“There are three types of people: Those at the top,
those at the bottom and those who fall.”- Trimagasi
can clearly be seen. While fellow writers, Pedro
Rivera and David Pesola serve a narrative metaphor
for class stratification witnessing an older man named
Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor) being so proud about his
own position.
He even spits on prisoners below him as he figured
that they would do the same thing to him in the future
knowing that everyone will have a chance to be on
a different random floor every month. To him, it is
useless to show good behaviour when there is no single
motivation to be kind.
Every day, a large buffet consisting of everyone’s
favourite foods are served by nameless cooks in
the kitchen. Everything then is prepared on the floating
platform called “The Hole”– a type of mass dumbwaiter.
As it descends beginning with level 1, each pair of
cellmates must eat as much as they can according to
the given time set before the food moves to the next
level.
The catch is, no one is certain about how many
levels are there in prison. It could be 100, 200, 300, or
even more.
Later on, Goreng (Ivan Massague) who is in the
same cell with Trimagasi figured out where exactly he
is gone. As Trimagasi has explained, “The Hole” is an
eat-or-be-eaten place where people from the top levels
are free to eat anything they want while those below
are stuck in traffic of fortune to wait for the leftovers.
Undeniably, this situation really tests one’s survival
and sense of humanity.
Realizing this film brings a horror theme, it is
impossible to leave the audience without feeling sick.
The brutal storytelling involving cannibalism, blood,
and suicide forces them to bear witness to various
horrors when “The Hole” continues to play its strange
setup. For example, Trimagasi has been in the prison
for many months already and he has adapted to its
ways to remain alive.
But, it does not mean he would reveal how “The
Hole’ works when Goreng asks for some explanations.
There is no easy answer for sure. If Parasite can be
described as social thrillers, then this film is fit for the
term of a social nightmare.
Last but not least, as the film progresses, suffice
to say that the script is well-written and that the plot is
not dull although the design of the prison has that sense
of limitation, as in, a blank cell with minimal sink and
two single beds each.
The characters respectively show an intense
performance where the audience may feel this scenario
to be too real about being trapped under the grim
conditions. The writers also pack the script with a few
tension-surprise moments that cause the audience to
have a runaway-train feeling of uncertainty about what
possibly will happen next.
In addition, this science-fiction and horror
film is visually stunning and memorable which then
contributes to their win in People’s Choice Award
for Midnight Madness during last year’s Toronto
International Film Festival.
SASARAN EDISI 82 171