Movielogr
Hellhole (2022)
Directed by Bartosz M. Kowalski
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
In a monastery cut off from the world, the monks run a clinic for the possessed. One day, a young policeman Marek comes to the convent. Posing as a clergyman, he penetrates monastic life and tries to explain the recent, mysterious disappearance of several tormented inmates. It turns out, however, that there is no way out of the monastery.
Rated R | Length 90 minutes
Actors
Piotr Żurawski | Olaf Lubaszenko | Sebastian Stankiewicz | Lech Dyblik | Rafał Iwaniuk | Krzysztof Satała | Malwina Dubowska | Zbigniew Walerys | Antoni Augustyniak | Wojciech Niemczyk | Kamil Pardo | Ireneusz Tomaszewski | Rafał Kiełbowicz | Józef Smok | Sylwester Nowakowski | Tomasz Zawadzki | Ernest Walczyński | Wiesław Kachel | Robert Łukowski | Mariusz Winiarski | Piotr Iskra | Sławomir Kmiecik | Paweł Dudziński | Artur Jaros | Tadeusz Kostrzycki | Piotr Piechaczyk | Robert Skwirtniański | Krzysztof Andrzejewski | Marek Bondarenko | Sławomir Tomczak
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/11/2023 | TV | Streaming | Video on Demand | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
Lunchtime watch but I probably should have watched this after dark in the pitch black home theater for better effect.
This is from the same director who did PLAYGROUND which is some dark, grim stuff and scarred me when I saw it at Fantastic Fest years ago. Kowalski also directed the very average NOBODY SLEEPS IN THE WOODS TONIGHT. HELLHOLE sits somewhere between these two, leaning more into the darker side but with less impact than PLAYGROUND. It strikes me as pointedly anti-religious but the ending feels like both a foregone conclusion and incongruous with the rest of the movie. I wonder how well his films go over in Poland.
One of my problems with the film is it maintains a slow, steady, sinister pace. That works well enough as connective tissue between major scenes but it never builds any real tension during key moments. As a result, the movie as a whole feels flat and disengaging. The set design is effectively creepy and the cinematography is purposefully dark. When we do get light it’s from candles and flashlights which provides for some striking compositions at times.
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