Overview
A tale of fate, family, and friendship unfolds in the harsh desert landscape.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- adventurous
- dusty
- family movie night
- lazy weekend
What critics said
Critics broadly found it an imaginative, intelligent, faithful adaptation with strong storytelling, visual scale, and meaningful social depth.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Stanley’s experience at Camp Green Lake is connected to Elya Yelnats and Madame Zeroni through the family curse and the camp’s buried history.
The Warden claims that digging holes builds character while secretly forcing detained boys to search the dry lake bed.
Camp Green Lake occupies a rainless, dried lake bed where endless digging dominates the boys’ daily lives.
The Yelnats family curse begins with Elya’s failure to repay Madame Zeroni and shapes Stanley’s quest for resolution.
Films like Holes, and why
The Goonies
shared family adventure, coming-of-age themes, friendship, and a young protagonist confronting an unjust institution
The City of Ember
shared young adult adventure, mystery, historical secrets, and emotionally uplifting discovery
The Mummy
shared family-friendly desert adventure, comic peril, moral growth, and a buried-object mystery
The Mighty
shared coming-of-age drama, institutional injustice, friendship, and redemptive storytelling
Movie Details
- Director
- Andrew Davis
- Release Date
- 2003-04-18
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (1603)
Cast
- Shia LaBeouf
- Khleo Thomas
- Sigourney Weaver
- Jon Voight
- Tim Blake Nelson
- Patricia Arquette
- Dulé Hill
- Henry Winkler
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan
- Eartha Kitt
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Hulu, Disney Plus, fuboTV
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Holes about?
- At a brutal desert detention camp, a falsely accused boy uncovers a buried mystery linking his family curse to the institution exploiting him.
- What is Holes like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Holes as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Holes violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Holes as mild.
- What did critics think of Holes?
- Critics broadly found it an imaginative, intelligent, faithful adaptation with strong storytelling, visual scale, and meaningful social depth.
- Which films are like Holes?
- Films with a similar feel include The Goonies, The City of Ember, The Mummy, and The Mighty.
- How long is Holes?
- Holes runs 117 minutes.
- Where can I watch Holes?
- In United States, Holes streams on Hulu, Disney Plus, fuboTV.
