Synopsis
While exploring the neighboring woods, 13-year-old John discovers an unfinished bunker — a deep hole in the ground. Seemingly without provocation, he drugs his affluent parents and older sister and drags their unconscious bodies into the bunker, where he holds them captive. As they anxiously wait for John to free them from the hole, the boy returns home, where he can finally do what he wants.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Charlie ShotwellJohn
- Taissa FarmigaLaurie
- Jennifer EhleAnna
- Michael C. HallBrad
- Lucien SpelmanCharlie
- Ivy O'BrienPeter
- Pamela Jayne MorganTeacher
- Georgia LymanGloria
- Samantha LeBrettonLily
- Tamara HickeyPaula
Recommandations
- 80
Variety
It’s calculated and precise and meticulously constructed in a way that will be of considerable interest to audiences who appreciate stories that unsettle, and those who recognize the precision of Sisto’s approach. - 80
The New Yorker
Sisto picks up the spell that is cast by Lowery’s tale, verdant with danger, and continues to weave. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Sisto has an arresting visual style, a firm command of tone and an impressive ability to steer his fine cast onto the same rigorous wavelength, all of which makes him a talent to watch. - 70
Slashfilm
It’s an interesting idea on page, but in John and the Hole, it is all a little too opaque to make sense of Sisto’s muted portrait of adolescence. - 67
IndieWire
Despite its shortcomings, “John and the Hole” shows enough restraint and thematic sophistication to indicate strong potential for Sisto behind the camera. - 67
The Playlist
No one would deny Sisto clearly has a vision of what he’d like to accomplish and shows flashes of humor here and there, but the almost overt influences of any number of other filmmakers (Michael Haneke, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Sean Durkin immediately come to mind) have the cumulative effect of making the proceedings feel numbingly familiar. - 58
Consequence
John and the Hole is more of a collection of memorably uncomfortable scenes as opposed to a cohesive (w)hole. - 50
Film Threat
Sisto certainly has an eye for the story he’s trying to tell, and there are moments throughout John and the Hole, which show he has what it takes to be an interesting filmmaker. [But his] visual flair would have been better served with a stronger story.
