We’re somewhere in Poland in 1957, where a priest enters a church with a baby that bears a unique scar. He’s not there to drop the baby off for some nuns to take care of, though, he proceeds to try killing the infant. Fortunately for the baby, the Milicja (the Polish militia) enters the place and shoots the priest dead.
Fast forward to thirty years later, we meet another priest: Father Marek. He arrives at a Polish monastery where women are brought in to undergo an exorcism. He’s vetted and checked before entering the place, but when he starts unpacking in his room we see that the suitcase he’s brought with him has a concealed compartment where he’s hidden a gun, a flashlight, and some other stuff. Seems like he’s come prepared…but for what? We’ll find out.
Marek is then taken to a room where they’re performing an exorcism on a woman. All kinds of textbook-exorcism stuff go on in there, with a cross suddenly starting to burn, a shaking bed, and the usual demonic shenanigans. When Marek investigates the room later, he discovers that things are not exactly what they might seem at first glance, though. Marek’s mission at the place is, in fact, to investigate some cases of many missing local women which he believes has something to do with this place. And things are certainly happening in this dark, foreboding hellhole where everything looks rotten, and the food being served is so horribly foul and nasty that it looks even more biohazardous than the fridge contents in Resident Evil 8.
Hellhole (original title: Ostatnia wieczerza, which literally means Last Supper) is a Polish horror film from 2022, written by Mirella Zaradkiewicz and directed by Bartosz M. Kowalski. It is available on Netflix as one of the Netflix originals. It was filmed in Lubiaz, Poland.
Starting off, this movie doesn’t offer too much new to the typical demonic/possession genre, but it’s atmospheric and creepy, much aided by the setting and visuals. It’s very mystery-fueled for the most part of the film, where you follow Marek as he keeps investigating the place and finds the one ominous thing after the other. And poor Marek pretty much finds himself in Hell already, with no means of actually leaving the place and being served the worst meals possible. Yes, those nasty meals have a deeper meaning, of course.
While we follow Marek on his investigative routes (and in between him violently vomiting for obvious reasons) it all becomes a little muddled with a mix of him finding apparent hoax effects that the monks use during the “exorcisms“, to him experiencing some really weird supernatural devilry. It never manages to elevate the atmosphere and creepy settings to some real scares, though, and it’s definitely a little slow at times, but it does gradually reveal bits and pieces along the ride which is pretty much what I crave and expect from mystery-based stories: just give us a few nuggets here and there and keep us wondering for a while still. Then…we get towards the final part of the movie, and oh boy, things certainly take a different turn! In some ways, it reminded me a little of how the buildup was presented in They’re Watching, even though those movies have very little in common otherwise. I’m talking about the somewhat “generic“ start which later presents you with something totally bonkers. Hellhole is one of those movies that saves the best parts for last, and there’s even a scene where it all also turned unexpectedly comedic. This certainly wasn’t a movie I expected to get some good laughs from.
With all of the above being said, Hellhole is for the most part a creepy, mystery-based horror film. If you want something with a sinister atmosphere, with some twists and turns and a fun finale thrown into that mix, then give Hellhole a watch!
Director: Bartosz M. Kowalski
Writers: Bartosz M. Kowalski, Mirella Zaradkiewicz
Original title: Ostatnia wieczerza
Country & year: Poland, 2022
Actors: Piotr Zurawski, Olaf Lubaszenko, Sebastian Stankiewicz, Lech Dyblik, Rafal Iwaniuk, Krzysztof Satala, Malwina Dubowska, Zbigniew Walerys, Antoni Augustyniak
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19724142/
