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‘The Hole in the Ground’ Review

Quiet, unnerving and and spine tingling, The Hole in the Ground, written and directed by Lee Cronin, is a new irish folk horror sure to set your paranoia levels off.

The film follows single mother Sarah (Seana Kerslake) who starts to question whether her son Chris (James Quinn Markey) really is her son when they move to a remote village and his obsession with a giant sinkhole makes her question if he truly is her son.

Filled with homage to The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby and The Babadook, the film follows many horror movie tropes, but is still fresh enough to keep the audience entertained. The direction and cinematography is stunning, using the rural landscape of Wicklow to sell home the isolation of the characters and Sarah continued state of delusion.

Kerslake plays Sarah with convincing gusto, switching between terrified horror heroine and heroic last woman standing. Her son Chris is played by newcomer Markey who brings a delightful balance of sweet child and wicked demon from hell, making the audience constantly question whether or not Sarah’s fears are truly in her head or not.

The Hole in the Ground is a quiet horror, using many subversive methods to have the audience constantly questioning what is real, through tricks of the camera, dream sequences and strong performances.  Some of its best sequences are the quiet, breath holding moments where we wonder what either Sarah or Chris might do to each other, and the audience questions who is really the villain in the film.

The Hole on the Ground is on limited theatrical release in the UK, Ireland and the USA, and you can also find it on DirecTV.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiCSGZy4obM]

Trying to escape her broken past, Sarah O’Neill is building a new life on the fringes of a backwood rural town with her young son Chris. A terrifying encounter with a mysterious neighbour shatters her fragile security, throwing Sarah into a spiralling nightmare of paranoia and mistrust, as she tries to uncover if the disturbing changes in her little boy are connected to an ominous sinkhole buried deep in the forest that borders their home.