The Protagonist, Detective of Easttown, her real name is Marianne, but we get introduced as Mare throughout the series. Frank Sheehan (David Denman) : Ex-husband of Mare Siobhan Sheehan (Angourie Rice) : Daughter of Mare & Frank Kevin Sheehan (Cody Kostro) : Late son of Mare Carrie Layden (Sosie Bacon): Kevin's girlfriend, m other of Drew Helen Fahey (Jean Smart) : Mother of Mare Father Dan Hastings (Neal Huff) : Cousin of Mare, Saint Michael's Church Father. Drew Sheehan (Izzy King) : Grandson of Mare Faye (Kate Arrington) : Fiance of Frank The Ross & McMenamin Family John Ross (Joe Tippett) : Frank's best friend Lori Ross (Julianne Nichols...
Read more

The Silencing (2020): Where is Gwen Swanson Wildlife Sanctuary?

-
Image
I would say that this article is for the people who love to wanderlust, especially for the ones who have watched The Silencing (2020) and are wondering about the various locations featured in the movie. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is shown as a guardian of Gwen Swanson Wildlife Sanctuary. The name of the sanctuary is inspired by his lost daughter, Gwen Swanson. You must have noticed the forest scenery, river, and lake. First of all, I want to clarify that the story of the movie is not based on real-life events, the story is completely fictional, also the characters. Although, it is a watchable thriller. The ending of the movie may have disappointed you as it turned out to be a revenge story. The movie is originally located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The city scenes are from Sudbury. Sadly, there is no Gwen Swanson Wildlife Sanctuary in Sudbury, but the scenes are from the forest of Sudbury. The first drone shot of the movie, where a dead body is floating in the river, is Onaping River. T...
Read more

Wild Indian: The Sundance Film about the suffering of two individuals

-
Image
This Sundance film is a modern illustration of the biblical tale of Cain and Abel (the sons of Adam and Eve). It is divided into two timelines —1980s and 2019. The initial phase reflects the childhoods of two individuals and their horrific mistakes. The next chapter, 2019, takes us through how a past mistake affected their adult lives. Wild Indian (2021) Genres: Drama, Mystery, Thriller Cast: Michael Greyeyes, Chaske Spencer, Kate Bosworth Image: Vertical Entertainment 1980s (childhood) Makwa's bruised face and quietness reveal a lot about his family atmosphere and his miserable childhood. Makwa ( Michael Greyeyes) and Ted-O (or Teddo played by Chaske Spencer) are cousins and partners in the crime. All the hatred that Makwa's abusive father invested in him burst out on the innocent. Unfortunately, Ted-O witnessed that and reluctantly cooperated with him. Makwa was always quite emotionless and used to dreadful things, but Ted-O was completely shocked after that incident. ...
Read more

Scenes From a Marriage: Ingmar Bergman's Remake Starring Oscar Isaac & Jessica Chastain

-
Image
'Scenes From a Marriage' is the American version of Ingmar Bergman's Swedish miniseries of the same name. It's a five-episode show covering ten years of marital life. But not from the beginning, as the couple has a four-year-old daughter, and they are in their early forties. (Note: Spoilers ahead for the first two episodes.) Scenes From a Marriage (2021) Genres: Drama Cast: Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac Image: HBO Max Innocence and Panic Our couple is Mira ( Jessica Chastain) and Jonathan (Oscar Isaac). Mira is the family breadwinner, and Jonathan mostly takes care of the household after his academic work. The prologue follows a revisit of the last 10 years of their married life and the elements of their successful marriage through an interview by a Ph.D. aspirant (Sunita Mani). Mira seemed ostentatious about their successful marriage, but Jonathan was somewhat self-centered and didn't notice her feelings. The dinner table scene with the polygamous couple, Pe...
Read more

Zola: A24's Aesthetic Version of a Viral 2015 Twitter Thread

-
Image
A24 has brought Zola's Twitter thread to the big screen. Zola's trip to Florida began as a dark comedy and led to disturbing incidents. It has all the ingredients that an A24 film would have , aesthetic cinematography, authentic story, top-notch cast, and entirely thrilling. Zola (2021) Genres: Dark Comedy, Drama Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough Image: A24 studio A'Ziah "Zola" King (Taylour Paige) is a Detroit waitress who is also a part-time nightclub dancer. While she was serving at Hooters, she met a white girl. Yes, the white girl was Stefani Jezowski (Riley Keough). Stefani seemed like an affable girl. (Or perhaps she was looking for a girl to take to Florida.) Then these fresh friends went to the club to dance. Stefani had gained enough trust to take Zola to Florida the next day. Y'all wanna see the first 5 minutes of Zola? Zola, Stefani, Derrek (Stefani's naive boyfriend, played by Nicholas Braun), and ruthless black guy "X" a.k.a. A ...
Read more