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
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