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Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Embeth Davidtz, Daniel Brocklebank, Steven Waddington ... see more see more... , Gemma Craven , Kelly Hunter , Emma Griffiths Malin , Anastasia Hille , Laurence Fox , Keira Knightley , Gemma Powell

A fun-filled getaway for four teenagers becomes a season in Hell in this tense British thriller. Liz Dunn (Thora Birch) is a student at an exclusive private school who is head over heels for Mike Stee... read more read more...l (Desmond Harrington), a handsome classmate whose father is a well-known American rock star. Liz, however, is self-conscious about her looks and is convinced Mike would rather be with the prettier girls in her class. Liz is also unenthusiastic about an upcoming field trip, in which she and the other students will have to camp out for three days while studying local geography. Liz confesses her infatuation with Mike to Martin Taylor (Daniel Brocklebank), a science-minded geek and longtime friend who happens to be in love with Liz, though she prefers to ignore it. Martin proposes a solution to both of Liz's problems; he's found an underground bunker built during World War II near the school grounds, and he arranges a little party in which Liz and Mike will spend the three days of the field trip in the bunker, with class couple Geoff (Laurence Fox) and Frankie (Keira Knightley) going along, giving Liz a perfect chance to impress Mike with her charm. The students lay in a supply of food, water, and booze to last them for three days, but after 72 hours, they discover they've been locked in, and they're not sure if Martin intends to let them out. The Hole also stars Embeth Davidtz as a psychiatrist who consults with Liz after her ordeal. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

55% liked it

33,514 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

16 critics

R, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Nick Hamm

Release Date: January 1, 2001

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DVD Release Date: October 19, 2004

Stats: 1,617 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,617)

  • helpahorse
    June 18, 2011
    helpahorse
    The credits were the best part. The flashlight effect on all the names. It was really cool.


    Okay whoa. I just realized how completely unrealistic this movie is. Liz wasn't even suspected in the deaths of her friends, they just put all the blame on that one kid and closed th... read moree case. Wouldn't it be suspicious that Liz was the only one that was able to escape? And how would she have escaped if they were all locked in? And how could they be locked in, if the door only locks from the inside? Why would the investigators take one teenager's word over another? Why would they jump to the conclusion that Martin committed suicide? What was his motive for that? There wasn't even anything tying him to the crime scene! Are these investigators complete dumbasses or is this plot just stupid? Also, out of ALL the places you could go to have a "getaway party" why would you choose an unsafe bunker from World War ll? These children are stupid, and so are the investigators. The more I think about it, the more this movie sucks.

    The movie was kind of boring and really predictable. From the start, it was so obvious *spoiler* that the girl Liz was a crazy bitch. It really wasn't that shocking. The way the kids died was also not very thrilling. One guy goes crazy and kills the other guy, the girl who is so thin and into herself dies from Bulimia, another guy falls off the 50 year old rusted ladder....whoaa shocking!

    It was pretty bland. The plot seemed interesting, but the way the movie put it together made it confusing and boring. It wasn't absolutely terrible, but I definitely wouldn't watch it again.
  • SirPant
    September 25, 2009
    SirPant
    More like the Bumhole! Keira Knightley got her tits out before she was 16! That?s nasty!
  • MovieGeek13
    July 12, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    The Hole is a great blend of horror and psychological thriller. It's disturbing, not only in the amount of physical violence that the characters inflict on each other, but in the film's analysis of one girl's willingness to do whatever it takes to win over the object of her affe... read morection. Thora Birch and Desmond Harrington star alongside a young Keira Knightley.
    Nick Hamm, who will go on to direct the forgettable Godsend, delivers a clever, tense, and terrifyingly realistic look at high school obsession underlying a whodunit that will have you guessing right up till the very end!
  • FiLmCrAzY
    April 24, 2009
    FiLmCrAzY
    I really really liked this film, the acting was good and the storyline was good and it keeps you guessing and still surprises you at the end as you come to one conclusion and gives you a completely different answer.
    Its about 4 teenagers who dont go on this trip and end up in th... read moreis hole which is a secret underground bunker and then the door wont open when tey wont to leave, through a series of different stories told by differnt people everything is what it seems and the survivor doesnt seem quite so innocent even though shes been through a great ordeal!! This film is suspenseful and brilliantly written!
  • Stinger839
    July 6, 2008
    Stinger839
    "So Fucked Up" highlight: girl pukes herself to death
  • MidnightMadwoman
    December 6, 2007
    MidnightMadwoman
    This is one of the few movies that kept me awake when I first saw it. Then again, this was one of the first movies I saw when I was getting into contemporary horror. But yes, the unreliable narrator, the twist ending, the descent into hopelessness and madness. There is so damn mu... read morech here that is freaky. Plus the whole story is told in flashback, giving the whole movie a sense of inevitability. Pair all this with the score, and you have a real formidable horror film. Hoo. Chills.
  • jabcdef
    October 19, 2007
    jabcdef
    Fairly predictable and pointless movie. It's okay, but I wouldn't want to sit through it again.
  • thmtsang
    August 18, 2007
    thmtsang
    Creepy movie about a group of teenagers trapped in a hole.
  • garyX
    July 14, 2007
    garyX
    A group of suspiciously pretty teens are trapped in an old bomb shelter and gradually turn on themselves and each other as desperation sets in. Not a bad psychological pot-boiler and there's a decent twist, but it all descends into hysterical melodrama by the end. Not bad though.
  • ceWEBrity
    June 20, 2007
    ceWEBrity
    Perhaps the most notable thing about The Hole is Keira Knightley's presence, where she bares her underage boobies for all the world to see. Crazy British films!

    Past that, though, the movie doesn't offer a whole lot of original ideas to the thriller genre. It's an inconsistently... read more effective movie; most of its success stems from strong characters. The four main teenagers are sympathetic people, not bodies waiting to hit the ground like in most movies of this ilk. Thora Birch does an especially convincing job as our troubled protagonist, who isn't playing with a full deck in many senses of the phrase. There's even a decently interesting pseudo-antagonist.

    But beyond that, The Hole doesn't accomplish much. It's not very scary, which is probably its main trapping. It's almost as if the movie is pulling its punches a lot of the time. It could have much better job playing off the claustrophobia, the paranoia and the situation in general, but it feels empty. In addition, there are several scenes where it's difficult to suspend disbelief.

    All in all, The Hole is worth the 100 minutes, but it's vacuous entertainment at best. Nothing award-winning here.

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Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz
April 22, 2011
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Has a good ambiguous premise but comes apart when it must reach a conclusion if its protagonist, Liz Dunn (Thora Birch), is a psychopath or a victim. Full Review

John J. Puccio
November 19, 2004
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

When we finally come to hear and understand what probably did happen down in the hole, it's more elaborately ridiculous than the first story we heard. Full Review

Christopher Null
November 5, 2004
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

you get the feeling the actors are hoping their characters will die soon so they can get off the set, fast. Full Review

Pablo Villaca
June 19, 2004
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Sem provocar grandes sustos ou estabelecer um bom clima de tensão, este é um filme sem propósito definido. Além disso, a história é rasa e a direção de Hamm, burocrática.

David Nusair
August 1, 2003
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

The last 45-minutes of The Hole are so entertaining, so creepy that it's easy to forget how lame the first hour is. Full Review

Harry Guerin
May 8, 2003
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)

An adolescent adventure that goes disastrously wrong for the protagonists - and, quite frequently, the audience. Full Review

Bill Chambers
November 11, 2001
Bill Chambers, Film Freak Central

Somehow, long after our sympathies have shrivelled up, Birch is able to squeeze another drop of compassion out of the tube.

Ian Waldron-Mantgani
October 19, 2001
Ian Waldron-Mantgani, UK Critic

Has similar premise to "Blair Witch 2", but also has better acting and a plot that makes sense

Michael Thomson
October 18, 2001
Michael Thomson, BBC

The qualities which made [Birch] flourish in that multi-Oscar-winner [American Beauty] are still abundantly clear. Full Review

Alex Ramirez
October 18, 2001
Alex Ramirez, Cinenganos

Una buena opción, una cinta interesante, bien lograda, y con giros gratos respecto al suspenso clásico de adolescentes al que estamos acostumbrados...

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Facts

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    • Mike Steel: For me, all for me. I killed my best friend, you let me think I was going to die, and you watched me kill my best friend. I killed him for a fucking coke! You let Frankie die! You held her hand and you let her die.
    • Martin Taylor: Liz and Frankie are almost the same person. Boring, vain, shallow enough to paddle in.
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The Hole Trivia

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