Hole in the Wall (2017) User Reviews

It's good but it could be better.

[LiuLoki · 7/10 · 1 June 2021]

There's some cliches, good acting in most of the time, but I feel that it could be more in the movie, it's indeed a good film.

It's good but it could be better, I recommend.

Hole in the head

[pietkruger2 · 3/10 · 20 August 2020]

Actors put up a dapper performance, but I am afraid as an Afrikaans speaking South African this movie from my country leaves much to be desired. It is full of cliches e.g. "to die is easy to live is a challenge" and many more such near meaningless utterances. The main character suffers from a deadly disease, but he eats and drinks and enjoys life as if nothing is wrong! Only occasionally do we see him writhing in pain. He paints his face in clown like colours, but the viewer is not given any indication as to its significance. Also the title seems to have little resemblance to the contents of the movie, it is very nice to see the hole in the wall in our beautiful Eastern Cape province, but what is its significance? In conclusion, the film makers used an old and tired theme, with old and tired cliches, instead of coming up with something new and refreshing.

beautiful

[reborn-966-808248 · 8/10 · 31 August 2020]

I just saw this movie on netflix. I found it a beautiful movie. First very strange to hear Afrikaans and nothing about the issue of apartheid. But halfway the movie this was balanced out. Not all whites are rascists. I am from Holland and to be honest I am not so happy that my language is almost the same as Afrikaans. But this movie wasn't about rasicism it was about humanism, very intense sometimes the disease but also a beautiful statement about to really stay alive not die before you die. :)

Nothing New-Old Themes Explored Ineptly

[mcjensen-05924 · 3/10 · 3 August 2021]

This ended being a very bland movie. The main character is extremely annoying and doesn't seem sick at all. Corny dialogue certainly doesn't help. A constant stream of cliches and missed opportunities by characters who just weren't very interesting at all. It wavered between outright silly and incredibly dumb. Some nice scenery but incredibly dull soundtrack. Very average, unskilled movie making. The women are absolutely lovely and were really the only reason to persist viewing this inane travesty. It seemed to on forever. Inexplicable actions where motives were never explored. His son just might be the most moronic poorly conceived character I've ever seen. Nothing rings true and characters even peek at the camera a few times. Editing and pacing were certainly not priorities here. It's a tired theme that needs a fresh take to make it come alive. Instead everybody just sleepwalked through their bits. It could have been trimmed to a 45 minute TV drama. It still would have been awful but not as long....

A wonderful surprising film

[evanoquigley-703-74691 · 8/10 · 24 September 2020]

I was curious to see if Netflix had any good South African films on it and I found this one. Having travelled around the areas it was filmed, I was immediately intrigued and knew that even if the film was lousy, the cinematography was bound to be enjoyable at least due to the filming locations. I was pleasantly very surprised.

Having known absolutely nothing going in, I absolutely loved this film.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT

Almost the entire first hour takes place entirely in Afrikaans, and virtually everybody on screen is white and Afrikaans speaking. There is nothing wrong with this of course, and in some ways this is not unrealistic; even if not badly intentioned. South Africa is divided, and there are areas where the ethnic make up would reflect this. There's no mention of race and barely an acknowledgement of South Africa's great diversity.

This changes rather suddenly when we arrive in the Transkei. We are surprised to see our lead character Rian, so far a seemingly womanising, hard drinking, bad father, who, while having a certain charm, does not appear to be a very nice person, speaking isiXhosa and suddenly he becomes a much more interesting character.

If I could fault the film at all, it would be the portrayal of its female characters, which I didn't think was incredibly realistic at times, although by the end I thought this improved a great deal.

Finally, there's the cancer. It is upsetting to watch Rian's battle at times, and watching Ben struggle as his barely around all his life father, rolls around in agony while his body fails him. Yes, the film falls into cliches at times 'it's easier to die than to live' etc. but I didn't really care. It does take lots of tropes from other road movies and terminal illness films, but actually, who cares? It does them well and does justice to those genres.

A highly original and interesting film. Give it a watch.

Mediocre

[servingrightu · 3/10 · 2 June 2022]

This movie chronicles a terminally ill man's last road trip. The protagonist is an irresponsible popinjay who has lived his life on his own terms, neglecting a son and betraying a wife in the process. As his death looms, he summons people around him to comfort him and play his clown-faced games rather than seeking to make amends for past mistakes and doing serious soul searching. While you feel sympathy for this man's physical suffering, his empty life and selfishness become repellent. He even passes away with his face decorated like serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The movie's pacing is painfully slow, many characters are cliché, the dialogue leans too heavily on profanity, and the movie fails to capitalize on the stunning beauty of South Africa's coast.

Odendaal anchors this awesome film

[jyvoetsek · 8/10 · 23 November 2020]

Andre Odendaal has been around a good while, often under utilised as a baddie. Here he finallu gets to showcase his talents and gives a brilliant performance , with the always reliable Tinarie van Wyk Loots also shining.