John and the Hole is a dark, twisted story of love, hate, and redemption. It’s a story of a man who falls into a deep hole that he can’t escape, and of the woman who helps him find his way out. The story begins with John, an average guy from the small town of Westville, Maine. He’s been married to his wife for 10 years and they have two children. John is a hard worker who loves his family and his job. He’s always been an optimist, thinking that things will eventually work out for him. One day, John gets a call from his wife. She has been diagnosed with cancer and she needs him to come home to help her take care of their children while she recovers. John is hesitant at first, but he decides to go home anyway. When he arrives home, he finds that his wife has already passed away. John is devastated by her death and he spends most of the book trying to come to terms with it. He’s also struggling with the fact that he can’t go back to work because he doesn’t have any insurance anymore. Meanwhile, in Westville, things are going bad for John’s son Joey as well as for John himself. Joey is struggling to make ends meet while also dealing with the effects of his mother’s death; he doesn’t know if he can make it through another day without her help. Eventually, John comes across a group of people who are looking for someone called The Hole; they say that they’ve found someone who can help them escape from their dark lives. John decides to go along with them because there seems like there might be some hope for him after all… even if it means going down into the depths of hell itself!
John, a thirteen-year old boy who doesn’t care about anything, is the protagonist of John And The Hole. He lives a boring, meaningless life with no purpose or hope for change. John is a well-off child with parents who lavish praise on him but neglect to give him the most important things, his time and attention. He spends his time playing tennis and doing mindless things, while desperately wishing that he could be an adult. Jhon longs to escape his lonely, dull life by growing up.
He discovers a bunker that is only half-finished in the forest next to his home one day. Then he drugged his older sister and parents and tossed them in. He indulges in wish fulfillment while they are trapped in the hole. Jhon takes his parents’ car around town, borrows large amounts of money from his bank account, purchases a TV for his bedroom, and invites his friend to a sleepover. He doesn’t want to change the monotony in his life so he lets his family go into the bunker and they all eat dinner together.
Lily and her mother
To understand the film’s message, it is important to place the subplot in the larger story. Thirty minutes into the film, a young girl with red hair is introduced. The title card is also displayed. This seemingly insignificant and irrelevant story is hidden behind the title card and its odd placement. John and his family aren’t the main characters. Lily and her mom are the main characters. Everything we see is a construction of the story Lily tells. John is able to drive around town without fear and knows his parents’ ATM pin. This information is not something most children know. John’s mother friend doesn’t even try to help him after he learned he was left alone.
Both John and Lily seem to have a lot of things in common at first glance. Both are odd children living with absentee parents. John’s parents are unaware of how miserable and lonely he is. They also don’t understand the dangers of his lack empathy. Lily’s mother doesn’t notice that Lily isn’t using the bathroom for 24 hours. She also tells her about dreams that are clearly cries for attention. Because Lily sees herself as a blue balloon, no one can see it because it blends in with the sky, Lily’s nightmare about becoming a blue balloon is heartbreaking.
Lily’s mother has two stories for her: Charlie And The Spider, and John And The Hole. Both of these stories are real-time events that John shows us in John’s timeline. Charlie, John’s family gardener, finds a spider on its back and allows it to walk on his hands until he bites it. The story’s moral is likely to be similar to that of the scorpion or the frog. They are dangerous, regardless of how useful they are for gardens.
Charlie trusted the spider and it bit him, just like John trusted him, so he drugged Charlie. Charlie is seen again later to confirm that John didn’t poison him. This was most likely a fact-finding mission. He likely did not intend to kill anyone. He was just curious to see how it would turn out and how long it would last. John was never questioned by police about Charlie’s drugging. We can therefore assume that Charlie believed he was allergic and did not report his collapse to police.
As a way of explaining what’s about to happen, Lily is told the John story. Her mother wants her to be independent, believing that she is thirteen years old. John was thirteen years old and did not have any problems with himself. He missed his family, but he decided to let them go because it was better to have them care for him than being responsible for everything. Jhon would not change his life if he let them go. He realized this and climbed down the ladder to go back to the pool to drown himself. Perhaps this was his last cry for help.
Because the story is told from Lily’s point of view, we see Lily walking through the same forest as John. These are places she has been to. These places are John’s, and she imagines them as such because John is her reference. Her final scene, in which she walks through the space, is intended to show that John and everything else we saw were just part of a larger story.
The hole
John places his family in the hole while they are asleep. It is also a place John makes for himself and his family. It is the burden of responsibility, despair and hopelessness. This is an adulting for John’s parents. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are content with having money and possessions. John’s mother appears lost in self-absorption, ignorance and a fog. Although he seems content, his father doesn’t seem to have the time or energy to spend with his son. John asks his mother about adulthood. She replies that it’s not different than being a child but more anxious.
John’s question may seem strange, but her answer is just as bizarre. Adulthood is different for those who are happy with their choices. Adulthood means you can choose your own path. This can mean making mistakes and taking on responsibilities that can be overwhelming, but also success and accomplishment. John’s mother might suffer from depression or anxiety. This could explain John’s struggles with his problems, and the fact that she is unable to help him after he throws her in the hole.
The hole could also be a symbol of maturity and loss of innocence. We are faced with harsh realities as we grow up. Freedom comes at a price. If we have children, we are now responsible for their care. We must work to pay our bills and plan for the future. John’s family does not do much to prepare him for his future, other than piano lessons and tennis practice. They are reluctant to discuss more complex topics, such as what a bunker is used for. He is treated more like a child than a teenager by them. John sees the hole as a way to satisfy the curiosity of his parents when he is not allowed to grow up.
A nuanced plot beat is also involved. This could be unraveled by studying how John and Lily handle their growing up. John isolates himself by keeping his family in the bunker. He is the one who runs the house and does whatever he wants. Lily panics and begs her mother to take her along. Lily hears about a father who abandoned them and a grandmother who became pregnant at the age of fifteen. As girls reach puberty, society sexualizes them while encouraging young men to do the same. Boys are free to act and look however they wish, while girls are expected to conform to certain standards. Their mistakes are excused because “boys will always be boys.”
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The end of John and The Hole
John presents his family a ladder and then he goes back to the house to drown himself. His friend and he tried repeatedly to drown themselves, in the hope of “seeing” something. His father spots his floating body, and jumps in to rescue him. Next, we see the family clean up and enjoying a meal together, seemingly indifferent to the events of the week. This scene proves John’s story is a joke. The moral of this story is that we should not grow up too fast, and prevent our children from growing up. John is coddled, protected, and allowed to drug and dump his family while Lily is left alone and forced to grow up fast. Both extremes are not good.
The cycle of life may provide a final explanation. All we see could be Lily’s denial about her parent’s passing. When she loses her mother, her child may see herself as a young girl. Lily believes her father has “gone away” rather than dying years ago. The money hidden under her bed could be an inheritance. Her stories are her final attempts to make contact with a child she is soon leaving. She doesn’t know where she is going, or why she must leave.
Films such as The Killing Of A Sacred Deer or We Have To Talk About Kevin are both about the dangers and consequences of denial. No matter how much we try to deny it, decisions have consequences. John is a serial killer and we should all pray that he isn’t real. The idea that a 12-year-old girl is left to take care of herself is harrowing. Parenting is difficult. This is the biggest lesson. Do not screw it up.
