**WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD**
Short version: this movie sucks. Long version: as somebody else wrote, the hole is in the plot line. Or better, there are lots of holes, but mainly:
a) Martin has a perfect alibi, yet he's the suspect from the beginning and nobody believes him. But, since they find him (dead) with the key, he MUST be guilty. And Liz must surely be rather strong, if she can plunge him in the river so easily. And rather quick, to put the key in his pocket without anybody (in the audience) noticing. Martin dies only a few yards away from Liz's house, but no one seems to care about that.
b) Hello? Did anybody tell the psychologist there were THREE dead bodies in the cell, one of which with his head crushed? How come the police acts as if nothing happened and no one ever talks about it? How come Liz was never questioned SERIOUSLY about these deaths? The first version of the story ends with everybody coming out of the hole happy and smiling, but the psychologist seems to believe it.
c) the hole is abandoned since WW II, but there still is electricity. The hole has an emergency exit which can be locked from outside, in order to make it completely unuseful. The door of the hole has a glass part, but nobody tries to break it.
d)The door key magically appeared in Martin's pockets some time before, because he won't let us know who gave it to him, and if we knew it, that would mean that someone else knew about the existence of the hole, and that would have made it too complex for the writers.
e) Nobody in the school noticed that the boys didn't go to Wales, and their families didn't notice they didn't come home. It took at least three days to understand that there was something wrong.
f) Liz is so convincing when she talks, that everybody instantly believes her: see the ending.
g) Think about this: when Liz came out, the door was OPEN. If Martin was on holiday, who the hell could open it without a key?
I think that's enough to explain why the movie doesn't work.
A thriller is a dangerous game: if you want to play it with the audience, you must be sure you can handle it. As many famous screenwriters said, you've got to take the story and shake its foundations: if it "survives", you've probably got a good movie coming on. This one crumbles quite miserably.
Short version: this movie sucks. Long version: as somebody else wrote, the hole is in the plot line. Or better, there are lots of holes, but mainly:
a) Martin has a perfect alibi, yet he's the suspect from the beginning and nobody believes him. But, since they find him (dead) with the key, he MUST be guilty. And Liz must surely be rather strong, if she can plunge him in the river so easily. And rather quick, to put the key in his pocket without anybody (in the audience) noticing. Martin dies only a few yards away from Liz's house, but no one seems to care about that.
b) Hello? Did anybody tell the psychologist there were THREE dead bodies in the cell, one of which with his head crushed? How come the police acts as if nothing happened and no one ever talks about it? How come Liz was never questioned SERIOUSLY about these deaths? The first version of the story ends with everybody coming out of the hole happy and smiling, but the psychologist seems to believe it.
c) the hole is abandoned since WW II, but there still is electricity. The hole has an emergency exit which can be locked from outside, in order to make it completely unuseful. The door of the hole has a glass part, but nobody tries to break it.
d)The door key magically appeared in Martin's pockets some time before, because he won't let us know who gave it to him, and if we knew it, that would mean that someone else knew about the existence of the hole, and that would have made it too complex for the writers.
e) Nobody in the school noticed that the boys didn't go to Wales, and their families didn't notice they didn't come home. It took at least three days to understand that there was something wrong.
f) Liz is so convincing when she talks, that everybody instantly believes her: see the ending.
g) Think about this: when Liz came out, the door was OPEN. If Martin was on holiday, who the hell could open it without a key?
I think that's enough to explain why the movie doesn't work.
A thriller is a dangerous game: if you want to play it with the audience, you must be sure you can handle it. As many famous screenwriters said, you've got to take the story and shake its foundations: if it "survives", you've probably got a good movie coming on. This one crumbles quite miserably.