The Devil is in the Details.
After kicking off April with discussions of Matt Damon’s demon twink in The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen) and the perfect balance of horror and comedy in John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London (listen), we’re heading over to Netflix to look at Ciarán Foy‘s horror version of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble in the 2019 film Eli.
In the film, a young boy with a rare autoimmune disease named Eli (Charlie Shotwell) is brought by his parents (Kelly Reilly and Max Martini) to a private medical facility owned by Dr. Isabella Horn (Lili Taylor). After beginning an experimental medical procedure to cure him, Eli begins experiencing strange, seemingly threatening hallucinations of Dr. Horn’s past patients, and must figure out what’s really going on beore it’s too late.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday.
After kicking off April with discussions of Matt Damon’s demon twink in The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen) and the perfect balance of horror and comedy in John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London (listen), we’re heading over to Netflix to look at Ciarán Foy‘s horror version of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble in the 2019 film Eli.
In the film, a young boy with a rare autoimmune disease named Eli (Charlie Shotwell) is brought by his parents (Kelly Reilly and Max Martini) to a private medical facility owned by Dr. Isabella Horn (Lili Taylor). After beginning an experimental medical procedure to cure him, Eli begins experiencing strange, seemingly threatening hallucinations of Dr. Horn’s past patients, and must figure out what’s really going on beore it’s too late.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday.
- 4/22/2024
- by Trace Thurman
- bloody-disgusting.com
Of all of the young actors to break through thanks to the success of "Stranger Things," Sadie Sink has had arguably one of the most interesting career trajectories. Sink got her start on Broadway playing the titular role of "Annie," and had a handful of TV appearances on shows like "The Americans" and "Blue Bloods" before nabbing a main role in "American Odyssey." Unfortunately, that show only lasted one season, canceled by NBC only two days after the season finale. When Sink was cast as Max Mayfield on "Stranger Things" in season 2, she immediately became a fan favorite. Max has become the bleeding heart of the series, and her popularity even prevented show creators, The Duffer Brothers, from killing off the character in season 4 as originally planned.
Following "Stranger Things," Sink has continued to thrive by starring in "Fear Street: 1978," Taylor Swift's short film, "All Too Well," Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale,...
Following "Stranger Things," Sink has continued to thrive by starring in "Fear Street: 1978," Taylor Swift's short film, "All Too Well," Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale,...
- 8/7/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Robert Lorenz has directed the upcoming Irish thriller movie n the Land of Saints and Sinners plot of which is set in a remote Irish village and revolves around an assassin who has recently retired and now finds himself entangled in a lethal cat-and-mouse game with three vengeful terrorists.
Liam Neeson, Ciarán Hinds, Kerry Condon, Jack Gleeson, Sarah Greene, and Colm Meaney are cast members of the upcoming movie. It is set to be released in October of 2023.
Following is a list of other movies that you might give a try if you are waiting for In the Land of Saints And Sinners.
Also Read: Top 10 Movies Like Heart of Stone.
Top 10 Movies Like In the Land of Saints and Sinners. ’71 (2014)- Variety
Yann Demange directed this British thriller movie as her directorial debut. The plot is set in Belfast of Northern Ireland and revolves around a young British soldier...
Liam Neeson, Ciarán Hinds, Kerry Condon, Jack Gleeson, Sarah Greene, and Colm Meaney are cast members of the upcoming movie. It is set to be released in October of 2023.
Following is a list of other movies that you might give a try if you are waiting for In the Land of Saints And Sinners.
Also Read: Top 10 Movies Like Heart of Stone.
Top 10 Movies Like In the Land of Saints and Sinners. ’71 (2014)- Variety
Yann Demange directed this British thriller movie as her directorial debut. The plot is set in Belfast of Northern Ireland and revolves around a young British soldier...
- 7/27/2023
- by Suvechchha Saha
- https://dailyresearchplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/new-sam
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Al Madrigal, Zaris-Angel Hator, Charlie Shotwell, Joseph Esson, Joanna Burnett | Written by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless | Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Ok, I’ll be honest. I read the reviews, I saw the fall out of the films theatrical run. But…but… Morbius is one of my all-time favourite Marvel characters alongside Moon Knight, Taskmaster and Man-Thing. So I just Had to see Sony’s Morbius movie for myself.
So what’s the verdict?
Well for a start, Morbius feels like half a movie. Yes, half a movie. The ending is so abrupt that it felt like we were missing an epilogue, a conclusion. Hell, even a real set-up for a sequel beyond a brief flash of Something (which I shall not spoil) and a couple of post-credits sequences that try their damnedest to tie Morbius into the Marvel cinematic universe.
Ok, I’ll be honest. I read the reviews, I saw the fall out of the films theatrical run. But…but… Morbius is one of my all-time favourite Marvel characters alongside Moon Knight, Taskmaster and Man-Thing. So I just Had to see Sony’s Morbius movie for myself.
So what’s the verdict?
Well for a start, Morbius feels like half a movie. Yes, half a movie. The ending is so abrupt that it felt like we were missing an epilogue, a conclusion. Hell, even a real set-up for a sequel beyond a brief flash of Something (which I shall not spoil) and a couple of post-credits sequences that try their damnedest to tie Morbius into the Marvel cinematic universe.
- 5/20/2022
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Morbius Review — Morbius (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless and starring Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Al Madrigal, Michael Keaton, Zaris-Angel Hator, Joe Ferrara, Charlie Shotwell, Joseph Esson, Jason Rennie, Oliver Bodur, Tom Forbes, Clara Rosager and [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Morbius (2022): Jared Leto Sinks His Teeth Into a Juicy Leading Role In an Adequately Made Film...
Continue reading: Film Review: Morbius (2022): Jared Leto Sinks His Teeth Into a Juicy Leading Role In an Adequately Made Film...
- 4/9/2022
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Al Madrigal, Zaris-Angel Hator, Charlie Shotwell, Joseph Esson, Joanna Burnett | Written by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless | Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease.
Ok, I’ll be honest. I’ve read the tweets, and I’ve seen the other reviews. But…but… Morbius is one of my all-time favourite Marvel characters alongside Moon Knight, Taskmaster and Man-Thing. So I just Had to see Sony’s Morbius movie for myself.
So what’s the verdict?
Well for a start, Morbius feels like half a movie. Yes, half a movie. The ending is so abrupt that it felt like we were missing an epilogue,...
Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease.
Ok, I’ll be honest. I’ve read the tweets, and I’ve seen the other reviews. But…but… Morbius is one of my all-time favourite Marvel characters alongside Moon Knight, Taskmaster and Man-Thing. So I just Had to see Sony’s Morbius movie for myself.
So what’s the verdict?
Well for a start, Morbius feels like half a movie. Yes, half a movie. The ending is so abrupt that it felt like we were missing an epilogue,...
- 4/4/2022
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
The Spider-Verse was already growing unwieldy long before the concept of the multiverse was so forcefully injected into the adventures of Peter Parker (and Peter Parker and Peter Parker) in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (a Sony film). Before that, it was bandied about in the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe (a Disney franchise), hinted at in “Into the Spider-Verse” (Sony), nodded to in the “Venom” films (Sony), and mined for still more material in the various Marvel television series. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin, and that’s even with the generous help of the internet itself, rife with Wikipedia pages and explainers and timelines galore.
Now the Spider-Verse again expands, thanks to Sony’s long-delayed “Morbius,” ostensibly a Spidey spin-off set in a universe where Spider-Man doesn’t exist, but human-created vampirism does. Sure! DC may have long ago laid claim to the concept of a bat/man,...
Now the Spider-Verse again expands, thanks to Sony’s long-delayed “Morbius,” ostensibly a Spidey spin-off set in a universe where Spider-Man doesn’t exist, but human-created vampirism does. Sure! DC may have long ago laid claim to the concept of a bat/man,...
- 3/31/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The passage from childhood freedom to adult responsibility can be a difficult time for anyone, regardless of their family and social circumstances. Last summer’s slow-burn psychological thriller, ‘John and the Hole’ offers an enigmatic, unsettling and meditative exploration into the angst associated with adolescence and coming-of-age in modern-day America. ‘John and the Hole’ was written […]
The post Actor Charlie Shotwell Explores the Freedoms and Challenges of Coming-of-Age in John and the Hole Blu-Ray Giveaway appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Actor Charlie Shotwell Explores the Freedoms and Challenges of Coming-of-Age in John and the Hole Blu-Ray Giveaway appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 3/15/2022
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, will release IFC Films’ John And The Hole on DVD and Blu-Ray March 15, 2022! This psychological thriller is directed by Pascual Sisto (Océano) and stars Charlie Shotwell (Captain Fantastic), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story), and Jennifer Ehle (A Quiet Passion)! In this …
The post John And The Hole | Available on DVD and Blu-Ray March 15, 2022! appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
The post John And The Hole | Available on DVD and Blu-Ray March 15, 2022! appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
- 3/3/2022
- by Adrian Halen
- Horror News
"We all have monsters within us... it's up to us to control it." Sony Pictures has revealed the third & final official trailer for Morbius, co-produced by Marvel Studios starring Jared Leto as the "superhero" known as Morbius the Living Vampire. The story follows a brilliant biochemist named Michael Morbius who tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead. And thus he becomes "the living vampire" - though is he a villain or a hero? The cast includes Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Charlie Shotwell, and Tyrese Gibson. We posted the first trailer for this way back in 2020, and after numerous delays it's finally set to open in April this year. Sony really wants this to be another epic Marvel hit but this just doesn't seem to have the chops to pull that off. They even put...
- 2/28/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Morbius Trailer 2 — Columbia Pictures has released the second movie trailer for Morbius (2022). View here the Morbius teaser trailer. Cast and crew Daniel Espinosa‘s Morbius stars Jared Leto, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Matt Smith, Tyrese Gibson, Corey Johnson, Tom Forbes, Al Madrigal, Charlie Shotwell, and Michael Keaton. Matt Sazama and Burk [...]
Continue reading: Morbius (2022) Movie Trailer 2: The Cure to Jared Leto’s Rare Blood Disease Turns Him into a Monster in Marvel’s Film...
Continue reading: Morbius (2022) Movie Trailer 2: The Cure to Jared Leto’s Rare Blood Disease Turns Him into a Monster in Marvel’s Film...
- 11/2/2021
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
"We have to push the boundaries, take the risks..." Sony Pictures has debuted the second official trailer for Morbius, co-produced by Marvel Studios starring Jared Leto as the "superhero" known as Morbius the Living Vampire. A bit like Doctor Strange mashed up with Batman, the story follows a brilliant biochemist named Michael Morbius who tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but then inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead. And thus he becomes "the living vampire". The cast also includes Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Charlie Shotwell, and Tyrese Gibson. We posted the first trailer for this way back in 2020, when it was set for release last year. Before all the delays. Now it's set to open in early 2022. They're hoping this will be another "superhero" hit, but it all just looks so strange. Hard to tell how many will be into this character.
- 11/2/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
A teenager coolly assumes control of his family in this satirical thriller from Spanish artist Pascual Sisto
What does it feel like to be an adult? That’s the question haunting a privileged, empathy-free adolescent in this chillingly satirical feature from the Spanish film-maker and visual artist Pascual Sisto. Adapted by screenwriter and co-producer Nicolás Giacobone (whose screen credits include Biutiful and Birdman) from his short story El Pozo, John and the Hole combines riffs from dime-a-dozen entrapment horrors with the absurdist unease of European art-house cinema and a strong thread of fairytale yarn-spinning. While the result may not be quite as deep as the cavern at the centre of the story, it has an enticing sliver of ice at its heart.
Sisto opens with a 4x3 closeup on the face of 13-year-old John as an offscreen teacher demands: “What’s the square root of 225?” “I don’t know,” John replies,...
What does it feel like to be an adult? That’s the question haunting a privileged, empathy-free adolescent in this chillingly satirical feature from the Spanish film-maker and visual artist Pascual Sisto. Adapted by screenwriter and co-producer Nicolás Giacobone (whose screen credits include Biutiful and Birdman) from his short story El Pozo, John and the Hole combines riffs from dime-a-dozen entrapment horrors with the absurdist unease of European art-house cinema and a strong thread of fairytale yarn-spinning. While the result may not be quite as deep as the cavern at the centre of the story, it has an enticing sliver of ice at its heart.
Sisto opens with a 4x3 closeup on the face of 13-year-old John as an offscreen teacher demands: “What’s the square root of 225?” “I don’t know,” John replies,...
- 10/10/2021
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Spanish artist Pascual Sisto’s fable of a boy holding his family hostage is well made, but it revolves around a tiresome cop-out
Spanish artist and film-maker Pascual Sisto made his directing debut with this movie, written for the screen by Nicolás Giacobone, known for his script collaborations with Alejandro González Iñárritu: it was selected for the First Features section of the Covid-cancelled 2020 Cannes film festival. John and the Hole is well enough photographed and acted, but is really an oppressive and exasperatingly pointless piece of work, without consistency or the courage of its realist convictions.
John (Charlie Shotwell), is a 13-year-old kid in a well-to-do American family (cue traditional tense family dinner scenes) whose main interest is tennis. He is clearly alienated from dad Brad (Michael C Hall), mum Anna (Jennifer Ehle) and elder sister Laurie (Taissa Farmiga). Moody, lonely John one day discovers a large, concrete-lined hole in neighbouring woodland,...
Spanish artist and film-maker Pascual Sisto made his directing debut with this movie, written for the screen by Nicolás Giacobone, known for his script collaborations with Alejandro González Iñárritu: it was selected for the First Features section of the Covid-cancelled 2020 Cannes film festival. John and the Hole is well enough photographed and acted, but is really an oppressive and exasperatingly pointless piece of work, without consistency or the courage of its realist convictions.
John (Charlie Shotwell), is a 13-year-old kid in a well-to-do American family (cue traditional tense family dinner scenes) whose main interest is tennis. He is clearly alienated from dad Brad (Michael C Hall), mum Anna (Jennifer Ehle) and elder sister Laurie (Taissa Farmiga). Moody, lonely John one day discovers a large, concrete-lined hole in neighbouring woodland,...
- 10/6/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation has inked new key deals on psychological thriller “John and the Hole,” directed by one of Variety’s top 10 directors to watch, Pascual Sisto. The film is written by Nicolás Giacobone, an Academy Award winner with “Birdman,” adapted from his short story “El Pozo.”
The Cannes 2020 title, which also screened in Sundance and recently played in competition at the Deauville American Film Festival, where it won the Louis Roederer prize of the Révélation jury, sold in France to Ace Entertainment, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Koch Films, in Scandinavia to Njuta Films, in Latin America to Synapse Distribution, and in Africa to Gravel Road Distribution Group.
Previous deals included the U.K. with Vertigo Releasing, Australia/New Zealand with Rialto Distribution, and South Korea with The Coup. IFC Midnight released the film in the U.S. earlier this past month.
Described by...
The Cannes 2020 title, which also screened in Sundance and recently played in competition at the Deauville American Film Festival, where it won the Louis Roederer prize of the Révélation jury, sold in France to Ace Entertainment, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Koch Films, in Scandinavia to Njuta Films, in Latin America to Synapse Distribution, and in Africa to Gravel Road Distribution Group.
Previous deals included the U.K. with Vertigo Releasing, Australia/New Zealand with Rialto Distribution, and South Korea with The Coup. IFC Midnight released the film in the U.S. earlier this past month.
Described by...
- 9/14/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
A dark Surrey manor house gives its new American family a chilly welcome in Sean Durkin’s 80s-set ghost story cum emotional parable
Is it a ghost story? A parable of family dysfunction? Or perhaps a fever dream of neoliberalism’s troubled birth in the Thatcher-Reagan 80s and the special relationship of greed and good? Or is this rivetingly strange movie an adaptation of some 70s or 80s novel that we had somehow all forgotten about: something by Iris Murdoch, or maybe Piers Paul Read? The Nest’s director is film-maker Sean Durkin, his first since the intriguing quasi-Manson cult drama Martha Marcy May Marlene from 2011, and however much it feels like an adaptation, this is his own original screenplay – and very original.
The setting is the mid-1980s, with news about President Reagan on the radio and everyone smoking indoors, and the story begins in the handsome suburban home...
Is it a ghost story? A parable of family dysfunction? Or perhaps a fever dream of neoliberalism’s troubled birth in the Thatcher-Reagan 80s and the special relationship of greed and good? Or is this rivetingly strange movie an adaptation of some 70s or 80s novel that we had somehow all forgotten about: something by Iris Murdoch, or maybe Piers Paul Read? The Nest’s director is film-maker Sean Durkin, his first since the intriguing quasi-Manson cult drama Martha Marcy May Marlene from 2011, and however much it feels like an adaptation, this is his own original screenplay – and very original.
The setting is the mid-1980s, with news about President Reagan on the radio and everyone smoking indoors, and the story begins in the handsome suburban home...
- 8/27/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Title: John and the Hole Director: Pascual Sisto Starring: Charlie Shotwell, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, Taissa Farmiga, Ben O’Brien, Lucien Spelman, Tamara Hickey There is an abundance of weird, discordant energy coursing through the minds and bodies of adolescents, perhaps especially males, even before the hormonal kick of puberty takes over. One needn’t be […]
The post John and the Hole Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post John and the Hole Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 8/20/2021
- by Brent Simon
- ShockYa
Bluntly titled but mysterious all the same, John and the Hole marks the directorial debut of visual artist Pascual Sisto. Originally set to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, the film finally premiered (albeit virtually) at Sundance this past January. Played by lead actor Charlie Shotwell (Captain Fantastic), suburban pre-teen John appears content with his suburban life. He lives in a beautiful Massachusetts home with his parents (Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle) and sister (Taissa Farmiga), surrounded by nature and endless open space, complete with an underground bunker (the hole of the film’s title) built in the yard […]
The post “A 12-Year-Old is Not Going to Know What an Existential Crisis Is”: Pascual Sisto on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A 12-Year-Old is Not Going to Know What an Existential Crisis Is”: Pascual Sisto on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/10/2021
- by Erik Luers
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Bluntly titled but mysterious all the same, John and the Hole marks the directorial debut of visual artist Pascual Sisto. Originally set to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, the film finally premiered (albeit virtually) at Sundance this past January. Played by lead actor Charlie Shotwell (Captain Fantastic), suburban pre-teen John appears content with his suburban life. He lives in a beautiful Massachusetts home with his parents (Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle) and sister (Taissa Farmiga), surrounded by nature and endless open space, complete with an underground bunker (the hole of the film’s title) built in the yard […]
The post “A 12-Year-Old is Not Going to Know What an Existential Crisis Is”: Pascual Sisto on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A 12-Year-Old is Not Going to Know What an Existential Crisis Is”: Pascual Sisto on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/10/2021
- by Erik Luers
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
It was a triumphant second weekend for indie Stillwater from Focus Features, which hit the $10 million mark in 2,611 theatres (up by 80) and 233 Dma’s in North America, where it was no. 5. The Matt Damon-starrer held up strongly from its debut, dipping 45% — compared with a 64% drop for The Green Knight and a 55% decline for Jungle Cruise. Stillwater’s run may not be not specialty-small, but deserves a shout-out here for a standout performance. The complex drama garnered Damon a standing ovation in Cannes but had some concerned at the film’s theatrical prospects in a wide-release battle against big studio franchises on one hand and smaller arthouse fare on the other.
Damon plays an unemployed Oklahoma oil rig worker who travels to Marseille to help his daughter (Abigail Breslin) who’s in prison for murder. The film continued to resonate in the South and Midwest with the top five highest-grossing...
Damon plays an unemployed Oklahoma oil rig worker who travels to Marseille to help his daughter (Abigail Breslin) who’s in prison for murder. The film continued to resonate in the South and Midwest with the top five highest-grossing...
- 8/8/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
What exactly makes John tick, or even what he is thinking remains inscrutable throughout the course of this unsettling psychodrama, not just to us but, you sense, to the young teenager as well. His mum (Jennifer Ehle) calls him "baby", his dad (Michael C Hall) "buddy" and we see, as the film unfolds elliptically, that the youngster feels the weight of expectation from teachers who want to know how he reached a maths conclusion or the tennis coach who urges him to "focus" and "follow through".
John's thought processes - from how he calculates the square root of 225 to why he does what he does through the course of the film - remain opaque to us, in the same way that adulthood holds an enigmatic draw for him, even if...
John's thought processes - from how he calculates the square root of 225 to why he does what he does through the course of the film - remain opaque to us, in the same way that adulthood holds an enigmatic draw for him, even if...
- 8/7/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
The Hottest August (Brett Story)
Where better than New York City to make a structuralist film? Cities are iterative, their street grids diagrams of theme and variation, and New York most of all—with its streets and avenues named for numbers and letters and states and cities and presidents and Revolutionary War generals spanning an archipelago, intersecting at a million little data points at which to measure class, race, culture, history, architecture and infrastructure. And time, too—from this human density emerge daily and seasonal rituals, a set of biorhythms, reliable as the earth’s, against which to mark gradual shifts and momentary fashions. Summer is for lounging on fire escapes, always, and, today, for Mister Softee. Yesterday it was shaved ice.
The Hottest August (Brett Story)
Where better than New York City to make a structuralist film? Cities are iterative, their street grids diagrams of theme and variation, and New York most of all—with its streets and avenues named for numbers and letters and states and cities and presidents and Revolutionary War generals spanning an archipelago, intersecting at a million little data points at which to measure class, race, culture, history, architecture and infrastructure. And time, too—from this human density emerge daily and seasonal rituals, a set of biorhythms, reliable as the earth’s, against which to mark gradual shifts and momentary fashions. Summer is for lounging on fire escapes, always, and, today, for Mister Softee. Yesterday it was shaved ice.
- 8/6/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
August is here, and with its first weekend comes just one new wide releaseThe Suicide Squad, the follow-up to Suicide Squad, which had the biggest August opening ever ($133.7 million) in 2016 in the same frame. A lot has changed since then, and that opening is bigger than any single weekend’s combined box office total this year. While the box office does not seem to have taken a hit due to concerns over rising Covid cases in recent weeks, recovery has still been slow, and expectations are muted for the latest film in the DC Extended Universe.
James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) steps into the director’s chair for the standalone installment which is somewhere in between being a sequel and a reboot. It sees the return of Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, and Viola Davis, but otherwise it’s a new cast of actors and characters. Gone is...
James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) steps into the director’s chair for the standalone installment which is somewhere in between being a sequel and a reboot. It sees the return of Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, and Viola Davis, but otherwise it’s a new cast of actors and characters. Gone is...
- 8/5/2021
- by Sam Mendelsohn <mail@boxofficemojo.com>
- Box Office Mojo
The expressionless face of a longhaired teenage boy stares at the unconscious body of his family’s gardener. He holds a heavy stick menacingly, and at that point we are not certain what he is going to do with it.
In “John and the Hole,” Spanish director Pascual Sisto toys with the viewer’s predisposition to think violence will ensue throughout his intriguing psychodrama about the threshold between childhood and adulthood.
That fear that things might go awry is not unfounded, as the calibrated plot of the screenplay by Argentine writer Nicolás Giacobone (“Birdman”) astutely conceives situations that constantly hint at the possibility of a gruesome turn. However, and surely intentionally on the artists’ part, that read of what’s on screen might depend partially on one’s jaded adult worldview.
While flying a high-tech drone, 13-year-old John (Charlie Shotwell), a hard-to-read adolescent, discovers a bunker, a hole in the ground,...
In “John and the Hole,” Spanish director Pascual Sisto toys with the viewer’s predisposition to think violence will ensue throughout his intriguing psychodrama about the threshold between childhood and adulthood.
That fear that things might go awry is not unfounded, as the calibrated plot of the screenplay by Argentine writer Nicolás Giacobone (“Birdman”) astutely conceives situations that constantly hint at the possibility of a gruesome turn. However, and surely intentionally on the artists’ part, that read of what’s on screen might depend partially on one’s jaded adult worldview.
While flying a high-tech drone, 13-year-old John (Charlie Shotwell), a hard-to-read adolescent, discovers a bunker, a hole in the ground,...
- 8/5/2021
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
Visual artist Pascual Sisto’s feature debut “John and the Hole” hits theaters Aug. 6 after a long wait — the IFC release was a prestigious Cannes 2020 Label selection, and it also played at Sundance earlier this year. Sisto was also named one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2021. A cross between an unnerving fable and thriller, “John and the Hole” is written by Nicolás Giacobone, who adapted the screenplay from his short story “El Pozo.” Film stars Charlie Shotwell as a young teen who traps his family in an abandoned underground bunker and plays at being an adult. Film also stars Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle and Taissa Farmiga. Sisto came to the U.S. from Spain to study filmmaking and is also an accomplished artist, having mounted exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe. Sisto talked to Variety over the phone recently. The conversation has been edited for length.
- 8/5/2021
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
John and the Hole Mutressa Movies & 311 Productions Reviewed by Tami Smith, Film Reviewer for Shockya Grade: B Director: Pascual Sisto Screenwriter: Nicolas Giacobone, adapted from his short story El pozo Cast: Charlie Shotwell, Jennifer Ehle, Michael C. Hall, Taissa Farmiga, Tamara Hickey Release Date: August 6th, 2021 His father calls him Buddy, his […]
The post John and the Hole Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post John and the Hole Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 8/4/2021
- by Tami Smith
- ShockYa
Hello, dear readers! As we head into the dog days of summer, if you need a way to beat the heat, why not stay in and catch some horror and sci-fi movies from the comfort of your own home? Here’s a look at all the great titles headed to VOD and Digital throughout the month of August, featuring an array of films headed to Shudder, Netflix, Amazon, and a variety of digital rental platforms.
Happy streaming!
Man Under Table (Arrow) - Streaming Exclusively on Arrow August 2nd
Guy is writing a movie, or so he claims in bars, parties, pretty much wherever he can. Guy eventually stumbles into the path of Indie darling Jill Custard and her lackey Ben who endlessly accosts him and pulls him into projects that are not his own. Frazzled and frustrated, Guy decides to join forces with a washed up neverbeen Gerald, and the...
Happy streaming!
Man Under Table (Arrow) - Streaming Exclusively on Arrow August 2nd
Guy is writing a movie, or so he claims in bars, parties, pretty much wherever he can. Guy eventually stumbles into the path of Indie darling Jill Custard and her lackey Ben who endlessly accosts him and pulls him into projects that are not his own. Frazzled and frustrated, Guy decides to join forces with a washed up neverbeen Gerald, and the...
- 7/30/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The Nest is a familial drama about wealth and lies, but this isn’t some earnest bore. It is a film of tone – thick, resonant tone. Each sequence is loaded with doubt and foreboding, which are hallmark sensibilities of director Sean Durkin, a filmmaker with a special flair for reality.
The camera is an important part of this naturalistic aura, and like Martha Marcy May Marlene, his debut feature from 2011, The Nest is a visually stunning piece of work. Durkin uses not Jody Lee Lipes, his cinematographer from Martha, but the Hungarian Dop Matya Erdely, who framed the nightmarish Holocaust drama Son of Saul. Erdely’s images are wide, colourful and flooded with natural light, making good use of the impressive locations that are mocked up to emulate 1980s England.
We know that it is the 1980s because of refreshingly subtle cues, such as news bulletins, boxy German saloons, and...
The camera is an important part of this naturalistic aura, and like Martha Marcy May Marlene, his debut feature from 2011, The Nest is a visually stunning piece of work. Durkin uses not Jody Lee Lipes, his cinematographer from Martha, but the Hungarian Dop Matya Erdely, who framed the nightmarish Holocaust drama Son of Saul. Erdely’s images are wide, colourful and flooded with natural light, making good use of the impressive locations that are mocked up to emulate 1980s England.
We know that it is the 1980s because of refreshingly subtle cues, such as news bulletins, boxy German saloons, and...
- 7/27/2021
- by Jack Hawkins
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
It’s a ubiquitous feeling to want to rebel against your family, especially as a teenager, but a new psychological drama takes things to another level. Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole, starring Charlie Shotwell, Michael C. Hall, and Jennifer Ehle, finds a son trapping his family in a hole nearby their house, unable to escape as he explores what newfound freedom is like. Following a Sundance premiere and ahead of a release early next month from IFC Films, the first trailer has arrive.
“So in a joke conversation, I think our screenwriter Nicolás Giacobone brought up that it’s like Michael Haneke’s Home Alone, but in a way that to some people that really struck through and they really understood it, because obviously, it’s none of both in a way, but it has the austerity of Michael Haneke, in some ways,” Sisto told us. “The one...
“So in a joke conversation, I think our screenwriter Nicolás Giacobone brought up that it’s like Michael Haneke’s Home Alone, but in a way that to some people that really struck through and they really understood it, because obviously, it’s none of both in a way, but it has the austerity of Michael Haneke, in some ways,” Sisto told us. “The one...
- 7/19/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
“John and the Hole” drops you into the eerie, ethereal world of a young boy who keeps his family captive in a trench in the ground, and doesn’t let you out. The boy is played by Charlie Shotwell, and his family by Jennifer Ehle, Taissa Farmiga, and Michael C. Hall. The latter three spend the majority of the movie trapped in a pit, crawling up the walls, and squirming in their own filth. The film was an official selection of the canceled 2020 Cannes Film Festival before finally world-premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2021. Ahead of the movie’s release on August 6 from IFC Films in theaters and on demand, watch the trailer below.
The film is directed by Pascual Sisto and written by Nicolas Giacobone, an Academy Award winner for co-writing “Birdman.” Though post-production wrapped just before lockdown took over, the film does emerge as a metaphor for the pandemic in hindsight.
The film is directed by Pascual Sisto and written by Nicolas Giacobone, an Academy Award winner for co-writing “Birdman.” Though post-production wrapped just before lockdown took over, the film does emerge as a metaphor for the pandemic in hindsight.
- 7/17/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
John and the Hole Trailer — Pascual Sisto‘s John and the Hole (2021) movie trailer has been released by IFC Films. The John and the Hole trailer stars Charlie Shotwell, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, Taissa Farmiga, Pamela Jayne Morgan, Lucien Spelman, Georgia Lyman, Samantha LeBretton, Tamara Hickey, Ben O’Brien, and Elijah [...]
Continue reading: John And The Hole (2021) Movie Trailer: Charlie Shotwell Puts Michael C. Hall & the Rest of His Family in a Hole...
Continue reading: John And The Hole (2021) Movie Trailer: Charlie Shotwell Puts Michael C. Hall & the Rest of His Family in a Hole...
- 7/17/2021
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
"This is your life, John. This is what you want to do. This could be who you are." IFC Films has unveiled the first official trailer for the chilling low-key drama John and the Hole, which originally premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This received some rave reviews out of Sundance, and was initially select as part of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival line-up before it was cancelled. The pitch: a coming-of-age psychological thriller that plays out the unsettling reality of a kid who holds his family captive in a hole in the ground. Pascual Sisto's John and the Hole is a very slick, nuanced film about much more than just teenage angst, as there's layers upon layers of subtext regarding what he's doing and how it relates to the world we live in these days. Charlie Shotwell stars as John, who puts the rest of his...
- 7/15/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The work of visual artist Pascual Sisto is littered with ominous tedium. He infuses familiar settings with a quiet menace, invisible but inescapable. Sisto’s highly anticipated feature debut, “John and the Hole,” is no exception. The film, which was selected for the last year’s Cannes Film Festival and eventually premiered at Sundance in January, was deliberately conceived as a “contemporary fable,” according to Sisto. “I didn’t want it to be magical or taking place in this other world,” he explained. “It always needed to be anchored in our reality; everybody’s reality.”
Read More: Summer 2021 Preview: Over 50 Movies To Watch
“John and the Hole” is a coming-of-age psychological thriller about an adolescent (Charlie Shotwell) who, seemingly unprompted, decides to hold his family captive in an unfinished bunker behind their suburban home. As noted in our review earlier this year, the movie’s “Twilight Zone” premise and mannered...
Read More: Summer 2021 Preview: Over 50 Movies To Watch
“John and the Hole” is a coming-of-age psychological thriller about an adolescent (Charlie Shotwell) who, seemingly unprompted, decides to hold his family captive in an unfinished bunker behind their suburban home. As noted in our review earlier this year, the movie’s “Twilight Zone” premise and mannered...
- 7/15/2021
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
Pascual Sisto’s “John and the Hole” — a psychological portrait of a disaffected teenager — has had a circuitous road to the screen. The movie, Sisto’s feature debut, was selected for last year’s Cannes Film Festival, which was, of course, canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, it premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival in January, after which it was bought by IFC Films.
At long last, IFC Films is releasing “John and the Hole” in theaters and on-demand on Aug. 6 — and today, dropped its first trailer.
In “John and the Hole,” John (Charlie Shotwell), is a 13-year-old seemingly without affect. He walks through his life of privilege as if in a trance — until one day, he discovers a bunker on the property of his family’s house. The existence of this bunker awakens something in John, and he drugs his father (Michael C. Hall), mother (Jennifer Ehle...
At long last, IFC Films is releasing “John and the Hole” in theaters and on-demand on Aug. 6 — and today, dropped its first trailer.
In “John and the Hole,” John (Charlie Shotwell), is a 13-year-old seemingly without affect. He walks through his life of privilege as if in a trance — until one day, he discovers a bunker on the property of his family’s house. The existence of this bunker awakens something in John, and he drugs his father (Michael C. Hall), mother (Jennifer Ehle...
- 7/15/2021
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
London-based production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation has inked the key first deals on psychological thriller “John and the Hole,” directed by Pascual Sisto, on the back of the film’s virtual market premiere at Cannes. The film was written by Nicolás Giacobone, an Oscar-winner with “Birdman,” who adapted his short story “El Pozo.”
“John and the Hole” sold in the U.K./Ireland to Vertigo Releasing, in Australia and New Zealand to Rialto Distribution, and in South Korea to the Coup Corporation. As previously reported, IFC Midnight will release the film in the U.S. later this summer.
Following the film’s selection for the Cannes 2020 Label, and on the back of its Sundance 2021 competition selection, a physical market premiere will be staged for international buyers on Sunday in Cannes, with Sisto in attendance.
Described by Variety’s Peter Debruge as “calculated and precise [with] director Pascual Sisto weaving...
“John and the Hole” sold in the U.K./Ireland to Vertigo Releasing, in Australia and New Zealand to Rialto Distribution, and in South Korea to the Coup Corporation. As previously reported, IFC Midnight will release the film in the U.S. later this summer.
Following the film’s selection for the Cannes 2020 Label, and on the back of its Sundance 2021 competition selection, a physical market premiere will be staged for international buyers on Sunday in Cannes, with Sisto in attendance.
Described by Variety’s Peter Debruge as “calculated and precise [with] director Pascual Sisto weaving...
- 7/8/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Film Constellation Boards Cannes Market Bound Psychological Thriller ‘John and the Hole’ (Exclusive)
Production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation has boarded international sales on psychological thriller “John and the Hole.” The film is directed by Spanish helmer Pascual Sisto, who was selected as one of the top 10 directors to watch by Variety this year, and is written by Oscar winning “Birdman” scribe Nicolás Giacobone, adapted from his short story “El Pozo.”
Following the film’s Cannes 2020 Label and Sundance 2021 competition selection, a virtual market premiere will be orchestrated for international buyers in June, combined with a physical screening in Cannes in July.
“John and the Hole” plays out the unsettling reality of 13 year-old John, who decides to hold his affluent family captive in an underground bunker in the land behind their house. Left without supervision, John experiences newfound independence, exploring the difficult passage from childhood freedom to adult responsibility.
The film stars Emmy-winner Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Charlie Shotwell, BAFTA winner Jennifer Ehle,...
Following the film’s Cannes 2020 Label and Sundance 2021 competition selection, a virtual market premiere will be orchestrated for international buyers in June, combined with a physical screening in Cannes in July.
“John and the Hole” plays out the unsettling reality of 13 year-old John, who decides to hold his affluent family captive in an underground bunker in the land behind their house. Left without supervision, John experiences newfound independence, exploring the difficult passage from childhood freedom to adult responsibility.
The film stars Emmy-winner Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Charlie Shotwell, BAFTA winner Jennifer Ehle,...
- 6/2/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Sundance Film Festival: London has revealed that “Zola” and “Coda” will be among the 2021 lineup, when the festival returns to Picturehouse Central next month.
“Coda” — an acronym meaning “Child of Deaf Adults” — features Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”) and 19-year-old Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key”) navigating their relationship, while “Zola” is based on a 148-tweet viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah “Zola” Wells. It stars Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough (“Max Max: Fury Road”) and will close the 4-day festival.
Edgar Wright’s rockumentary “The Sparks Brothers,” described as a “musical odyssey,” opens the festival on July 29.
Other feature film offerings, which have been selected from the longer line-up shown at the Sundance Film Festival, include “The Nest,” starring Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”), animation “Cryptozoo,” which features Lake Bell (“BoJack Horseman”) and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”), and documentary “Writing With Fire,” about a female-run Indian newspaper, which...
“Coda” — an acronym meaning “Child of Deaf Adults” — features Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”) and 19-year-old Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key”) navigating their relationship, while “Zola” is based on a 148-tweet viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah “Zola” Wells. It stars Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough (“Max Max: Fury Road”) and will close the 4-day festival.
Edgar Wright’s rockumentary “The Sparks Brothers,” described as a “musical odyssey,” opens the festival on July 29.
Other feature film offerings, which have been selected from the longer line-up shown at the Sundance Film Festival, include “The Nest,” starring Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”), animation “Cryptozoo,” which features Lake Bell (“BoJack Horseman”) and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”), and documentary “Writing With Fire,” about a female-run Indian newspaper, which...
- 6/2/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
IFC Films has nabbed North American rights to “John and the Hole,” an unorthodox coming-of-age story that had its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Directed by visual artist Pascual Sisto, the film follows 13-year-old John (Charlie Shotwell) who decides to drug his well-to-do parents (Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle) and older sister (Taissa Farmiga). He then holds them captive within an unfinished bunker that he discovered while walking through the woods. Home alone, John experiences newfound freedom and independence.
IFC Films plans to release the film on August 6, 2021. The film marks Sisto’s feature debut. He was named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” in 2021. In a favorable review, Variety‘s Peter Debruge called Sisto a “remarkable new talent” and praised Shotwell’s performance.
“With any luck, the film will put both Shotwell and Sisto on the map,” Debruge wrote. “Through the subtlety of his performance,...
Directed by visual artist Pascual Sisto, the film follows 13-year-old John (Charlie Shotwell) who decides to drug his well-to-do parents (Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle) and older sister (Taissa Farmiga). He then holds them captive within an unfinished bunker that he discovered while walking through the woods. Home alone, John experiences newfound freedom and independence.
IFC Films plans to release the film on August 6, 2021. The film marks Sisto’s feature debut. He was named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” in 2021. In a favorable review, Variety‘s Peter Debruge called Sisto a “remarkable new talent” and praised Shotwell’s performance.
“With any luck, the film will put both Shotwell and Sisto on the map,” Debruge wrote. “Through the subtlety of his performance,...
- 5/6/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Distributor plans August 6 release.
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Sundance entry and 2020 Cannes label selection John And The Hole.
Pascual Sisto’s psychological coming-of-age drama stars Charlie Shotwell (Captain Fantastic) as a young boy who discovers an unfinished bunker in the woods.
After he drugs his affluent parents and sister and leaves them in the hole, the boy inhabits the family home and explores a newfound independence.
Rounding out the key cast are Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, and Taissa Farmiga. IFC Films has set an August 6 release .
Visual artist Sisto directed John And The Hole from...
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Sundance entry and 2020 Cannes label selection John And The Hole.
Pascual Sisto’s psychological coming-of-age drama stars Charlie Shotwell (Captain Fantastic) as a young boy who discovers an unfinished bunker in the woods.
After he drugs his affluent parents and sister and leaves them in the hole, the boy inhabits the family home and explores a newfound independence.
Rounding out the key cast are Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, and Taissa Farmiga. IFC Films has set an August 6 release .
Visual artist Sisto directed John And The Hole from...
- 5/6/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Distributor plans August 6 release.
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Sundance entry and 2020 Cannes label selection John And The Hole.
Pascual Sisto’s psychological coming-of-age thriller stars Charlie Shotwell (Captain Fantastic) as a young boy who discovers an unfinished bunker in the woods.
After he drugs his affluent parents and sister and leaves them in the hole, the boy inhabits the family home and explores a newfound independence.
Rounding out the key cast are Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, and Taissa Farmiga. IFC Films has set an August 6 release .
Visual artist Sisto directed John And The Hole from...
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Sundance entry and 2020 Cannes label selection John And The Hole.
Pascual Sisto’s psychological coming-of-age thriller stars Charlie Shotwell (Captain Fantastic) as a young boy who discovers an unfinished bunker in the woods.
After he drugs his affluent parents and sister and leaves them in the hole, the boy inhabits the family home and explores a newfound independence.
Rounding out the key cast are Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, and Taissa Farmiga. IFC Films has set an August 6 release .
Visual artist Sisto directed John And The Hole from...
- 5/6/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Stars: Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr, Sam Claflin, Damon Herriman, Harry Greenwood, Ewen Leslie, Charlie Shotwell, Michael Sheasby, Charlie Jampijinpa Brown, Magnolia Maymuru | Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent
Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent’s follow-up to The Babadook is this brutal, uncompromising revenge tale set in the Tasmanian Outback. As such, it is most assuredly not for everyone, but those who can stomach the horrific opening are in for a stunningly realised revenge thriller that sears itself into your brain with its white hot rage.
Set in the British colony of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) in 1825, the film stars Aisling Franciosi as Clare, a young convict who’s served her time and is waiting for Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Clafin) to sign her papers, so she can begin a new life of freedom with her husband (Michael Sheasby) and newborn baby. However, Hawkins shows no intention of granting her freedom...
Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent’s follow-up to The Babadook is this brutal, uncompromising revenge tale set in the Tasmanian Outback. As such, it is most assuredly not for everyone, but those who can stomach the horrific opening are in for a stunningly realised revenge thriller that sears itself into your brain with its white hot rage.
Set in the British colony of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) in 1825, the film stars Aisling Franciosi as Clare, a young convict who’s served her time and is waiting for Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Clafin) to sign her papers, so she can begin a new life of freedom with her husband (Michael Sheasby) and newborn baby. However, Hawkins shows no intention of granting her freedom...
- 2/4/2021
- by Matthew Turner
- Nerdly
John and the Hole is a contemporary fable about out-of-control selfishness in a family. John is at the precarious age of puberty and needs to bond with his family, but they only have time to give him instructions to climb the ladder of success. His way of getting their attention is strange, but isn’t harmful, and ultimately it’s instructive for his parents and sister. Director Pascual Sisto and screenwriter Nicolás Giacobone frame their story as a fable but present it in naturalistic images. When understood as this fable approach, John’s behavior makes perfect sense, like Goldilocks and similar characters.
We spoke with Sisto during Sundance about the disappointment and highs of getting into Cannes last year, Robert Bresson’s influence on the project, his thoughts about people calling the movie Michael Haneke’s Home Alone, and how his fable has a moral without moralizing.
The Film Stage:...
We spoke with Sisto during Sundance about the disappointment and highs of getting into Cannes last year, Robert Bresson’s influence on the project, his thoughts about people calling the movie Michael Haneke’s Home Alone, and how his fable has a moral without moralizing.
The Film Stage:...
- 2/4/2021
- by Joshua Encinias
- The Film Stage
John and the Hole more resembles an attention-getting audition piece than a film the public will be inclined to pay to see. First-time feature director Pascual Sisto, primarily known for his work as a visual artist in galleries internationally, displays a precise, icy command over this disturbing story of a privileged 13-year-old boy who sticks his parents and sister in a deep pit from which they have no way to emerge. But while Sisto displays a resolutely firm grip on his remorseless tale, which was an official selection for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival that never happened, what he and his screenwriter (Birdman co-writer Nicolas Giacobone) have wrought is a thoroughgoing downer about a pubescent misfit guided by cruel curiosity rather than a conscience. Much like the title character, this is a film of icy calculation.
The film had its premiere last week in the U.S. Dramatic Competition lineup at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film had its premiere last week in the U.S. Dramatic Competition lineup at the Sundance Film Festival.
- 2/4/2021
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
John and the Hole, the directorial debut from Pascual Sisto, is exactly what you’d expect from its title. The film, written by Nicolas Giácobone of Birdman, depicts a 12-year-old boy named John (Charlie Shotwell) who finds a hole in the ground, trapping his parents and older sister in said hole for an extended period of time. Early in the film, his parents correct him, telling young John that actually it’s a bunker, not just a simple hole. Much like the first 15 minutes of the film, John doesn’t flinch at this or any other happening, including his experiment of drugging the local gardener.
This boy, obsessed with adulthood, begins living out his Home Alone lifestyle, trading mischief for daily errands like driving to the Atm. He goes from eating takeout fried chicken to cooking risotto, living alone in a big house and attempting to see death with his best friend through intentional drowning.
This boy, obsessed with adulthood, begins living out his Home Alone lifestyle, trading mischief for daily errands like driving to the Atm. He goes from eating takeout fried chicken to cooking risotto, living alone in a big house and attempting to see death with his best friend through intentional drowning.
- 2/3/2021
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
In Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole, John (Charlie Shotwell), seemingly unprovoked, drugs his family and tosses them into a bunker where he holds them captive. Written by Birdman co-writer Nicolás Giacobone, John and the Hole is a zoomed in look at the psychology of boyhood. Editor Sara Shaw discusses the parallels between the isolation of the pandemic and the experiences of John and the Hole‘s protagonist. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Shaw: I loved the script and was […]
The post "My Understanding of the Central Metaphor Has Deepened": Editor Sara Shaw on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "My Understanding of the Central Metaphor Has Deepened": Editor Sara Shaw on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole, John (Charlie Shotwell), seemingly unprovoked, drugs his family and tosses them into a bunker where he holds them captive. Written by Birdman co-writer Nicolás Giacobone, John and the Hole is a zoomed in look at the psychology of boyhood. Editor Sara Shaw discusses the parallels between the isolation of the pandemic and the experiences of John and the Hole‘s protagonist. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Shaw: I loved the script and was […]
The post "My Understanding of the Central Metaphor Has Deepened": Editor Sara Shaw on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "My Understanding of the Central Metaphor Has Deepened": Editor Sara Shaw on John and the Hole first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
“John and the Hole” makes no attempt to explain John’s motive for keeping his entire family prisoner inside a hole in the ground, which you have to admit, there has to be a reason why for such a deranged move. But when you’re tasked with portraying John, how do you inhabit that character when the script gives you no clue of his inner thoughts? The answer: you make it up.
Charlie Shotwell, the young actor playing the psychopathic lead role in this new thriller screening at Sundance, decided to make up the answers himself. Shotwell spoke with TheWrap at its Virtual Sundance Studio — alongside director Pascual Sisto and co-stars Michael C. Hall, Taissa Farmiga and Jennifer Ehle — and said that when dealing with an ambiguous role, he just approached it the same way any other viewer would and applied his own interpretation.
“My interpretation, which came natural to me,...
Charlie Shotwell, the young actor playing the psychopathic lead role in this new thriller screening at Sundance, decided to make up the answers himself. Shotwell spoke with TheWrap at its Virtual Sundance Studio — alongside director Pascual Sisto and co-stars Michael C. Hall, Taissa Farmiga and Jennifer Ehle — and said that when dealing with an ambiguous role, he just approached it the same way any other viewer would and applied his own interpretation.
“My interpretation, which came natural to me,...
- 1/31/2021
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
by Jason Adams
Titled like a Bible story or a fable of ol' Aesop's (or perhaps it's the start of a dirty limerick), John and the Hole does indeed contain both a John, and a hole. John, played by Captain Fantastic's Charlie Shotwell, is an absent-eyed 13-year-old sociopath who only seems to spurt to life when playing video-games and screaming obscenities at his best friend via headset. Otherwise he wanders his cavernous home in a daze, occasionally aided by some pills he steals from his parent's drawer...
Titled like a Bible story or a fable of ol' Aesop's (or perhaps it's the start of a dirty limerick), John and the Hole does indeed contain both a John, and a hole. John, played by Captain Fantastic's Charlie Shotwell, is an absent-eyed 13-year-old sociopath who only seems to spurt to life when playing video-games and screaming obscenities at his best friend via headset. Otherwise he wanders his cavernous home in a daze, occasionally aided by some pills he steals from his parent's drawer...
- 1/31/2021
- by JA
- FilmExperience
There’s an abandoned bunker in John’s backyard. Most kids would probably see it as a place to play, the basis for a hideout or secret fort. Some might climb in and get trapped, and then we’d hear all about it on the news. Not John. John goes through life in kind of a daze, a skinny kid with slack shoulders and a blank, expressionless stare. John sometimes gets funny ideas. Not long after discovering the bunker, he drugs his family with his mom’s meds, drags them out to the bunker and lowers them in.
That is the story of “John and the Hole,” an unconventional thriller from Spanish-born, New York-based visual artist Pascual Sisto that would have drawn comparisons to Michael Haneke and Yorgos Lanthimos had it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Sisto’s noteworthy debut was selected to screen on the Croisette,...
That is the story of “John and the Hole,” an unconventional thriller from Spanish-born, New York-based visual artist Pascual Sisto that would have drawn comparisons to Michael Haneke and Yorgos Lanthimos had it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Sisto’s noteworthy debut was selected to screen on the Croisette,...
- 1/30/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
“John and the Hole” is based on a very short story by Argentine novelist and “Birdman” screenwriter Nicolás Giacobone, which doesn’t come as a surprise for a movie in which its succinct title covers the gist of the plot. The icy debut from installation artist Pascual Sisto unfolds with the sparsity of a drama begging for further elaboration.
At the same time, Sisto’s austere narrative , with the ominous and strange tale of a 13-year-old boy who holds his affluent family captive in an old bunker near their home. A scary, solipsistic variation on “Home Alone,” the movie turns on the twisted appeal of watching its young anti-hero attempt to steal his way into the adult realm and realize he’s trapped himself.
The John in question, a peculiar introvert played by “Captain Fantastic” breakout Charlie Shotwell, seems to possess all the signs of a juvenile psychopath in waiting.
At the same time, Sisto’s austere narrative , with the ominous and strange tale of a 13-year-old boy who holds his affluent family captive in an old bunker near their home. A scary, solipsistic variation on “Home Alone,” the movie turns on the twisted appeal of watching its young anti-hero attempt to steal his way into the adult realm and realize he’s trapped himself.
The John in question, a peculiar introvert played by “Captain Fantastic” breakout Charlie Shotwell, seems to possess all the signs of a juvenile psychopath in waiting.
- 1/30/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
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