The Hole - Thoughts

I’d heard about this British made Psychological Thriller a couple of years ago, and have had it on my list of to watch movies since. Being rather unpopular it was hard to find a DVD. Not being priority it kept getting put off up until a few days ago when I downloaded and watched it. It tells the story of 3 rebellious teenagers, who with the help of the school nerd Martin, get access to a war bunker which they stay in while the school makes a field trip to Wales. Martin facilitates this in exchange for money and the condition that his friend Liz joins them. The 4 have a great time initially, but then the 3 days pass and Martin doesn’t return for them. With no one knowing their whereabouts, all they can do is wait and hope that someone finds them.


The movie is true to its genre and has some dark psychological elements to it. It’s quite slow, and at times lacks the required thrill elements to keep viewers engaged. My assumption would be that it was low budget, especially with the limited shooting environments. What’s pleasant was that the plot was unique and different from the usual group of teens, out on holiday, getting knocked off one by one. The story is based on a novel by Guy Burt, which I suppose should also be good. Most of the story is exposed by means of flashbacks; a retelling of events by the main character Liz. Some of the events need to be covered again, and story elements change with each iteration. If you’re one for slow suspenseful thrillers, and can gradually enjoy it as it gets bizarre and bordering evil you’ll appreciate The Hole. As the movie progresses you’ll come to understand some unexpected turns and changes. Towards the latter part, scenes inside the bunker get moderately gruesome; be warned.

The 4 main characters are Elizabeth Dunn (Thora Birch), Frances Almond Smith a.k.a. Frankie (Keira Knightley), Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), and Geoff Bingham (Laurence Fox). Frankie and Geoff have an existing intimate relationship, when the story starts. Liz has a crush on Mike, who is American and the son of a rock star. Mike was recently dumped by his model girlfriend, and Liz sees this as her best opportunity to make a play for Mike. Her extreme need to be with and be noticed by Mike, is what fuels and drives the entire story. As the narrative progresses, with each retelling of the events, the 4 characters personalities and behaviors keep changing. All 4 actors adapt quite well, and play multiple variations of their role very convincingly. For Keira Knightley this was one of her early movies, prior to her fame from Bend It Like Beckham, and The Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy. For Thora Birch, this was subsequent to her role from the hugely successful American Beauty. As for the male leads, this was their first appearance on screen, and the only one to date.

The movie I was watching was a DivX rip. I was unable to place my hands on an original DVD, and purchasing a copy off Amazon and having it shipped seemed like too much trouble. The video rip quality was average to good. Greens and Blue’s seemed prominent and the original DVD should be decently vibrant (as expected of most DivX rips, this was lost in part during the rip downgrade). Many scenes inside the hole were dark, and shadowy grays made viewing definition poor. This should be better on the original DVD. Sound was good; though limited it added the right mood and ambience to create a suitably eerie feel. There was a single theme score that kept playing, which again was daunting and fit well. Unfortunately the rip only had stereo audio and thus surround could not be tested. Needless to say watching and further reviewing a DivX rip saddens me deeply, but such is life and its limitations sometimes!

My Recommendation: Dicey (Not for those who enjoy straightforward plots, and conventionally happy endings)