Liz Dunn has a major crush on fellow student, Mike. Unfortunately, she isn't one of the popular students, so she devises a plan with friend Martyn, to get Mike to herself. Martyn arranges for Liz, Mike, and trendy students, Geoff and Frankie, to spend three days in an underground bomb shelter. The four enjoy their time below ground, until it comes to the day they are supposed to be returning to school and it transpires that Martyn is not coming back to let them out. A few days later, Liz manages to escape and blames Martyn for their predicament. She is later interviewed by a psychologist about what happened. But some parts of her story don't quite add up. What really happened to Liz and her fellow students?
Although Keira Knightley, who plays Frankie, is probably the best known actress in this film, it is Thora Birch as Liz who gives the best performance. I found it immediately easy to identify with her; she is not one of the most popular students in school and finds it hard to get noticed. However, she is determined that, somehow, Mike will note her existence, and is, perhaps naively, sure that she will manage to win him over. At the same time, I was always aware
that there was something more to Liz than met the eye. Her behaviour, although understandable, is a bit creepy and I wasn't overly keen on her methods to get her hands on Mike. I thought Thora Birch gave a really good performance here. Her confusion and apparent panic at whatever happened undergound is palpable and very convincing. I'm not really familiar with any of her other work, but I look forward to seeing more of it.
Keira Knightley gives a reasonable performance as Frankie. To be fair, she didn't really need to do much except look good and be ill. This film was made just before her role in Bend It Like Beckham, so it obviously didn't do her career any harm, but I wasn't overly impressed. Laurence Fox as Geoff was again good, but not brilliant. My problem with him as an actor is that he always seems the same and I don't really feel that he is acting. Desmond Harrington as Mike is pretty convincing. I didn't like him as a character, but I thought Harrington worked well within the role - he wasn't really supposed to be a likable character anyway. Daniel Brocklebank as Martyn only has a brief role, but it was suitably a good mixture of creepiness and intelligence - good stuff.
I liked the way that the story is told. It begins with Liz's escape from the hole; we see her filthy and injured, staggering back to the school that she attends to raise the alarm. We then see the story through her eyes, but soon become aware that their time underground couldn't have ended in the way that she claims. She then changes her story slightly, and we go with her back underground (mentally rather than literally) as she retells the story. Then Martyn, who should have returned to let them out of the hole is found and gives his side of the story. For a while, nothing really makes sense, and it is unclear where the story is going. I really enjoyed being kept in the dark, although I did begin to realise where the story was going before it actually got there.
I am not completely sure exactly how to pigeonhole this film. It is a combination of a thriller and a horror, probably more of a thriller than anything else. There are some violent parts, but they are few and far between; the film relies far more on suspense than anything that does actually happen. There is a psychological element brought in too with Dr Horwood, who attempts to make sense of what Liz is telling her. I'm not entirely sure that this worked all that well - it made it feel a little bit like Waking the Dead or something along those lines - and it could easily have been excluded.
My only real problem with the film is that what really did happen underground just doesn't feel all that convincing. All the elements are there, but something just doesn't quite gel. I think it is perhaps that I couldn't believe the characters would behave in the way that they did. It didn't ruin the film for me - provided I don't think about it in too much depth, it doesn't really matter - but it does stop the film from being really good and that's a shame, because it could have been a lot better.
The film is sort of a cross between Cruel Intentions and a Korean psychological drama such as Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, but not quite as clever. Despite my reservations, I did enjoy watching it. It has been shown on television countless times recently (in the UK at least), so I'm not sure it is worth buying the DVD, but it is worth watching out for next time it is shown. Recommended.
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack,The Holemight, more ... more
appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more toTales of the Unexpectedthan the slick US teen movies ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack,The Holemight, more ... more
appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more toTales of the Unexpectedthan the slick US teen movies ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Liz (Thora Birch, American Beauty) staggers toward her exclusive school, bloodied and ... more
deeply traumatised. Whilst a Police psychologist is trying to figure out what happened to her she uncovers this chilling and twisted tale.Three rebellious friends, Mi...
Liz (Thora Birch) staggers towards her exclusive school bloodied and deeply traumatised. ... more
Whilst a police psychologist is trying to figure out what happened to her she reveals this twisted and chilling tale. Three rebellious friends Mike Geoff and ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Truly gets under your skin, disturbing, genuinely intriguing and exciting. Disadvantages: Some hammy acting, desires true concentration, truly awful British accents {except Thora Birch wo does very well}
DanClegg 06.05.2001 (08.05.2001)
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Review of The Hole (DVD)
![The Hole [DVD] [2001]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78539912.jpg "The Hole [DVD] [2001]")
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