Writing and directing your first feature is not an easy task, no matter how many shorts have come before it. It gets especially harder when financial constraints come to play and you have to keep things from getting messy and becoming a little chaotic on a microbudget. Stefan MacDonald-Labelle got everything to fall into place with his feature debut Head Like a Hole. Having its east coast premiere during Boston Underground Film Festival 2025, the movie is almost familiar, until it becomes unfamiliar, the monochrome composure making everything feel more uneasy, more dire, until the final moments, which are sure going to leave audiences at the edge of their seats, not knowing what to expect or where exactly everything is going to go.
Head Like a Hole focuses on Asher (Steve Kasan), a man who just cannot catch a break. He’s unemployed and everything is just falling apart at the seams, and he finally catches a break with a job interview. However, while on his way to his job interview, he gets a call from his cell phone company wanting to cut off his service, and then his car breaks down. Can it get much worse? Well, it does. The interview’s a 20-minute walk away and he’s got 15 minutes before it’s meant to occur. He arrives at the interview, is told what the job is (something incredibly strange and psychotic), he agrees to the job on the condition that he can get paid $45 an hour, and Emerson (Jeff McDonald), the interviewer, says “yes.” Slightly after this, Asher is shown his living facilities (it’s a live-in job — the least strange thing about the job) and he meets Sam (Eric B Hansen) who tells him that he’ll be bringing Asher his morning coffee, every day. Friendly, but ominous. If this was where the weirdness ended, then Head Like a Hole wouldn’t work in any way shape or form.
Steve Kasan as Asher in HEAD LIKE A HOLE. Photo Courtesy of S. MacDonald-Labelle.
The job itself is simple, measure a hole in the wall. There are set times where the hole must be measured and Asher can never faulter off this schedule or he will ultimately not pass the probationary period. The job itself is mundane and uninspiring and Asher is stuck with nothing but an uncomfortable chair, having to measure this hole on schedule or face losing the job he desperately needs. He tries to get more comfortable, to find something to pass the time, and Emerson obliges with or without permission from higher management. Though, Head Like a Hole asks the questions of its intent, we won’t get into here, suggesting something sinister exploring humanity and drive, it only answers when MacDonald-Labelle and co-writer Mitchell Brhelle want the audience to know, making a brilliant feature debut that captivates and shocks its audience.
Despite it being a DIY adventure, which is not a knock on what was accomplished in any way shape or form, this feels like something you could expect out of a younger Benson and Moorehead. The concept and the outcome of the adventure feel within the same universe as Something in the Dirt (2022), but needed a bigger “Oh My God!” moment to reach that peak. While this is not a direct comparison or insinuating that one is better than the other, fans of that particular film or of Benson and Moorehead’s work are going to love MacDonald-Labelle’s first feature. Head Like a Hole is fully supported by the exceptional performance from Steve Kasan (Lifechanger) as well as by Hansen (3pm, Thursdays) and McDonald (Chinese Speaking Vampires). Everyone involved in the film from writing to directing to acting bring their absolute all to the film and it shows, tenfold. Whatever MacDonald-Labelle does next, we will eagerly take our seats for it.
Screening during Boston Underground Film Festival 2025.
For more information, head to the official BUFF Head Like a Hole webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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