Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Marvel's Spider-Man Secret Lair promotional image

    Get a Look At the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Spider-Man Superdrop

    09/08/2025
    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions gameplay still

    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions Is All About Adventure (with Friends)

    09/08/2025
    Chord in Persona 5 The Phantom X

    Now Is The Perfect Time To Jump Back In ‘Persona 5: The Phantom X’

    09/05/2025
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » SUNDANCE 2021: ‘John and the Hole’ is a Tense Journey to Nowhere

SUNDANCE 2021: ‘John and the Hole’ is a Tense Journey to Nowhere

Cait KennedyBy Cait Kennedy02/16/20214 Mins Read
John and the Hole - But Why Tho?
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

John and the Hole - But Why Tho?
John and the Hole is an unsettling and confusing debut from director Pascual Sisto. The film stars Charlie Shotwell, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, and Taissa Farmiga. The film, adapted from a short story, is an enigmatic psychological exercise made all the more compelling by the powerful performances in this intimately small cast.

John is thirteen and fascinated with the concept of adulthood. While exploring the woods behind his family’s home, John discovers the remnants of an incomplete bunker—just an empty, deep hole. Shortly after and without provocation, John drugs his affluent parents and older sister and drops them down into the hole. While his family waits—cold, filthy, and undernourished—for John to decide their fate, the boy tries on being a grown-up like a costume that doesn’t quite fit.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Everything in John and the Hole hinges on the mystique of John, himself.  Just when you think you recognize the trope, the film takes a turn that disorients the viewer and creates more questions than answers. As a young teen, John is quiet and awkward and seems to only have friends in his online games. Okay, we’ve seen this before. But, John also seems to have a good relationship with his parents and sister. He’s part of an average (hell, privileged) family. When John begins to experiment with drugging the family gardener another trope begins to emerge, that of the sadistic serial-killer-in-training. However, this also does not fully summarize John.

Throughout the film, John is shown to be dangerously calm. He is capable of acts that borderline on cruelty that are portrayed with the tension of not knowing what’s coming next. However, just before you can peg John as cold-blooded and calculating his vulnerability kicks in. The truth is that, despite the callousness and disregard of his actions, John is very much a scared and unsure kid. It’s the vulnerability that makes the character interesting.

As a viewer, we’re unsure what John’s motives are and that means we cannot place how we feel about his actions. Culturally, we may even be predisposed to think the best because he’s a teen. In pulling off the strange coming-of-age story that is John and the Hole, not knowing is essential to the experience.

One of the more interesting elements of John and the Hole is John’s mimicry of adulthood. In sort of a deranged take on Home Alone, John and the Hole sees John grappling with the wide-open possibility of having the house to himself and calling all the shots. John uses his newfound freedom to invite a friend over, to drive his dad’s luxury SUV around and listen to classical music, and buy a large television for his room. To be honest, it’s anticlimactic. So much of the film is spent hinting at John’s fascination with the trappings of adulthood. To see him take his chance, seize control, and then squander the opportunity is either a brilliant illustration of John’s naivete or a total waste.

Once you get outside of the mystery of John, John and the Hole has surprisingly little to offer. The cast is fantastic and there are lots of subtly great performances to be had, but we don’t get enough of that to sustain us. Interwoven into John’s story is a side-tale of a mother abandoning her daughter, citing that the little girl is ready to make it on her own. This aside is never explained or fully understood and, therefore, is only a flash of intrigue that weighs down the central plot.

It’s difficult to pass a final judgment on John and the Hole. What is there in terms of the character and the cast is fascinating and thoughtfully put forth. The film is comprised of several interesting parts that fail to come together into a compelling whole, or do not take the audience to any place in particular. A film that is sure to be polarizing, but that I can still fully recommend.

John and the Hole premiered on January 29 at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

John and the Hole
  • 5/10
    Rating - 5/10
5/10

TL;DR

It’s difficult to pass a final judgment on John and the Hole. What is there in terms of the character and the cast is fascinating and thoughtfully put forth. The film is comprised of several interesting parts that fail to come together into a compelling whole, or do not take the audience to any place in particular. A film that is sure to be polarizing, but that I can still fully recommend.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Future State: Superman: Worlds of War,’ Issue #2
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Forever Home’
Cait Kennedy
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • X (Twitter)

Caitlin is a sweater enthusiast, film critic, and lean, mean writing machine based in Austin, TX. Her love of film began with being shown Rosemary’s Baby at a particularly impressionable age and she’s been hooked ever since. She loves a good bourbon and hates people who talk in movies. Caitlin has been writing since 2014 and you can find her work on Film Inquiry, The Financial Diet, Nightmarish Conjurings, and many others. Follow her on Twitter at @CaitDoes.

Related Posts

Infinity Castle Demon Slayer Movie - promotional image from Crunchyroll
7.0

REVIEW: ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle’ Is Focused On Existing Fans

09/11/2025
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

09/11/2025
Natasha O’Keeffe in Whitetail
6.5

TIFF 2025: ‘Whitetail’ Is An Intimate View Of A Woman Stuck In Time

09/10/2025
Love Brooklyn
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Love, Brooklyn’ Rests on Pretty

09/10/2025
Park Jeong-min in The Ugly
7.0

TIFF 2025: ‘The Ugly’ Is A Harsh Exercise In Self-Reflection

09/09/2025
No Other Choice
9.0

TIFF 2025: ‘No Other Choice’ Delivers a Bleak Vision of Capitalism

09/09/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

By Kate Sánchez09/11/2025Updated:09/11/2025

The Long Walk is a brutal watch. Equally heartfelt and heartbreaking, it’s one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work.

EA Sports FC Icons Match promotional image from Nexon News

2025 Icons Match Returns With Football Legends Bridging The Pitch And Video Games

By Kate Sánchez09/03/2025Updated:09/03/2025

NEXON has announced the return of the ‘2025 Icons Match,’ a live event that brings a full roster of legendary players to the pitch.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11
8.5
Anime

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 11 – “Hey, It’s a Kaiju”

By Allyson Johnson09/11/2025

The ragtag group faces down the mysterious kaiju in the thrilling and beautifully animated DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here