Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- foreboding
- austere
- unsettling
- late night cinephile viewing
- disturbing thriller marathon
What critics said
Critics recognized a chilling central performance, atmospheric direction, and provocative ambiguity, while finding the film's unresolved questions divisive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
John's apparently unmotivated act and the film's unresolved questions deny a single explanatory reading.
John calmly drugs and confines his family while remaining strikingly opaque and emotionally remote.
The unfinished bunker transforms a privileged family conflict into literal confinement beneath the woods.
The deep, unfinished hole functions as both a concrete prison and a recurring image of incompletion and uncertainty.
Films like John and the Hole, and why
The Reflecting Skin
unsettling coming-of-age drama built around adolescent alienation, family dysfunction, and ambiguity
We Need to Talk About Kevin
psychological family thriller using a child's perspective, suburban unease, and disturbing emotional detachment
The Lodge
atmospheric art-house horror with an isolated child, opaque motives, and destabilizing family dynamics
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
ambiguous psychological drama about childhood, autonomy, and a troubling relationship between innocence and cruelty
Movie Details
- Director
- Pascual Sisto
- Release Date
- 2021-08-06
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Rating
- 5.4 / 10 (188)
Cast
- Charlie Shotwell
- Taissa Farmiga
- Jennifer Ehle
- Michael C. Hall
- Lucien Spelman
- Ivy O'Brien
- Pamela Jayne Morgan
- Georgia Lyman
- Samantha LeBretton
- Tamara Hickey
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, 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 John and the Hole about?
- A detached thirteen-year-old turns an unfinished bunker into a private laboratory for family power, autonomy, and adolescent cruelty.
- What is John and the Hole like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of John and the Hole as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is John and the Hole violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in John and the Hole as mild.
- What did critics think of John and the Hole?
- Critics recognized a chilling central performance, atmospheric direction, and provocative ambiguity, while finding the film's unresolved questions divisive.
- Which films are like John and the Hole?
- Films with a similar feel include The Reflecting Skin, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Lodge, and The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.
- How long is John and the Hole?
- John and the Hole runs 103 minutes.
- Where can I watch John and the Hole?
- In United States, John and the Hole streams on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now.
