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Taissa Farmiga is back in the habit.
The actress is returning to The Conjuring horror universe to star in The Nun 2, New Line’s sequel to its 2018 global hit.
Farmiga, who starred in the initial movie, will reprise her role as Sister Irene and joins Euphoria actress Storm Reid in the production, which will begin shooting later in October.
Michael Chaves will direct The Nun 2 following his outing helming The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the most recent entry in the Conjuring horror universe. That film opened at no. 1 at the box office in 2021 and pushed the collective gross of those movies over the 2 billion worldwide mark.
Nun was a prequel spinoff from The Conjuring 2 and featured Bonnie Aarons as a demonic nun. Set in a monastery in 1952, the story saw a priest and a young nun, played by Demian Bichir and Farmiga,...
Taissa Farmiga is back in the habit.
The actress is returning to The Conjuring horror universe to star in The Nun 2, New Line’s sequel to its 2018 global hit.
Farmiga, who starred in the initial movie, will reprise her role as Sister Irene and joins Euphoria actress Storm Reid in the production, which will begin shooting later in October.
Michael Chaves will direct The Nun 2 following his outing helming The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the most recent entry in the Conjuring horror universe. That film opened at no. 1 at the box office in 2021 and pushed the collective gross of those movies over the 2 billion worldwide mark.
Nun was a prequel spinoff from The Conjuring 2 and featured Bonnie Aarons as a demonic nun. Set in a monastery in 1952, the story saw a priest and a young nun, played by Demian Bichir and Farmiga,...
- 10/3/2022
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene will return in “The Nun 2.”
For the latest film in the 2 billion-grossing “Conjuring” universe, Farmiga will star alongside Storm Reid, who was recently announced to join the New Line franchise. The original “Nun” movie — which followed Farmiga’s Sister Irene as she fought alongside Demian Bichir’s Father Burke to fend off the possession of the demon nun Valek in 1952 Romania — debuted in 2018 and earned 366 million worldwide on the way to becoming the top grossing in the franchise to date.
The film was a spinoff of 2016’s “The Conjuring 2,” which starred Farmiga’s older sister Vera, who has fronted three “Conjuring” films, turning the horror franchise into a bit of a family affair.
“The Nun 2” will be directed by Michael Chaves, who helmed the seventh and most recent entry, 2021’s “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.” Akela Cooper wrote the...
For the latest film in the 2 billion-grossing “Conjuring” universe, Farmiga will star alongside Storm Reid, who was recently announced to join the New Line franchise. The original “Nun” movie — which followed Farmiga’s Sister Irene as she fought alongside Demian Bichir’s Father Burke to fend off the possession of the demon nun Valek in 1952 Romania — debuted in 2018 and earned 366 million worldwide on the way to becoming the top grossing in the franchise to date.
The film was a spinoff of 2016’s “The Conjuring 2,” which starred Farmiga’s older sister Vera, who has fronted three “Conjuring” films, turning the horror franchise into a bit of a family affair.
“The Nun 2” will be directed by Michael Chaves, who helmed the seventh and most recent entry, 2021’s “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.” Akela Cooper wrote the...
- 10/3/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Taissa Farmiga is returning to New Line’s The Nun 2 as Sister Irene. She joins previously announced Storm Reid in the sequel to 2018’s The Nun, which remains the highest grossing chapter in the 2B The Conjuring Universe at 365.6M WW.
The pic is set for release on Sept. 8, 2023.
Michael Chaves will direct The Nun 2 following The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the seventh and most recent entry in The Conjuring franchise which opened to 24.1M at No. 1 at the box office last year and pushed the franchise to over 2 billion worldwide, making it the top-grossing horror series on the big screen.
Akela Cooper wrote the screenplay with current revisions by Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing. Atomic Monster’s James Wan and The Safran Company’s Peter Safran will produce. Wan and Safran have produced all eight of The Conjuring franchise films. Judson Scott will oversee...
The pic is set for release on Sept. 8, 2023.
Michael Chaves will direct The Nun 2 following The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the seventh and most recent entry in The Conjuring franchise which opened to 24.1M at No. 1 at the box office last year and pushed the franchise to over 2 billion worldwide, making it the top-grossing horror series on the big screen.
Akela Cooper wrote the screenplay with current revisions by Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing. Atomic Monster’s James Wan and The Safran Company’s Peter Safran will produce. Wan and Safran have produced all eight of The Conjuring franchise films. Judson Scott will oversee...
- 10/3/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
13-year-old John discovers an unfinished bunker while exploring the neighboring woods—a deep hole in the ground. Seemingly without provocation, he drugs his affluent parents and older sister, holding them captive within the bunker. As they anxiously wait for John to free them from the hole, the boy returns home, where he can finally enjoy and explore a newfound independence. One week from today, on March 15th, Pascual Sisto's thriller John And The Hole is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray. IFC have given us two (2) copies to give away on Blu-ray this week. Look below for giveaway details. Screen Anarchy's Managing Editor, Peter, caught the film on it's release last Summer. He had this to say in his review. What initially sets up...
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- 3/8/2022
- Screen Anarchy
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
The influence of the Greek “weird wave,” and to a lesser extent the moral mazes of Austria’s Michael Haneke, have been seeping into U.S. indie cinema for quite a while now, and Riley Stearns’ third feature, Dual, comfortably fits into the Sundance slot taken last year by Pascual Sisto’s bizarre dysfunctional family satire John And The Hole.
Stearns doesn’t quite nail the macabre mundanity of absurdist classics such as Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster — in which the residents of a drab seaside spa hotel must find a soulmate within 45 days or be turned into an animal — but he gives it a good shot, drawing a surprisingly committed performance from Karen Gillan in the kind of role usually earmarked for Aubrey Plaza in her spiky Ingrid Goes West mode.
The opening sequence of Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Dual sets the tone, albeit a little clumsily.
Stearns doesn’t quite nail the macabre mundanity of absurdist classics such as Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster — in which the residents of a drab seaside spa hotel must find a soulmate within 45 days or be turned into an animal — but he gives it a good shot, drawing a surprisingly committed performance from Karen Gillan in the kind of role usually earmarked for Aubrey Plaza in her spiky Ingrid Goes West mode.
The opening sequence of Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Dual sets the tone, albeit a little clumsily.
- 1/23/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
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
Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” won a pair of prizes at the 47th Deauville American Film Festival where “Blue Bayou,” “Down With the King,” “Pleasure” and “John and the Hole” also picked up awards during the closing ceremony. Michael Shannon, who was previously at Deauville with “99 Homes” and “Take Shelter,” received the honorary Talent Award from French helmer Bertrand Bonello, who sat on the jury, during the event.
“Red Rocket” stars Simon Rex as a retiring porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown where no one is eager to see him back. The movie, which world premiered in competition at Cannes, won the jury prize (shared with Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure”) and the critics awards. Both Baker and Rex were on hand in Deauville to receive the awards. Baker said there were fewer and fewer filmmakers directing indie films in the U.S. “Franchises and series will...
“Red Rocket” stars Simon Rex as a retiring porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown where no one is eager to see him back. The movie, which world premiered in competition at Cannes, won the jury prize (shared with Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure”) and the critics awards. Both Baker and Rex were on hand in Deauville to receive the awards. Baker said there were fewer and fewer filmmakers directing indie films in the U.S. “Franchises and series will...
- 9/11/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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
The Deauville American Film Festival has unveiled the competition lineup of its 2021 edition, which includes Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” and Michael Sarnoski’s “Pig.”
Under the leadership of artistic director Bruno Barde, the festival’s competition will also showcase Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole,” David Bruckner’s “The Night House,” Justin Chon’s “Blue Bayou,” Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Catch The Fair One,” Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” Wes Hurley’s “Potato Dreams of America,” Tim Sutton’s “The Last Son,” Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice,” Antonio Tibaldi’s “We Are Living Things,” and Alana Waksman’s “We Burn Like This.”
Several films in the Deauville roster world premiered at Cannes, notably the competition title “Red Rocket,” about a former porn star who moves back to Texas City to get a fresh start and falls back into old habits; and “Blue Bayou,” a heart-wrenching drama with Justin Chon...
Under the leadership of artistic director Bruno Barde, the festival’s competition will also showcase Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole,” David Bruckner’s “The Night House,” Justin Chon’s “Blue Bayou,” Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Catch The Fair One,” Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” Wes Hurley’s “Potato Dreams of America,” Tim Sutton’s “The Last Son,” Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice,” Antonio Tibaldi’s “We Are Living Things,” and Alana Waksman’s “We Burn Like This.”
Several films in the Deauville roster world premiered at Cannes, notably the competition title “Red Rocket,” about a former porn star who moves back to Texas City to get a fresh start and falls back into old habits; and “Blue Bayou,” a heart-wrenching drama with Justin Chon...
- 8/10/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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
The Little Boy Who Lives Down the Lane: Sisto Finds a Psychopath in Disturbing Debut
There’s no arguing the discomforting vibe of John and the Hole, the directorial debut of Pascual Sisto written by Nicolas Giacobone, the favored scribe of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. From a distance, they’ve ostensibly concocted the portrait of a serial killer’s childhood, but it’s too simple a reading for a complex examination of how invisible privileges afforded the white middle class male craft a perfect storm for sociopathic tendencies bred by detachment and our insistence on normalizing symptoms of the average dysfunctional American family. Frustrating in its ambiguity and refusal to play into the violent catharsis via retribution we’ve become accustomed to, Sisto and Giacobone have crafted the kind of troubling psychological thriller which proliferated 1970s cinema—perhaps a time when we weren’t as afraid of the discomfort of acknowledging...
There’s no arguing the discomforting vibe of John and the Hole, the directorial debut of Pascual Sisto written by Nicolas Giacobone, the favored scribe of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. From a distance, they’ve ostensibly concocted the portrait of a serial killer’s childhood, but it’s too simple a reading for a complex examination of how invisible privileges afforded the white middle class male craft a perfect storm for sociopathic tendencies bred by detachment and our insistence on normalizing symptoms of the average dysfunctional American family. Frustrating in its ambiguity and refusal to play into the violent catharsis via retribution we’ve become accustomed to, Sisto and Giacobone have crafted the kind of troubling psychological thriller which proliferated 1970s cinema—perhaps a time when we weren’t as afraid of the discomfort of acknowledging...
- 8/9/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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
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
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
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
Everyone expressed pleasure at being back at a physical event.
As the Cannes Film Festival moves into its last two days, international attendees reflected on a pandemic-era event that has required them to grapple with the logistics of 48-hourly Covid-19 tests, rumours of a virus cluster in the early days of the festival and concerns over the lack of mask-wearing, which was tightened up as the event progressed.
Sales agents expressed mixed views on how much business has been done but all said they were happy to be back. Those representing titles in official selection were generally upbeat, suggesting the...
As the Cannes Film Festival moves into its last two days, international attendees reflected on a pandemic-era event that has required them to grapple with the logistics of 48-hourly Covid-19 tests, rumours of a virus cluster in the early days of the festival and concerns over the lack of mask-wearing, which was tightened up as the event progressed.
Sales agents expressed mixed views on how much business has been done but all said they were happy to be back. Those representing titles in official selection were generally upbeat, suggesting the...
- 7/16/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow¬Ben Dalton¬Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
"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
Exclusive: Principal photography has started in Tunisia on contemporary drama Contra, set in the aftermath of the powerful anti-government protests that provoked a wave of change in the region, known as the Arab spring.
The film (previously known as Before Spring) is being directed by Egyptian-British filmmaker Lotfy Nathan and will star French Tunisian actor Adam Bessa, known for his performances in recent action movies Mosul and Extraction.
A modern day parable about resistance, the film centers on the story of Ali, a young Tunisian who dreams of a better life, making a precarious living selling contraband gas at the local black market. When his father suddenly dies, he’s forced to take charge of his two younger sisters and their impending eviction. The movie will feature a combination of local actors and non-professionals.
Nathan’s narrative debut, shot on 35mm film, is being produced by Julie Viez (Long Day’s Journey Into Night...
The film (previously known as Before Spring) is being directed by Egyptian-British filmmaker Lotfy Nathan and will star French Tunisian actor Adam Bessa, known for his performances in recent action movies Mosul and Extraction.
A modern day parable about resistance, the film centers on the story of Ali, a young Tunisian who dreams of a better life, making a precarious living selling contraband gas at the local black market. When his father suddenly dies, he’s forced to take charge of his two younger sisters and their impending eviction. The movie will feature a combination of local actors and non-professionals.
Nathan’s narrative debut, shot on 35mm film, is being produced by Julie Viez (Long Day’s Journey Into Night...
- 7/10/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline 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
This story about Cannes’ 2020 selection first appeared in TheWrap’s special digital Cannes magazine.
Last year, Cannes announced a list of 62 new feature films as its official selection for 2020, a year in which the festival itself didn’t take place. Bearing the prestigious imprimatur of the festival, the movies had a variety of releases. Here are some of the ones with the highest profiles since being singled out by Cannes.
“The French Dispatch” / Searchlight Pictures
Faithful
“DNA,” Maïwenn
Premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in September 2020, released by Netflix in the U.S. in December and in France in May.
“True Mothers,” Naomi Kawase
Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2020; submitted as Japan’s entry in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category.
“Peninsula,” Yeon Sang-Ho
Released theatrically in South Korea in July 2020 and in the U.S. (as Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula) in August.
“Another Round,...
Last year, Cannes announced a list of 62 new feature films as its official selection for 2020, a year in which the festival itself didn’t take place. Bearing the prestigious imprimatur of the festival, the movies had a variety of releases. Here are some of the ones with the highest profiles since being singled out by Cannes.
“The French Dispatch” / Searchlight Pictures
Faithful
“DNA,” Maïwenn
Premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in September 2020, released by Netflix in the U.S. in December and in France in May.
“True Mothers,” Naomi Kawase
Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2020; submitted as Japan’s entry in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category.
“Peninsula,” Yeon Sang-Ho
Released theatrically in South Korea in July 2020 and in the U.S. (as Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula) in August.
“Another Round,...
- 7/6/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
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
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
Usually held in person at the Palm Springs Film Festival, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch and the Creative Impact Awards were hosted virtually this year.
The panel, moderated by chief film critic Peter DeBruge, included directors Prano Bailey-Bond (“Censor”), Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (“Wild Indian”), Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”), Siân Heder (“Coda”), Philippe Lacôte (“Night of the Kings”), Roseanne Liang (“Shadow in the Cloud”), Pascual Sisto (“John and the Hole”), Ricky Staub (“Concrete Cowboy”) and Robin Wright (“Land”). Regina King (“One Night in Miami”) also made the list but was unable to participate in the conversation. The panelists discussed how they cast their lead roles, their genres of interest, future projects and telling stories about underrepresented communities with nuance.
Corbine, the Native American filmmaker from the Ojibwe tribe behind thriller “Wild Indian,” opened up about the personal aspects of his background that informed the movie, as well as his casting of Chaske Spencer.
The panel, moderated by chief film critic Peter DeBruge, included directors Prano Bailey-Bond (“Censor”), Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (“Wild Indian”), Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”), Siân Heder (“Coda”), Philippe Lacôte (“Night of the Kings”), Roseanne Liang (“Shadow in the Cloud”), Pascual Sisto (“John and the Hole”), Ricky Staub (“Concrete Cowboy”) and Robin Wright (“Land”). Regina King (“One Night in Miami”) also made the list but was unable to participate in the conversation. The panelists discussed how they cast their lead roles, their genres of interest, future projects and telling stories about underrepresented communities with nuance.
Corbine, the Native American filmmaker from the Ojibwe tribe behind thriller “Wild Indian,” opened up about the personal aspects of his background that informed the movie, as well as his casting of Chaske Spencer.
- 2/27/2021
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- Variety Film + TV
Pascual Sisto completed his cut of “John and the Hole” for the Cannes deadline in the spring, and after submitting it, he took some time off. “And, of course, that time off became a pandemic,” Sisto says.
Though Cannes was canceled, the festival announced its lineup anyway, and “John and the Hole” made the cut. “It’s unbelievable how much support they have just by picking some films without even having a festival,” he says.
“John and the Hole” eventually premiered at Sundance. It’s a collaboration between Sisto and Nicolás Giacobone, the Oscar-winning “Birdman” screenwriter whom Sisto met in the late ’90s.
Sisto, who is from Spain, moved to the United States in 1995 to attend Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design as a film student. After graduating, he tried to launch a film career in Los Angeles, but soon began “working on my own sort of visual experiments,” and...
Though Cannes was canceled, the festival announced its lineup anyway, and “John and the Hole” made the cut. “It’s unbelievable how much support they have just by picking some films without even having a festival,” he says.
“John and the Hole” eventually premiered at Sundance. It’s a collaboration between Sisto and Nicolás Giacobone, the Oscar-winning “Birdman” screenwriter whom Sisto met in the late ’90s.
Sisto, who is from Spain, moved to the United States in 1995 to attend Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design as a film student. After graduating, he tried to launch a film career in Los Angeles, but soon began “working on my own sort of visual experiments,” and...
- 2/25/2021
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
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
Attention turns to buyer interest in Summer Of Soul. Upcoming Saturday screenings include Eight For Silver, Passing, Wild Indian.
Apple Original Films has taken worldwide rights to Coda in a record Sundance acquisition understood to be in the region $25m that shatters last year’s previous mark of $22.5m paid by Hulu and Neon for Palm Springs.
Siân Heder’s follow-up to Sundance 2016 selection Tallullah premiered as a Day One selection on Thursday evening and sparked immediate interest from traditional buyers and streamers.
‘Coda’: Sundance Review
ICM Partners, CAA and Pathé represented the filmmakers in the deal, announced on...
Apple Original Films has taken worldwide rights to Coda in a record Sundance acquisition understood to be in the region $25m that shatters last year’s previous mark of $22.5m paid by Hulu and Neon for Palm Springs.
Siân Heder’s follow-up to Sundance 2016 selection Tallullah premiered as a Day One selection on Thursday evening and sparked immediate interest from traditional buyers and streamers.
‘Coda’: Sundance Review
ICM Partners, CAA and Pathé represented the filmmakers in the deal, announced on...
- 1/30/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
A 13-year-old boy decides to trap his family in a bunker in a visually striking yet frustratingly dead-ending film with a talented yet wasted cast
One of the most frustrating yet common subgenres of festival movie is the kind that is assembled with a high level of craftsmanship, a beautifully wrapped present urging us to see what’s inside. But once opened, you find out there is nothing there, a cruel gotcha that disappoints then aggravates, a problem facing the first-time director Pascual Sisto’s underwhelming psychodrama John and the Hole.
Related: Censor review – disturbing descent into video nastiness...
One of the most frustrating yet common subgenres of festival movie is the kind that is assembled with a high level of craftsmanship, a beautifully wrapped present urging us to see what’s inside. But once opened, you find out there is nothing there, a cruel gotcha that disappoints then aggravates, a problem facing the first-time director Pascual Sisto’s underwhelming psychodrama John and the Hole.
Related: Censor review – disturbing descent into video nastiness...
- 1/30/2021
- by Benjamin Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
Are you ready for a story? About a boy who puts his family in a bunker against their will? Then let me tell you about “John and the Hole,” the feature directorial debut of artist Pascual Sisto that debuted at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival after initially being selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival in May. A film that fashions itself as a parable for teenage adolescence and strife but muddies the waters so that when it comes to an end it all feels quite empty instead.
Continue reading ‘John And The Hole’: A Boy Plays Life & Death With His Family [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘John And The Hole’: A Boy Plays Life & Death With His Family [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
- 1/30/2021
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
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
The logline for Pascual Sisto’s new film “John and the Hole” accurately describes what’s inside the tin: “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.”
But that simple and unsettling premise also belies the depth of the film, which seeks to investigate the conflicted feelings that arise during adolescence and maybe never go away even into adulthood.
“I wanted to show John connecting all these dots about his life. For John the bunker is a safe place, a sort of purgatory or a waiting room where he can keep his family away while he lives on,” Sisto explained in a statement. “His family doesn’t see it in the same way, obviously. For them, it’s completely unexpected. The hole is a mystery to him, it feels right. Putting his...
But that simple and unsettling premise also belies the depth of the film, which seeks to investigate the conflicted feelings that arise during adolescence and maybe never go away even into adulthood.
“I wanted to show John connecting all these dots about his life. For John the bunker is a safe place, a sort of purgatory or a waiting room where he can keep his family away while he lives on,” Sisto explained in a statement. “His family doesn’t see it in the same way, obviously. For them, it’s completely unexpected. The hole is a mystery to him, it feels right. Putting his...
- 1/29/2021
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
The minefield of early adolescence is a treacherous phase in Spanish visual artist Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole, in which Charlie Shotwell gives a rivetingly affectless performance as an apathetic 13-year-old who holds his parents and sister captive in an underground bunker. The director has jokingly referred to his psychological coming-of-age thriller as a Michael Haneke version of Home Alone, which isn’t far from the truth. But it more specifically recalls the 2014 nail-biter by the Austrian auteur’s compatriots Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Goodnight Mommy — in the unsettling scenario of a child wresting control from adults in ...
- 1/29/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The minefield of early adolescence is a treacherous phase in Spanish visual artist Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole, in which Charlie Shotwell gives a rivetingly affectless performance as an apathetic 13-year-old who holds his parents and sister captive in an underground bunker. The director has jokingly referred to his psychological coming-of-age thriller as a Michael Haneke version of Home Alone, which isn’t far from the truth. But it more specifically recalls the 2014 nail-biter by the Austrian auteur’s compatriots Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Goodnight Mommy — in the unsettling scenario of a child wresting control from adults in ...
- 1/29/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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