At a secluded, exclusive summer camp in the Mexican countryside, under the watchful eyes of their adult guardians, boys from a prestigious private school receive physical, moral, and religious training to turn them into tomorrow’s elite. The discovery of a hole in the fence sets a chain of disturbing events in motion as the boys devolve into a Lord of the Flies-like mob mentality that creates and spreads hysteria in this profoundly disturbing coming-of-age drama that unravels like a horror movie while drawing on actual events.
When William Golding penned ‘Lord of the Flies,’ he intended the novel to satirize and demonize upper-class private school boys children perfectly. The actual class commentary of the book fell away under the pressure of its brutal and terrifying story about young boys who will bully each other, pick on their weakest, and eventually murder with only the force of the elements. “The Hole in the Fence” copies many of the beats from Golding’s original work but elaborates on it by proposing these teenage boys will be indoctrinated into violence rather than discover it alone. “The Hole in the Fence” mines drama from its cadre of young boys (and one girl), but the violent plotting falls second to its thematic exploration of upper-class indoctrination making for a semi-satisfying ending for anyone squeamish about blood.
“The Hole in the Fence” follows the story of a class of boys from a private school dropped off at a weekend retreat called the Pines. While there, the boys say countless prayers, work on meaningless chores, question authority, and eventually get scared into violent behavior. In their off time, they bully the dark-skinned scholarship student and the queer child and almost commit murder under the watchful eye of their school counselors, priests, and teacher’s aide.
The ensemble nature of this project makes the entire film bounce from story to story focusing on a few central characters, but essentially the story told focuses on its central theme. Group bully Jordi (Valeria Lamm) takes it upon himself to mercilessly demean the scholarship student for having dark skin in a community of wealthy upper-class white Mexican children. Jordi and his cronies also bully the queer kid. The entire time the adults at the camp know this and seem to capitalize on these behaviors, intentionally giving them extra time off, punishing them for made-up offenses, and teaching them to protect their own self-interests at all costs.
The surreal summer camp surroundings hint at something dark and foreboding waiting for these boys. “Don’t leave the camp,” the adults warn them. Locals kidnap stray boys and rape or murder them (their words, not mine.) The very us-vs.-them interiority of the camp inspires these boys to see themselves as superior, and when they visit the local town, they offer gifts to the residents of the local pueblo. The hints of strange monsters or vicious locals only exist as figments of the imagination to indoctrinate these boys. They are “learning to commune with God.”
The entire film builds tension in roaming one-takes, often playing out entire scenes. The camera tracks perfectly on the set, slowly taking in scenes like the boys eating lunch together, worried about “what’s out there.” The technique delivers an ambiance and allows the young actors room for easy improvisation, but it can limit the actual storytelling. Multiple scenes involve adults doing the storytelling’s largesse (or praying, singing, or chanting.) The boys provide the reaction shots mainly, and while the film’s primarily focused on the process of indoctrination, it would help to see more conclusive finales to the bully victims of the story.
“The Hole in the Fence” refers ominously to a leak in their little power-hungry world. Most curiously, a boy named Diego (Eric David Walker) gets left behind in group activities, wrapped in a neck brace, arm cast, and foot splint. When he’s left out of such an experience Diego’s preyed upon in the worst way. That final act convinces him to leave the camp entirely via the hole. This is the pivotal event of the movie as the camp leaders realize their indoctrination camp is at risk of becoming public. Their manipulative tactics and intense emotional warping might be exposed. While they hunt for Diego, the remaining boys take it upon themselves to exact vengeance on the locals, assuming they kidnapped the weakest among them. It feels almost directly taken from Golding’s novel and culminates in a gut-wrenching scene poised to twist the film into something truly dark.
The film refrains from going all in on its terrifying violence. It intersperses that emotion into more significant swaths of the conclusion wrapping up Diego’s escape and the boys’ descent into violence quietly rather than in extreme fashion. “The Hole in the Fence” offers a lot to dwell on: the racism learned and practiced by the wealthy private school boys, the homophobia of the kids, the predation of adults on young boys, the passing on tyrannical lessons in self-preservation, and even the inherent violence to extreme indoctrination. It offers up a few threads to examine but ultimately avoids pulling the trigger on horrifying imagery. Instead, it finds a disturbing middle road that makes you truly scared of private schools, summer camps, and all-boys groups.
Opens in LA Friday, May 26th, with more dates to follow
