The hole, from Netflix: explanation and analysis of the film
The hole is a Spanish horror and science fiction film directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia. This 2019 feature film is a Netflix original production that has achieved enormous success with international audiences.
Extremely distressing, with violent passages that border on the genre gore, the film is a dystopia that provokes multiple reflections on our reality. Branded both great and disturbing by the public, The hole It has a surprising ending and leaves many questions in the air.
Explanation and analysis of the film
Attention: contains spoilers!
Heavy, dense and difficult to understand, The hole it leaves some clues and questions that the viewer needs to attend to carefully.
The premise is simple and terrifying: the protagonist, Goreng, is in a vertical prison with two inmates per level and a huge rectangular hole in the center. Every day a platform descends that contains a luxurious banquet filled with the best delicacies.
Those on the first level are the first to eat. Every few minutes, the platform goes down to the next level for everyone to eat. The ritual is repeated over countless levels and individuals are forced to eat the leftovers of their predecessors. In this place, food is the only thing that matters, since the survival of each one depends on it.
It is curious to note that some names of the characters refer to the culinary. For example, Goreng is the name of a recipe from Indonesia, Malaya, and Singapore, and Barahat is the name of a mixture of spices of Arab origin.
While we accompany the protagonists in their struggle for survival, we can also perceive a series of symbols and socio-political criticisms.
An extreme metaphor about class division
"Eat or be eaten"
Goreng's first partner is Trimagasi, an elderly man who has been in the hole for a long time and explains how it works. He does not allow them to get too close, making it clear that each one must fend for himself: it is about "eating or being eaten."
The man, who went crazy as a result of the consumer society, faces the situation with absolute normality (for him everything is "obvious").
Trimagasi chose an object to take with him in that place: a knife that sharpens itself, ready to attack and defend itself at all costs. By the way he treats those below, Trimagasi makes it clear that they are all alone and against each other.
Eating can be very easy or very difficult, it depends on your class ...
Due to the hierarchy that is established, it is implicit that the levels do not communicate or collaborate with each other: they do not speak with those below and those above respond to them. Thus, the system appears to have been designed to isolate individuals by preventing organized or collective actions.
From the beginning of the film, the viewer is noticing the clash of realities thanks to scenes that go from an extremely clean and sumptuous kitchen to the miserable life of the hole.
The scene in which we see, slowly, how the banquet is consumed and devoured as descends, it is an image of the lack of resources generated by the excesses of those who are at the top of the hierarchy.
Desperation is such that people become murderers, as those below are forced to kill and become cannibals as a last resort for survival.
Spontaneous solidarity
After nearly being eaten by Trimagasi, when they awaken at level 171, Goreng is forced to eat the meat of his former partner. It is Imogiri, his new partner, who turns the story around.
The woman, who worked for the administration and volunteered to participate in the "experience", tries to alter the operation of the place, dividing the food into portions. Although she believes in "spontaneous solidarity", her efforts are met with laughter and insults for days.
Irritated, Goreng forces the lower levels to obey the order, threatening to spread feces on the food whenever the platform passes his level: "Solidarity or shit!"
Descend and then climb
Meanwhile, the arrival of a third cellmate, Baharat, changes the whole scene. The man, a believer in God and full of hope, accepts Goreng's plan to dominate the platform and redistribute the food.
It is through union, joint action, that the prisoners manage to alter the order and convey a message to those at the top. That message will be to return the pannacotta to level zero.
Religious themes and symbols
It is not only Baharat who talks about religion during the film and affirms that this place is hell. If we pay attention, there are several biblical references that run through the story. In fact, almost at the end of the film we can see the representation of the capital sins in the inmates, like the man who throws bills into the air.
In fact, from the beginning, Trimagasi questions the protagonist: "Do you believe in God?" Later, Imogiri hints that he may be there on a mission. After she commits suicide, Goreng sees (or hallucinates with) her spirit, pointing to him as "the messiah" or "the savior" who will set them free.
The character also makes a reference to Jesus' sacrifice, by asking his companion to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Baharat, who embarks with the protagonist on a suicide mission, is also seeking her salvation.
The numbers of the levels are not accidental. For example, the number 333, where the two heroes stop when they find the girl, may be a reference to the age of Jesus when he died. On the other hand, with that number of levels, The hole would have 666 inmates, a number associated with the Devil.
Relationship with the book Don Quijote of La Mancha
When she had the opportunity to choose an object to take to the hole, Goreng opted for a copy of the book. Don Quijote of La Mancha, one of the most important works of the Spanish language.
Enchanted by chivalric novels, this famous character was obsessed with defeating villains and bringing justice. His delusions to change the world, made Don Quixote become a symbol of dreamers and madmen, which, somehow, seems to inspire the protagonist.
When Goreng reveals his plan to Baharat for the first time, he replies: "Only a madman would do that." Despair, perhaps laced with a dose of madness, was what led them to achieve what no one had ever achieved.
Movie's ending The hole explained
To understand this film, it is necessary to analyze the ending, since its outcome causes great confusion among viewers. Locked in this dystopian prison, where each one corresponds to a level, Goreng meets a figure who breaks the rules: Miharu.
The woman is a kind of savage murderer who uses the platform to move around the prison in search of her daughter, who she presumes is inside the building. Goreng tries to help her and she reciprocates her gesture by saving her life from Trimagasi's thirsty hands.
For a long time, the viewer is led to think that the woman is crazy and that there is no girl in the room, since it would be impossible for her to survive there.
However, when the protagonist and her partner Baharat manage to approach the end of the hole in their plan of revolt, they see the hidden girl and stop to help her. After the death of his partner, Goreng continues the journey with Miharu's daughter.
When the platform reaches the bottom, he finally understands that the message he needed to send to the top was neither the intact panna cotta nor the words about what he saw in the hole.
The real message, the one that would really change everything, was the existence of the girl he just saved. A life capable of being born and developing in that place of death is a symbol of hope and a possible seed of transformation.
Seeing that he no longer needs to be the bearer of the message, since the girl's existence speaks for itself, Goreng sees the spirit of Trimagasi, who announces that her mission is over. The two set off together as soon as the platform rises, carrying the girl to level zero.
We could conclude that the hero died having fulfilled his mission, but we could never know if the arrival of the girl at the top changed something or not.
Trailer
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