You’re stuck in a hole. A deep, dark hole. You cannot climb out. You don’t know where you are. You do have your phone, but your GPS is not working. You’ve got hours until water rushes in, drowning you. How do you save yourself?
This is a classic puzzle box film, like Buried or Oxygen. The hero is trapped alone with limited tools at his disposal; how does survival happen? This kind of film can be absolute genius for it combines 100% relatable circumstances – being alone and being trapped. Not every person is a natural puzzle solver, but almost all of us know what it’s like to be alone and alone with a problem.
Shunsuke Kawamura (Yûto Nakajima) emerges from a surprise bachelor party in a location he doesn’t know. Yes, he is destined to be wed the next day. Hence, it would be a real shame if he fell down a #Manhole and couldn’t climb back out, wouldn’t it? A deep cut to his leg and a lack of functioning ladder severely limit Shunsuke’s mobility.
But he has got a phone.
First, call everybody you know, right?
And what if nobody responds? I think you have to curse both your luck and your personality for that particular stratagem backfire. And, indeed, there is a great deal about Shunsuke the film is hiding from us. Hey, why doesn’t anybody come help this guy?
OK, suppose you cannot count on anybody you know? What’s the next move, Sherlock? Shunsuke goes to a popular 
internet chat board, opens an account under the name “Manhole Girl” (assuming -quite correctly- that people would be much more receptive to the plight of a helpless girl) and posts everything he knows about his predicament.
Yes. That should work.
(Assuming there’s nothing else going on here … bad assumption)
#Manhole gets real dark real fast. By the end of the film, you might not recognize the beginning of the film. For my tastes, this was a split bag. I loved the cryptically evil take on the subject, but there were just a few too many retrospective clues that should have told Shunsuke what was going on. In fact, for Shunsuke not to have figured out his dilemma until Act III is ridiculous. Dude, how dense are you?
While not quite sinister, #Manhole has a definite “Mwahahahaha” feel to it. I survive this experience feeling some joy at having seen decent film, but mostly relief that I wasn’t one of the players here.
In a tale as dark as charcoal
A bachelor fell down a manhole
No matter the shout
His luck had run out
Perhaps time to adopt a new goal
Not Rated [read: R], 99 Minutes
Director: Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
Writer: Michitaka Okada
Genre: Oh, it’s dark down there. Real dark.
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Puzzle solvers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “I came for a puzzle and got a horror”
