Couple in a Hole

I don't know what I just watched. Couple loses son, mom is traumatized after the fact and refuses to leave a spot where she feels his presence and dad can't leave mom. There were so many details left out of this and it moved so slow that I almost stopped watching it a few times. I hung in there hoping the end would be worthwhile but I was disappointed. Not something that I'll ever watch again.

Excellent movie. If this movie can it's needs a Academy Award. Some French language with English Subtitles. Very few. Mostly English Speaking. Scotish Movie that is set in France countryside. If your into Drama with a little twist of reality. You will love this one. Will have you thinking the entire time. Still does have me thinking. Didn't like the end wanted to know more. Mind binder ,Tear Jerker. I've Seen a lot of movies this is one of a kind. You don't want to be in a Hole but Life can be hard and you have to make sacrifices or do something you don't want to do. But you can't let the people or animals that you love down. Love is a wonderful thing. Mental health is serious. Wonder what you would do when faced with a traumatic experience. Hope we could all be like the guy in this movie. Must see If you don't love this movie then your not living life the way you should be. (You are a Monster)

This film moved me. Powerful silence, actions and way of telling this story. It unfolds perfectly, like in a real life event, not some Hollywood garbage that is fed to people, creating this whole fake generation. I am not a person that knows the review speak, so ten lines is a stretch for me, I don't read reviews that are longer than about the same amount of lines, I want to watch and experience a film for myself, not read a book about how another person perceived every detail.

A basic outline is enough. This film is like a snowball, ending in the most unexpected way, yet throughout the film, there were glimmers of indication, if one is perceptive to such things of course. I really enjoyed the journey, there is a melancholic feel to this, that is the closest to a spoiler you will get from me.

There are marketing companies who would charge you the price of a Jordan Belfort house party to come up with the best name for a movie. 'You need something smart' they would WhatsApp you from the break out canoe in their Shoreditch offices, 'Relevant', 'Sophisticated', 'Serene', 'Something virtual for the Millennials'. But you know what? If you've got a film about a couple living in a hole, save the budget and the BS and just call the bloody thing what it is.

Couple in a Hole, as you may have partially gathered by now, is about a couple living in a hole in the woods somewhere in rural France. The two are introduced during daily activities; John (Higgins), the hunter gatherer of the pair catching and skinning a hapless bunny for the pot, and Karen (Dickie), sitting in the hole stitching together furs into a rather fetching but doubtfully PETA approved patchwork blanket.

On a rare excursion from the hole, Karen gets bitten by a spider and becomes ill, forcing John to travel into town for medication. Here he meets Andre (Kircher), the gentle local chemist who asks how they are getting on in the wood. It is at this point, with John telling Andre he has plenty of money and doesn't need charity, that you realise the couples living accommodations are of their choosing. The key question then simply becomes 'why?'. Why are they living in a hole? Why are they so close to town? Why is Karen so utterly afraid of the world? The rest of the films sole purpose is to gradually tease these answers out.

Aside from the mysterious particulars of the living arrangements, the most engaging part about Couple in a Hole is the contradicting needs of the couple and the discord they create; Johns jovial persona longing for alternative company and Karen's obsession with locking herself away from the dread of the outside world. Dickie plays the agoraphobic Karen to perfection. Her complete regression from life and emaciated appearance are startling, the occasional panicked emergence from the hole is breath-holding material. Higgins is perfectly cast as the friendly but uncompromisingly loyal and protective John, his friendly intelligence keeping the course of the plot credible and preventing things becoming too gloomy.

Why, oh, why then Geens decided to end the film as he did only he will ever know. After being lovingly snuggled in the fur-lined blanket of Paul's progression and Karen's regression for an hour and a half, the last thing you would expect is the ending you unfortunately receive. It feels flustered, freaky and unrealistic (an impressive feat for a film about two Scottish people living in a hole in France) and undoes a lot of what has come before.

Couple in a Hole works far better than it perhaps should and productions of such limited budget and scope should always be applauded. Although flawed in places and with that terrible ending, it is for the most part a legitimately enjoyable and captivating outing.

A tragic story set in the French/Swiss Alps, about a distressed couple seeking refuge from grief. They "hole" up in the forest and avoid contact with the outside world, attempting to overcome their pain and mourn in solitude. Survival is about foraging and hunting, living off the land.

The acting from Kate Dickie and Paul Higgins as the couple is top notch, showing real emotive zeal without the pretentious overacting some actors often portray. It is thoroughly believable, in spite of the gorgeously shot film itself.

There are some of life's harder questions like how do partners deal with loss? Couples can't always manage equally, despite the equal loss. And this film magnifies the question right up until it's ending. It's not uplifting, but it's all the better for its melancholy. By which time you'll likely agree, that this a gorgeously shot film. The utilisation of the environment is spot on, and the landscapes give you a great sense of solitude, reflection and slower pace...which is likely what the director was after.

7/10 for me with high marks for the direction, shooting and acting.