John and the Hole
IFC Films | Release Date: August 6, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
9
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyAug 6, 2021
It’s exciting, quietly volatile stuff that digs refreshingly deep into the fears of the coming-of-age genre. Read full review
85
TheWrapCarlos AguilarAug 5, 2021
Even if the film is premeditatedly oblique and too precisely constructed in its cerebral machinations to engage with beyond an intellectual level, the ideas wrapped in its coldness are thought-provoking. Read full review
83
PolygonMatt PatchesAug 6, 2021
The level of craft John and the Hole brings to its ideas makes it worthy of chewing on. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Aug 5, 2021
John And The Hole comes on like a spooky portrait of budding teenage sociopathy, but it resists diagnostic shortcuts. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneAug 2, 2021
Sisto picks up the spell that is cast by Lowery’s tale, verdant with danger, and continues to weave. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 2, 2021
It’s calculated and precise and meticulously constructed in a way that will be of considerable interest to audiences who appreciate stories that unsettle, and those who recognize the precision of Sisto’s approach. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 6, 2021
In its way, it pokes at the very delicate membrane between horror and comedy. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 2, 2021
Sisto has an arresting visual style, a firm command of tone and an impressive ability to steer his fine cast onto the same rigorous wavelength, all of which makes him a talent to watch. Read full review
70
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiFeb 2, 2021
It’s an interesting idea on page, but in John and the Hole, it is all a little too opaque to make sense of Sisto’s muted portrait of adolescence. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnFeb 2, 2021
Despite its shortcomings, “John and the Hole” shows enough restraint and thematic sophistication to indicate strong potential for Sisto behind the camera. Read full review
67
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodFeb 2, 2021
No one would deny Sisto clearly has a vision of what he’d like to accomplish and shows flashes of humor here and there, but the almost overt influences of any number of other filmmakers (Michael Haneke, ‎Yorgos Lanthimos, and Sean Durkin immediately come to mind) have the cumulative effect of making the proceedings feel numbingly familiar. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyOct 14, 2021
Director Pascual Sisto has achieved something a little more clever than pure imitation. He takes his audience’s expectations, that his film can only lead to bloodshed and despair, and leaves them hanging in the air for as long as he likes – it’s both tantalising and deliberately unsatisfying. You’re never given the comfort of knowing what comes next. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeOct 13, 2021
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. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisAug 5, 2021
Chilly, enigmatic and more than a little spooky, John and the Hole patrols the porous border between child and adult with more style than depth. Read full review
58
ConsequenceJoe LipsettFeb 2, 2021
John and the Hole is more of a collection of memorably uncomfortable scenes as opposed to a cohesive (w)hole. Read full review
50
Screen RantSarah Bea MilnerMar 15, 2022
Ultimately, John and the Hole is an interesting film that encourages contemplation. Those looking to be thrilled or disturbed will likely be disappointed; yet, audiences who appreciate a strong aesthetic, or simply want to see Michael C. Hall covered in mud, will find John and the Hole satisfying. Read full review
50
Film ThreatMatthew PassantinoFeb 2, 2021
Sisto certainly has an eye for the story he’s trying to tell, and there are moments throughout John and the Hole, which show he has what it takes to be an interesting filmmaker. [But his] visual flair would have been better served with a stronger story. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 7, 2021
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. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAug 5, 2021
Sisto's direction is a victory of glacial tone over actual content, and John and the Hole's frustrations outweigh its insight into the forces that can spawn a monster. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeFeb 2, 2021
The crudest way to describe what transpires in John and the Hole would be Home Alone if re-envisioned by Michael Haneke or perhaps Yorgos Lanthimos in the broadest possible terms, a chilly atmosphere successfully evoked but without any of the thought or intellect that both film-makers would also bring to the table. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 3, 2021
There’s nothing wrong with weaving a story the viewer can’t unravel as its playing out. But John and the Hole doesn’t have enough of a story to maintain any narrative drive and doesn’t point towards answers or give the viewer any hope of resolution or release. Read full review
35
Paste MagazineBrianna ZiglerAug 4, 2021
A completely detached exercise in bewilderment that’s enigmatic nature comes off less Lynchian and more “unfinished scriptian,” director Pascual Sisto’s feature debut aims for intrigue but settles comfortably in mediocrity. Read full review
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