''Hellhole'' ( pl, Ostatnia wieczerza, lit=Last Supper) is a 2022 Polish
horror film set in a Polish monastery in 1987, when a police officer investigating mysterious disappearances infiltrates a remote monastery and discovers a dark truth about its clergy. It is directed by
Bartosz M. Kowalski, who also helped write the screenplay with his frequent writing partner,
Mirella Zaradkiewicz.
Plot
In 1957, a priest in a church attempts to murder a baby that bears a unique scar but the
''Milicja'' arrive and shoot the priest.
Thirty years later, Father Marek meets Prior Andrzej at a sanatorium where women are brought for exorcism. In his room, Marek unpacks, unzipping a concealed compartment that contains a pistol, flashlight, and other items not allowed in the sanatorium. While changing, he bares his chest, revealing an unusual scar similar to that of the baby. He begins to experience strange phenomena in his room - the cross on the wall rotates, the bathroom mirror fractures, and the wardrobe makes creepy gurgling sounds.
Marek is called to witness a woman's exorcism. She screams while the Prior recites holy words. In addition, the bed quakes, a strange wind blows, and the Prior's cross catches fire. When Marek investigates the room later, he discovers that all the effects were staged. He joins the priests for meals but has trouble eating the food. A few days after the exorcism, he witnesses the priests burying a casket in the church's graveyard, presumably for the girl, whose room is now empty. Piotr, the vice Prior, approaches him stealthily and asks him to meet in the confessional, where he warns Marek to be careful because those who disobey are severely punished. Marek reveals that he is a militiaman investigating missing local women, disguised as a priest because the militia do not want to meddle in church business after what happened with the murder of priest
Jerzy Popieluszko. According to Piotr, the Prior fakes the exorcisms to defraud the
Curia
Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
and the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
; however, he doesn't know what happens to the women afterwards. Marek sneaks out to dig up the exorcised woman's grave, finds the coffin empty and is captured.
Prior Andrzej and Father Dawid force him to consure portions of cooked meat, after which Marek loses consciousness. When Father Dawid dozes off, Marek frees himself. In a subsequent struggle, he fatally shoots the Father, then he finds the bodies of the missing women hanging on hooks in the freezer and realizes he was being fed their organs. Piotr explains that the priests believe Marek to be the "chosen one," a baby born during an eclipse who could be used to complete a ritual that involved eating the flesh of seven sinners and drinking the blood of an innocent, after which it would transform into a demon, ushering in a
new era of world order. The current priests were working to complete the ritual and realise his destiny. Piotr leads Marek to a hidden exit where he betrays him to the other priests.
When Marek awakens, he is restrained. The Prior explains that the militia's anonymous tip was intended to lure Marek to the sanatorium, that God and the Devil once ruled side by side, and that humans are evil and should be punished by the Devil. The brotherhood has been awaiting the chosen one's birth, and the church itself was constructed around a well that served as a portal to hell. Once the ritual is complete, the Evil One will pass through the portal to hell and assume the body of the chosen one. They envision themselves as the Devil's servants, assisting him in ruling the new world. The priests then bring in a young woman, slit her throat and force Marek to drink her blood. After they finish the ritual, nothing happens. Piotr stabs Marek and tosses his body into the well.
The next morning a now-demonic Marek freezes the priests and suspends them upside down in the crucifixion pose. Outside, dead flowers and trees begin to bloom again, signifying that the dead are reviving and that the living may eventually pass away. Thunder rumbles as the sky splits open, signifying the beginning of the new global order and the transformation of Earth into Hell.
Cast
*Piotr Żurawski as Marek
*
as prior Andrzej
*Sebastian Stankiewicz as Monk Piotr
*Lech Dyblik as Antoni
*Rafał Iwaniuk as Monk Dawid
*Krzysztof Satała as Young Monk
*Malwina Dubowska as Blonde
*Zbigniew Waleryś as Priest
Reception
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported a 60% approval rating, with an average score of 5.3/10, based on 5 reviews.
References
External links
*
*{{Netflix title
2020s Polish-language films
2020s supernatural horror films
2022 horror films
2022 films
Demons in film
Films about exorcism
Films set in 1987
Films set in Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Films set in monasteries
Films set in Poland
Films shot in Poland
Polish horror films
Netflix original films
Religious horror films