The Hole

A co-worker told me I needed to see a movie that has been on Encore over the last couple of weeks, The Hole. I'm glad I took her advice. This was a great movie. It's based on the novel After The Hole by Guy Burt. I hope to read the book in the next few months. This isn't a movie for the kids and is rated R for good reasons. Will I watch it again? Oh yeah.

One of the things that made the movie memorable for me was the fact that the cast is mostly unknowns to me. With the exceptions of Embeth Davidtz as a therapist and Keira Knightley (of Pirates of The Caribbean fame) as a hot teen girl, the rest of the cast were all new faces to me. This made it easier to accept their predicament without thinking "But he/she makes _______ a film so I know nothing too bad is going to happen to the character." Quick note for my male readers: Yes, Keira does go topless in one scene. I can almost hear men running to the video store now.

The story begins with one of four missing teenagers, Liz, showing up bloody and screaming at the private school they all attend in Britain. This begins the first of two versions of the story. The first version is told from this teenager to the therapist assigned to work with her. It seems there was a school wide field trip planned. Those students that weren't going on the three day trip were being sent home to their families. The four teenagers wanted a private field trip and arranged for just such a thing. By paying Martyn, the kind of teen that can find/buy/sell anything, for his help they find themselves at the entrance to an old bomb shelter. Martyn unlocks the hatch with the promise he will return in three days to let them out. He has to lock it behind him or anybody that happens along with see something is wrong. When three days pass and Martyn doesn't return the four teens begin to realize something is wrong. It takes only a day or two for Liz to find the microphones hidden in the shelter and stage a performance that convinces Martyn to return as the four sleep and unlock the hatch.

Then the second version of the story begins. The police point out to the therapist that she hasn't told Liz she was the only one of the four found alive. Martyn is found in the Dominican Republic and returned to Britain to face charges. Martyn quickly denies being responsible and begins to tell the story of Liz (Thora Birch) and Frankie (Keira Knightly) that shows they aren't as innocent as Liz's story would have us believe. It is in this telling that the story becomes very dark and we begin to see how love can bring forth evil. Once this second version of the story begins I promise you will not want to leave your seat. Just when you think it's all over the movie has one twist left for you.

I really enjoyed this movie and believe most of you will enjoy it as well. My co-worker also recommended another movie that turned out to be pretty good: The Prestige. The Prestige is a movie that requires you to pay attention. When the plot twists start you wont want to miss any of the details. Go rent both of these movies and have fun this week. It's better than watching American Idol (yuck!).