Holes
Preview/Trailer
Plot/Description:
Stanley Yelnats IV is a teenager born to a family who have been cursed with bad luck. One day, Stanley is falsely accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and is convicted. He decides to attend Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, in lieu of serving a jail sentence.
He arrives to find that the camp is a dried-up lake run by the Warden, Louise Walker, her assistant Mr. Sir, and camp counselor Dr. Pendanski. Prisoners spend each day digging holes in the desert to "build character." The inmates are told that they may earn a day off, if they find anything interesting or unusual. After finding a golden tube initialed K.B. and a fossil, Stanley is accepted into the group and is given the nickname "Caveman." After taking responsibility for Magnet's stealing of Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds, Stanley is taken to the warden's house where old wanted posters and newspapers lead him to suspect that "K.B." stands for Kate Barlow.
In a series of flashbacks the history of Camp Green Lake is revealed. It is originally a lake town, thriving with water and life until Katherine Barlow, a local teacher, gets involved in a love triangle with the wealthy Trout Walker, whom Kate rejects, and an African American onion seller named Sam, who Kate loves. Sam helps rebuild Kate's schoolhouse and becomes closer to her. One day she kisses Sam despite the town's segregation laws. After much turmoil, a group of men from the Green Lake, led by Walker, burn the schoolhouse, along with Sam's onion stand, and kill his donkey Mary Lou. In desperation, Kate seeks the help of the local sheriff, who is drunk in preparation for the hanging of Sam for his crimes. After witnessing the death of Sam at the hands of Walker, Kate kills the sheriff in retaliation and becomes an outlaw. Sam's death causes the Green Lake to turn into an arid wasteland, implied to be divine punishment which leads to the desertion of the town and financial ruin of Walker and his family. Years later, the now bankrupt Walkers approach Kate and demand she hand over her buried treasure, but Kate responds that they could "dig for a hundred years" and not find it. She tells Walker to "start digging," then grabs a highly venomous yellow-spotted lizard with her bare hands and lets it bite her, causing her to die within minutes. For over a century, the Walker family dig for the treasure, finding nothing.
While digging one day, Pendanski mocks Zero, who responds by hitting Pendanski with a shovel and running into the desert. Stanley pursues and carries Zero up a mountain called "God's Thumb", where they find a wild field of onions and a spring, helping them regain strength and at the same time unknowingly fulfilling his ancestor's vow to the fortune teller Madame Zeroni (who is Zero's ancestor), to carry a member of the Zeroni family up the mountain and allow them to drink from the stream while singing to them, thus breaking the curse, and restoring his family's luck.
Stanley and Zero decide to return to the camp and investigate the hole where Stanley found the lipstick. Digging deeper, they uncover a chest, but are immediately discovered by Walker and Mr. Sir. After they escape from Walker with the help of some lizards, it is revealed that Walker is Trout's granddaughter and for several years now, she has used the inmates to search for the treasure. The next morning, the Texas attorney general and Stanley's lawyer arrive, the chest Stanley found is revealed to have belonged to his great-grandfather before being stolen by Kate. The warden, Mr. Sir (who is revealed to be a paroled criminal named Marion Seville), and Pendanski (who is a criminal impersonating a doctor) are arrested for perverting the laws of justice. Stanley and Zero are released from the now-under-investigation camp. With justice finally being served for Sam, rain returns to Green Lake for the first time in over 100 years. The Yelnats family claims ownership of the chest which contains jewels, old money, deeds and promissory notes which they evenly share with Zero. Zero reunites with his missing mother, Camp Green Lake is closed and the Yelnats and the Zeronis move to new neighboring houses along with their friends.
He arrives to find that the camp is a dried-up lake run by the Warden, Louise Walker, her assistant Mr. Sir, and camp counselor Dr. Pendanski. Prisoners spend each day digging holes in the desert to "build character." The inmates are told that they may earn a day off, if they find anything interesting or unusual. After finding a golden tube initialed K.B. and a fossil, Stanley is accepted into the group and is given the nickname "Caveman." After taking responsibility for Magnet's stealing of Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds, Stanley is taken to the warden's house where old wanted posters and newspapers lead him to suspect that "K.B." stands for Kate Barlow.
In a series of flashbacks the history of Camp Green Lake is revealed. It is originally a lake town, thriving with water and life until Katherine Barlow, a local teacher, gets involved in a love triangle with the wealthy Trout Walker, whom Kate rejects, and an African American onion seller named Sam, who Kate loves. Sam helps rebuild Kate's schoolhouse and becomes closer to her. One day she kisses Sam despite the town's segregation laws. After much turmoil, a group of men from the Green Lake, led by Walker, burn the schoolhouse, along with Sam's onion stand, and kill his donkey Mary Lou. In desperation, Kate seeks the help of the local sheriff, who is drunk in preparation for the hanging of Sam for his crimes. After witnessing the death of Sam at the hands of Walker, Kate kills the sheriff in retaliation and becomes an outlaw. Sam's death causes the Green Lake to turn into an arid wasteland, implied to be divine punishment which leads to the desertion of the town and financial ruin of Walker and his family. Years later, the now bankrupt Walkers approach Kate and demand she hand over her buried treasure, but Kate responds that they could "dig for a hundred years" and not find it. She tells Walker to "start digging," then grabs a highly venomous yellow-spotted lizard with her bare hands and lets it bite her, causing her to die within minutes. For over a century, the Walker family dig for the treasure, finding nothing.
While digging one day, Pendanski mocks Zero, who responds by hitting Pendanski with a shovel and running into the desert. Stanley pursues and carries Zero up a mountain called "God's Thumb", where they find a wild field of onions and a spring, helping them regain strength and at the same time unknowingly fulfilling his ancestor's vow to the fortune teller Madame Zeroni (who is Zero's ancestor), to carry a member of the Zeroni family up the mountain and allow them to drink from the stream while singing to them, thus breaking the curse, and restoring his family's luck.
Stanley and Zero decide to return to the camp and investigate the hole where Stanley found the lipstick. Digging deeper, they uncover a chest, but are immediately discovered by Walker and Mr. Sir. After they escape from Walker with the help of some lizards, it is revealed that Walker is Trout's granddaughter and for several years now, she has used the inmates to search for the treasure. The next morning, the Texas attorney general and Stanley's lawyer arrive, the chest Stanley found is revealed to have belonged to his great-grandfather before being stolen by Kate. The warden, Mr. Sir (who is revealed to be a paroled criminal named Marion Seville), and Pendanski (who is a criminal impersonating a doctor) are arrested for perverting the laws of justice. Stanley and Zero are released from the now-under-investigation camp. With justice finally being served for Sam, rain returns to Green Lake for the first time in over 100 years. The Yelnats family claims ownership of the chest which contains jewels, old money, deeds and promissory notes which they evenly share with Zero. Zero reunites with his missing mother, Camp Green Lake is closed and the Yelnats and the Zeronis move to new neighboring houses along with their friends.