The Hole in the Ground

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  • Trailer 1

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Lee Cronin

Producer:

Conor Barry, Hilary Davis, Donna Eperon

Writer:

Lee Cronin, Stephen Shields

Release Date:

Mar 1, 2019

Runtime:

1hr 30m

Synopsis

Parental paranoia takes terrifying form in this horror thriller. Sarah (Seána Kerslake) and her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey) are looking at a new phase in their lives when they move to a new home in rural Ireland. Their house is next to a forest, which doesn't seem too ominous — but a large sinkhole opens in a clearing hidden within.

When Chris vanishes one night, Sarah fears that he has ventured into the forest and stumbled into the sinkhole. Then the boy reappears, apparently unharmed — until he begins to exhibit unusual and increasingly disturbing behavior. Is this the same Chris who disappeared, or has he been replaced by some sort of double?

Cast

  • Seána Kerslake
  • James Quinn Markey
  • Simone Kirby
  • Steve Wall
  • Eoin Macken
  • Sarah Hanly
  • James Cosmo
  • Kati Outinen
  • Bennett Andrew
  • David Crowley

Letterboxd User Reviews

2.7
57.4K
18.1K
6.6K
RATINGS 5 FANS
2.7
  • Apr 13, 2023

    no amount of “i love my son” will get me diving into the 50ft rural sinkhole, he’s the earth’s problem now

    0 Likes
    Jay
    Jay
    May 4, 2019

    HALFWAY THROUGH THIS I WAS LIKE OH NO ITS BORING BUT THEN AN 8 YEAR OLD THREW AN ADULT WOMAN ACROSS A ROOM AND I KNEW I WAS ACTIVATED LIKE A SLEEPER AGENT

    0 Likes
    Erik 🎼
    Erik 🎼
    Jan 19, 2020

    me: the hole in the ground: 🌲🌲🌲🕳️🌲🌲🌲

    0 Likes
    clem
    clem
  •
    Feb 6, 2019

    nothing disappoints me more than an underdeveloped horror that has potential ..... @A24 i was rooting for you!!!!

    0 Likes
    ˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗
    ˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗
    Sep 6, 2024

    Yes, It's a Biased Review. In the past year and a half, I haven't experienced as many moments of anxiety and stress putting me on edge, but I remember a time when they would hit me at least once a day, often triggered by my good old 'friend,' OCD. I'm not someone who…

    0 Likes
    Bunny🐰🪓
    Bunny🐰🪓
    Apr 24, 2023

    There was indeed, a hole in the ground. An interesting watch post-Evil Dead Rise. Some good scares and camerawork, something we see a lot more in Rise, but overall a by-the-book and safe horror movie. Kind of wish it got the Rise treatment because the story is interesting…

    0 Likes
    Joe A
    Joe A
  •
    Mar 30, 2026

    Before he gave us his take on kids being terrorized by a demonic mother, Lee Cronin flipped the perspective with this film, focusing instead on a mother struggling to come to terms with her young son being overtaken by an inexplicable force. This is one I’d been putting…

    0 Likes
    Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine
    Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine
    Aug 2, 2019

    There’s really nothing terribly original about A Hole in the Ground, but that’s pretty much the only thing that holds it back. The story of a mother dealing with the possibility that her child is not her own and is in fact and evil doppelgänger is one that we’ve seen plenty…

    0 Likes
    Tony the Terror
    Tony the Terror
    Oct 11, 2026

    i would have locked him outside.

    0 Likes
    ulrikke
    ulrikke

Atom Users Reviews

4.0
0
1
0
0
0

Reviews

  • GR
    Gary Raines

Metacritic

63
metacritic
Based on 16 Critics
5.3

USER SCORE (45)

Mixed or average reviews based on 45 Reviews
80
Feb 28, 2019

It always finds new, invariably cinematic ways to nudge us towards its final leap into the abyss. Cronin feels like a real find for our especially insecure moment.

Metacritic review by Mike McCahill
Mike McCahill
The Guardian
67
Feb 26, 2019

Parental anxiety has long been fertile ground for horror, going back to The Bad Seed and The Exorcist, and The Hole In The Ground finds a somewhat fresh angle on the possessed-kid subgenre.

Metacritic review by Mike D'Angelo
Mike D'Angelo
The A.V. Club
50
Jan 29, 2019

This is a story that errs toward the familiar instead of embracing strangeness, its freaky kid becoming the distraction when you just want more time with the hole in the ground.

Metacritic review by Nick Allen
Nick Allen
RogerEbert.com

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Hole in the Ground (2019) family-friendly?
The movie has been rated as R, meaning that Under 17 requires an adult accompaniment.
How long is The Hole in the Ground (2019)?
The movie is 1hr 30min long.
What's The Hole in the Ground (2019) about?
Parental paranoia takes terrifying form in this horror thriller. Sarah (Seána Kerslake) and her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey) are looking at a new phase in their lives when they move to a new home in rural Ireland. Their house is next to a forest, which doesn't seem too ominous — but a large sinkhole opens in a clearing hidden within. When Chris vanishes one night, Sarah fears that he has ventured into the forest and stumbled into the sinkhole. Then the boy reappears, apparently unharmed — until he begins to exhibit unusual and increasingly disturbing behavior. Is this the same Chris who disappeared, or has he been replaced by some sort of double?
Who's the cast of The Hole in the Ground (2019)?
  • Seána Kerslake as Sarah O'Neill
  • James Quinn Markey as Chris O'Neill
  • Simone Kirby as Louise Caul
  • Steve Wall as Rob Caul
  • Eoin Macken as Jay Caul
  • Sarah Hanly as Lil Jones
  • James Cosmo as Des Brady
  • Kati Outinen as Noreen Brady
  • Bennett Andrew as Doctor
  • David Crowley as Teacher
Who's the director behind The Hole in the Ground (2019)?
Lee Cronin directed The Hole in the Ground (2019).
Who produced The Hole in the Ground (2019)?
Conor Barry, Hilary Davis and Donna Eperon produced The Hole in the Ground (2019).