Summary

• Curiosity and freedom drive John's twisted experiment with adult life.
• John's questionable mental state leaves viewers speculating on his potential for future violence and darkness.
• The film's ending leaves viewers unsettled as the family returns to normal, ignoring John's disturbing actions.

Director Pascual Sisto's 2021 psychological thriller, John and the Hole, viewers were introduced to an eerie premise when a 13-year-old boy drugs his family and places them into an unfinished bunker, so he can explore what it's like to be an adult. With no supervision, no rules, and no boundaries whatsoever, John (Charlie Shotwell) satisfies his curiosity about the freedoms of adulthood for the first time, but there's far more to the story than the surface level curiosity that serves as John's motivation.

Living a surface-level existence, John simply drifts through life. He asks plenty of questions, some of them a bit on the strange side, but his most pressing curiosity is what it feels like to be an adult. The inquisitive teen traps his family in the bunker in the woods near their home, and then embraces the freedom to follow his every whim. It's here, however, that the film's title takes on a dual meaning. Even though he's still a child, it becomes clear that John will never fill the hole in his life, even with his newfound independence. John and the Hole has an unusual plot, with an ending that's every bit as odd, and off-putting, as the premise.

Why Did John Drug and Trap His Family In the First Place?

John's Pursuit of Freedom Endangered His Own Family

It's typical for children, especially teenagers, to long for the freedom of adulthood. From their perspective, it looks so easy and fun, as most adults tend to keep the trials and tribulations of adult struggles to themselves. Adults can do whatever they want, eat whatever they want, and there are seemingly no consequences for the choices they make. Childhood misconceptions about that freedom lead many to experiment in adult activities behind their parents' backs, often finding themselves in way over their heads.

The main thrust of John and the Hole is the title character -- an adolescent -- playing out his warped idea of adulthood. With his parents and older sister out of the way, John can do whatever he wants. He lives off junk food, drives the family car, takes money from their savings account, orders a big-screen TV, and even invites over a friend to go swimming with him in the pool.

Yet, growing up isn't quite the party he imagined it would be. John doesn't find what he was looking for, and now that he is lonely, he wants his family back. Nearly a week goes by before he's ready to free them from the bunker, but life can never go back to the way it was before the incident--or can it?

John's Parents Want to See the Best In Their Son

Brad and Anna Likely Know It Was John, but They Don't Want to Believe It

By that point, John’s family has been imprisoned for nearly all of John and the Hole. His father, Brad, played by Dexter's Michael C. Hall, has flirted with madness, because he now understands what it means to be truly hungry. Sister Laurie (Taissa Farmiga) almost immediately knew that it was John who drugged them, and lowered them into the concrete bunker. However, their parents had hoped otherwise. Even after the answer becomes clear, John’s mother, Anna (Jennifer Ehle), is still more worried about her son’s well-being than her own.

The family had nearly resigned themselves to dying in the bunker when John dropped a ladder down to them. As the three emerge from the bunker, John is nowhere to be seen, so they simply head back to their house. When John's parents and sister return home, they find him lying face-down in the swimming pool. Suddenly terrified for his son's safety, rather than for his own, Brad jumps into the pool to find that John is actually fine. Relieved, his family doesn’t say anything. They don’t even scold him for his actions. In fact, the next shot depicts John and his family at the dinner table like nothing ever happened. Once again, no one speaks.

Is John Suffering from a Mental Illness?

John and the Hole's Director Intentionally Left John's Mental State Open to Interpretation

Pascual Sisto never offers any actual insight or an official diagnosis of John's odd behaviors in the film, but critics and viewers alike quickly formed their own opinions on the boy's obvious mental illness. Some have called him a sociopath, others argue him to have psychopathic tendencies, while others still have said he's a serial killer in the making, but armchair diagnoses aside, there are some very real signs that John is suffering from some kind of mental disconnect.

In an interview with Pascual Sisto in Mel Magazine, comparisons of John's behaviors were made to real-life children who've committed horrific atrocities, like school shootings, for example. Sisto agreed that John definitely displayed troubling behaviors, noting, "We always said that, sure, John could be a potential shooter. He could end up in some crazy [news story] like that — of course, it’s still crazy what he did, but it could have led to a darker, more potential wrong. But we always wanted to say, What if this is a story of a character that doesn’t [do something terrible], but has the same issues and the same problems that you see in all these [other] kids?"

Who's to say that John won't go on to do something terrible later? While it's obvious there is some sort of psychosis driving John to do the things he does to his family, the even darker twist to the story is how the actual adults handle the situation. John faces no consequences for his actions, all but reaffirming that "adults" can do whatever they want to do, no matter how depraved, and not get into trouble for it.

John and the Hole's Ending Reaffirms the Film's Dark Tone

The Family's Return to Normal Life Suggests the Future Will Only Grow Darker

When John's parents and sister return home from their harrowing ordeal, they find John lying face-down in the swimming pool. Suddenly terrified for his son's safety, rather than for his own, Brad jumps into the pool to find that John is actually fine. Relieved to discover that he's okay, his family says nothing to him about what happened. They don’t even scold him for his actions. In fact, the next shot circles back to the beginning scene, depicting John and his family at the dinner table like nothing ever happened. Once again, no one speaks.

Perhaps the weirdest part of John and the Hole is that the film doesn't answer any of the questions it poses. It never reveals why John trapped his family in the hole. Was he angry with them, or did he simply want them out of the way, so he could do whatever he wanted for a time, experiencing the true freedom adults allegedly enjoy? Perhaps there was something darker and less obvious lurking just beneath the surface that motivated him to do what he did.

The family's silence about the incident, and John's lack of punishment are the most questionable things about the ending. Perhaps his family realized their own role in pushing John to do what he did. Or maybe they felt sorry for him after finding him in the pool and thinking he might be dead. For that matter, it was probably better to pretend that nothing happened at all.

In contrast, the character of Lily has been told the story of John and the Hole by her mother, who has given her enough money to survive for a year on her own because she plans to leave. There have been a few different interpretations of this scene, but one of the most interesting has viewers stating that Lily's mother is preparing her for adulthood by setting her up with what she needs and encouraging her to work hard to stay alive. By comparison to John's parents' lack of a reaction to his ascent into adulthood, Lily's mother is setting her up for survival, suggesting that it's still a common trait for many parents to prepare their children differently for the future, depending on their gender. Lily's future is a whole new rabbit hole to explore, one viewers can only speculate on.

But for John, the film's ending puts everything back where it began. Monotony once again rules, and everything is empty and routine, but considering the lengths he went to in an effort to find excitement and freedom, one can only begin to imagine the lengths he might go to next time. Or maybe there won't be a next time at all, though given the disturbing nature of the movie, it's hard to imagine this being the last time John takes life into his own hands and twists it to his preference.