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The Hole

Play trailer 1:22 Poster for The Hole 1998 1h 33m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A man (Kang-sheng Lee) and a woman (Kuei-Mei Yang) live in quarantine from a virus whose victims display strange symptoms.
The Hole

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Critics Consensus

Hauntingly surreal and refreshingly original, The Hole finds love and horror in the humdrum rhythm of quarantine life.

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Critics Reviews

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Geoff Andrew Time Out Idiosyncratic, of course, but immensely impressive. Sep 22, 2020 Full Review Christy Lemire FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles) It's a fascinating combination of reality and the fantastical notion of the ways in which we cope. Sep 15, 2020 Full Review Justin Chang Los Angeles Times The feelings that "The Hole" awakens will be recognizable to anyone, even if no one else could possibly have made it. Sep 14, 2020 Full Review Noah Schwartz Film Threat Despite a strong premise, powerful visuals, and excellent performances, I could not even grasp what it was trying to say by the end. Rated: 5/10 Oct 12, 2020 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row Tsai's Kafakaesque existential nightmare turns quarantine into a uniquely harrowing love story, its digressions into abstraction in turn terrifying and rapturous. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 15, 2020 Full Review Lee Jutton Film Inquiry With its flashes of humor and music, The Hole is a disturbingly timely depiction of humanity in crisis as well as a reminder that there are always places to find light if you squint hard enough through the gloom. Sep 15, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Taiwanese film is dystopian in the most minimalist way, yet vibrant in a more visible sense. Thanks be to really dreamy musical numbers that enchant even on a shoe-string budget. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member The musical numbers don't always fit organically within the story, but Tsai's bleak idea of a post-apocalyptic Taiwan under constant rain and in maximum literal isolation is a powerful one as he pictures modern disconnected people turning into cockroaches in the middle of garbage. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member An epidemic hits Taiwan, people who suffered from the disease become cockroach like in terms of their behaviour. A plumber created a hole in a man's apartment and the man and his neighbour began to suffer from the delusions and hallucinations of the effect of the disease. The hole represented the depression in a socially planned urban environment, everyone fills it with different methods. The hole is also a musical that juxtaposed the depression with cheerful tunes. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Shitty apartment building. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member (*** 1/2): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member like my favorite depression era cinema: bleak as all hell, with musical numbers!! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Hole

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A man (Kang-sheng Lee) and a woman (Kuei-Mei Yang) live in quarantine from a virus whose victims display strange symptoms.
Director
Ming-liang Tsai
Producer
Peggy Chiao, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo
Screenwriter
Ming-liang Tsai, Yang Ping-ying
Production Co
La Sept-Arte, China Television (CTV), Buena Vista (Walt Disney), Central Motion Pictures Corporation, Arc Light Films, Haut et Court
Genre
Drama
Original Language
root
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Runtime
1h 33m