Nick Hamm’s The Hole is a vivid example of how a lie can take on a life of its own. In this 2001 psychological-thriller, inspired by Guy Burt’s 1993 novel After the Hole, the truth is distorted as authorities try to understand the horrible events that happened inside an abandoned fallout shelter. The survivor of this senseless tragedy recounts those harrowing eighteen days, telling two disparate versions of the same ordeal. By the end, no one — even the storyteller herself — can tell the difference between fact and fiction.
The deception is immediate in The Hole. Hamm and screenwriters Ben Court and Caroline Ip quickly endear Thora Birch’s character Liz to audiences as the bruised and disheveled teenager stumbles her way back to her home away from home. At a private school called Brabourne, Liz enters the abandoned campus, calls for help on a payphone, then finally unleashes a guttural scream. From there Liz is interviewed by a psychiatrist, Dr. Phillipa Horwood (Embeth Davidtz). The more she gets to know Liz, however, the more Dr. Horwood suspects her patient isn’t being honest.
The movie’s first act consists of Liz telling Dr. Horwood a half truth; it’s how she wished things had turned out. This idealistic account of those eighteen days is, in hindsight, the most pleasant part of The Hole. Here Liz paints herself as a social outcast at Brabourne, one whose only real friend is a nerdy hacker named Martin (Daniel Brocklebank). The school’s most popular girl, Frankie (Keira Knightley), is only nice to Liz because she does her homework. Meanwhile, the female student body is excited to learn that big man on campus Mike (Desmond Harrington) is on the market again after breaking up with his celebrity girlfriend. Liz is no different than her shallow peers since she too has a crush on the son of an American rockstar. Going blond like Mike’s ex doesn’t help, though; every girl has resorted to the same tactic. Liz is then forced to come up with a new plan to win Mike’s heart.
In Guy Burt’s novel, the young characters become trapped inside a cellar, whereas Liz and her friends are stuck somewhere deeper and less discoverable, unless someone is looking for it. The ill-fated fallout shelter is the final destination for most of these characters, though unlike other movies where trouble and death occur on a subterranean level, the hole isn’t itself a malevolent force, nor is it home to anything tangibly wicked. The director shoots scenes from angles mimicking the hole’s perspective, as if it were an additional character, but despite the growing menace of the underground environment, the most evil element here is entirely human.
As Liz chronicles, or rather fabricates, the details of hers and the others’ time in the hole, the director uses two distinct styles of storytelling. The first (and clearly inaccurate) depiction is more in line with an average teen drama filled with bright colors, romantic moments, cutesy quirks and surmountable obstacles. Even the hole doesn’t look all that scary here; it’s fairly clean and unconfined. There is a rosy tint to Liz’s duplicity. Essentially, Liz’s initial interview with Dr. Horwood is a fantasy with fairytale qualities, including a happy ending. What could be interpreted as a survivor’s coping mechanism is more like another way to hoodwink both the adult characters and the audience.
From this point onward, Hamm brings out the movie’s horror elements as well as matches the reality of Liz’s situation with an air of nastiness. According to Brocklebank’s character, whose performance should not go unnoticed, Liz is nowhere as innocent as she makes herself out to be. Her original story is idyllic and escapist, but this second one ranges from unpleasant to brutal. In place of childish games, like flashlight tag and pretending to gang up on Liz to convince Martin to release them from the hole, are more mature activities, such as sex, booze and drugs. Mike asking Liz for her consent is a far cry from an unsavory scene where he and best friend Geoff (Laurence Fox) attempt to molest Frankie together. As is so often the case, the truth can be ugly.
It’s only when Liz lures Dr. Horwood to the hole does she finally give herself up. Shrewd viewers picked up on Liz’s “nice girl” act ahead of time — her smoking cigarettes away from prying eyes is an old-fashioned method for disclosing villainy — yet the third act is where Birch’s character drops the act entirely and admits to her sins. There doesn’t seem to be anything Dr. Horwood can do to stop her patient from continuing the charade or avenging the victims. Liz had made herself into the perfect victim, and as far as the police are concerned, this an open-and-shut case with no other witnesses or contradicting evidence. Audiences are naturally left frustrated, pondering where the story might end up after the screen fades to black.
The Hole is a haunting and cleverly executed thriller. The twists aren’t all that surprising, but the way they unfold is what makes them so memorable. Hamm’s movie, a notable exercise in lies, victimhood and credibility, goes to a dark place and never finds its way out.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
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