This week’s recommendation via Netflix Watch Instantly ratings is the 2001 movie The Hole.  Here’s the official description:

A teen thriller about four prep school students who ditch a field trip and spend a weekend partying in an abandoned bunker near campus. But before long, they discover that they're locked in. As the hours turn into days, their suspicions grow, and they find themselves in a desperate fight to make it out alive. What began as a spontaneous lark could turn into a case of cutting class permanently.

I actually think this movie’s description does it a disservice, since it sounds like a pretty cliché horror movie.  And while I’m a big fan of horror, this one sounded so generic, I would have skipped right by if Netflix hadn’t recommended it so highly for me.  The fact that it stars Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, and Keira Knightley (in her first big role) also helped me decide it might be worth an hour and a half of my time.

*mild spoilers in this paragraph* The film actually has more depth than the description alludes to – it’s more of a psychological thriller than a tale about survival.  It starts with one of the characters escaping from “the hole” and then the police trying to unravel what actually happened.  The character is traumatized by the events in the hole and is therefore an unreliable narrator.  Much of the film is spent trying to figure out how the pieces of the story fit together and what motivated the characters who were involved.  And it really makes you question what you would do in a similar situation – how far would you go to get what you wanted?

There were a number of things in this movie that didn’t make sense, and it was tough to figure out which ones were on purpose because of the unreliable narrator and which ones were just plot holes due to sloppy writing.  But the acting of the main four was very strong, and I think they gave the characters more layers than what was actually on the page.  If you’re looking for something a little different from your standard teens-get-hacked-up-by-a-killer horror movie, then I do suggest trying this one.  It’s not perfect, but it intrigued me enough that I’m thinking about reading the book it’s based on, After the Hole, to see how the story progresses with more breathing room.

Have you seen The Hole?  If so, what did you think?  What movies has Netflix recommended that you enjoyed but never would have picked on your own?  How Handsome is Chloe with her letter H?

There are just two days left to enter my contest – click here for more details.

This week’s recommendation via Netflix Watch Instantly ratings is the 2001 movie The Hole.  Here’s the official description:

A teen thriller about four prep school students who ditch a field trip and spend a weekend partying in an abandoned bunker near campus. But before long, they discover that they're locked in. As the hours turn into days, their suspicions grow, and they find themselves in a desperate fight to make it out alive. What began as a spontaneous lark could turn into a case of cutting class permanently.

I actually think this movie’s description does it a disservice, since it sounds like a pretty cliché horror movie.  And while I’m a big fan of horror, this one sounded so generic, I would have skipped right by if Netflix hadn’t recommended it so highly for me.  The fact that it stars Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, and Keira Knightley (in her first big role) also helped me decide it might be worth an hour and a half of my time.

*mild spoilers in this paragraph* The film actually has more depth than the description alludes to – it’s more of a psychological thriller than a tale about survival.  It starts with one of the characters escaping from “the hole” and then the police trying to unravel what actually happened.  The character is traumatized by the events in the hole and is therefore an unreliable narrator.  Much of the film is spent trying to figure out how the pieces of the story fit together and what motivated the characters who were involved.  And it really makes you question what you would do in a similar situation – how far would you go to get what you wanted?

There were a number of things in this movie that didn’t make sense, and it was tough to figure out which ones were on purpose because of the unreliable narrator and which ones were just plot holes due to sloppy writing.  But the acting of the main four was very strong, and I think they gave the characters more layers than what was actually on the page.  If you’re looking for something a little different from your standard teens-get-hacked-up-by-a-killer horror movie, then I do suggest trying this one.  It’s not perfect, but it intrigued me enough that I’m thinking about reading the book it’s based on, After the Hole, to see how the story progresses with more breathing room.

Have you seen The Hole?  If so, what did you think?  What movies has Netflix recommended that you enjoyed but never would have picked on your own?  How Handsome is Chloe with her letter H?

There are just two days left to enter my contest – click here for more details.