Film Review – The Hole, facing our fears

I hear you cry “are we there yet?”  from the deepest recess of your mind.  Where? I answer knowing full well that where you want to be is anywhere but here and understanding that you are afraid, very afraid that if you look in the mirror you will see that your wishes didn’t come true.

What am I talking about?  

 Life. 

What are YOU afraid of.

Tonight I watched ‘The Hole’ with my sister, her family and my kids and must say that it rather freaked me out until nearly half way through when it all started to become clear (I hadn’t seen the trailer or read the reviews).  The film (which is a parental guidance cert 12) was about a pair of brothers and their neighbour who discover a massive bottomless hole in the home that the boys have just moved into.   If that wasn’t scary enough the hole starts to throw out some very disturbing sights and sounds as the story progresses, dragging the viewer in and practically glueing you to the screen.  I have to admit, I was scared for a while there.

You see what this film is about is having to confront our greatest fears head on. These hidden terrors haunt the main characters until one-by-one they are tackled and conquered. The film has the happy ending one would expect for a kids film and has a core message that is simple and comforting but the imagery and the tension is, I would say, beyond the 13 certification at times. 

So what has this got to do with you, me and everybody?

Either nothing or everything you see it is around this time of year, a good couple of weeks since it became acceptable to start the day with a box of chocolates and end it with a bottle of port that we have to confront our greatest (adult) fear.  It usually isn’t facing up to the boss and explaining that rather than do that business report ‘homework’ we lazed in bed for an extra 1/2 hour then played x box with the kids,  oh no, it is something much more challenging.  We have to face up to the fact that the New Years resolutions – to be a nicer, thinner, more successful, happier or more ‘in the moment’ person – that we promised ourselves are not going to happen without a damn sight more effort.  We can no longer ignore the fact that our enthusiasm and motivation for getting up for that morning run had about as much follow through as a Christmas cracker and the fog on the window of our own happiness has started to gather again as we sink back into that comfortable slipper-like feeling of could have, should have, would have.

In short we get scared of the change required in us and  re-join the status-quo.

So, what can we do about it?

Well I suggest that you watch this film and find out. You see our fears, lost dreams or lack of motivation are often made out to be so much bigger and more scary than the reality once you face up to them.  So go, look in the mirror, take a deep breath and tell yourself one more time that you CAN make a change and you can do it,  you may just need to find someone who will hold your hand when the lights go out and there is no shame in that.

Face your fears and stop feeding that bottomless hole in your closet. 

Good luck.  xxxxxxx