There comes a tricky period in every child’s life when they start to think they are ready to be adults and seek freedom from their parents. The sweet spot for that idea comes to fruition when the child enters their adolescent years. But the thought of being an adult comes from the way parents treat their child, tricking them into thinking they are old enough for certain things and too young for others. While most children rebel by acting out, 13-year-old John (Charlie Shotwell), in Pascual Sisto’s underwhelming psychological coming of age direction debut John and the Hole, takes an unconventional route by holding his parents captive in a bunker to live out his freedom as an adult, only to realise it is not what he thought it would be.
John is a child of privilege, growing up with his wealthy family in a lavish house surrounded by woodlands. He is sheltered by his loving parents Brad (Michael C. Hall) and Anna (Jennifer Ehle), along with his elder sister Laurie (Taissa Farmiga). One day, while playing with his new drone gifted by Brad, John encounters a big hole which was meant to be a bunker in the woodlands. The next day, being the curious child that he is, John decides to drug his family with Anna’s meds and leaves them in the bunker. While they scratch their heads for a reason, waiting for John to send down food and water, John kickstarts his new life as an adult. Unrestricted, but grappled with responsibilities.
John and the Hole starts with a compelling first act that draws you into the minimalist world that re-envisions Michael Haneke with a sprinkle of Yorgos Lanthimos. But steadily it starts to crumble down the hole that it starts with. John, though an interesting character to explore, gives bone-chilling deadpan looks and has very little to complain about in his life. His action of drugging and sending his parents down the hole lays down more ambiguity than anything else. Little to no conflict arises when John starts to live his new life. He learns to drive, has three-quarters of a million dollars in the bank, and a lavish home to live out his life. On top of that, he tells a perfect lie to cover for him being home alone.
John’s attempts to be an adult stem from the lifestyle his parents have coddled him with. By being cut out from the real world, John bears no responsibility for his actions, as he has never been punished by his parents. He calls in his best friend Peter (Ben O’Brien) for the weekend and they spend their entire day playing video games and practising nearly drowning themselves in the pool. We don’t get to see much of his life at school nor is there any hint to John being bullied. And the only time we see him out in the real world is when he is out practicing tennis with his coach, with whom he argues with about no longer needing to practice and being ready to play. John’s only realization comes in the form of loneliness while his parents, stuck at the bottom of the hole, are left confused, asking the same questions we are.
When it comes to the performances, Shotwell brings a masterstroke of creepiness to his character John that instills fear, less from his actions and more because of what thoughts emerge inside his head. Hall, Ehle, and Farmiga are left with bare-bones characters with nothing much to do other than survive in the hole.
With John and the Hole, Sisto tries to create a visually striking and minimalist film that wanders around the subject of identity and alienation from the real world with dark humor and a character that has walked in from a Haneke film. Yet, he sinks further into the hole with its ambiguous empty promises and an unexpected subplot that could have easily been cut on the editing floor.
