A24 | Release Date: March 1, 2019
5.3
USER SCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 45 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
15
Mixed:
23
Negative:
7
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7
Rebecca31Mar 3, 2019
A truly great Irish horror that you won't want to miss. Sarah (Seána Kerslake) and her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey) move to a new home in the Irish countryside, right next to a terrifying forest as you do. Sure what's the worst thatA truly great Irish horror that you won't want to miss. Sarah (Seána Kerslake) and her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey) move to a new home in the Irish countryside, right next to a terrifying forest as you do. Sure what's the worst that can happen when you live right next to the woods with a massive sinkhole right in the middle. After a disturbing encounter with a scary neighbour things only get worse and with Chris's increasingly strange behaviour Sarah is trying to decide if there is something horribly wrong with her son or is it her own mind.

I love a good horror movie, I even love some of the bad ones too, emphasis on the word some and The Hole in the Ground surprised me. I expected another child possession formulaic movie that would build the atmosphere really well and then undo all that work with a ridiculous climatic scene with furniture being thrown around the kitchen and when all looks hopeless the day is saved at the last minute and everyone lives happily ever after. The Hole in the Ground is a horror done right, builds on other horrors you might be familiar with but brings some new ideas to the genre. Wastes no time getting started and will creep you out from the very beginning. Written and directed by Lee Cronin, it's a well told story with some great performances. Unnerving and will have you on the edge of your seat, what more do you want? Highly recommended. 
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2 of 2 users found this helpful20
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5
JLuis_001Mar 28, 2019
By being a filmmaking debut it's quite respectable because it's a well crafted horror thriller, yet it never stops feeling conventional.
I mean it never goes for the cheap scares but it doesn't really go to other places either.
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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8
Rcavey92212Mar 24, 2020
Soooooooo creepy. The movie features on a single young mother who gets a desolate new house in Ireland with her young son. One day while jogging in the woods she discovers a giant hole in the ground and advises her son to not go out bySoooooooo creepy. The movie features on a single young mother who gets a desolate new house in Ireland with her young son. One day while jogging in the woods she discovers a giant hole in the ground and advises her son to not go out by himself. If course he does and when he comes back he's not the same. It's little things at first, slight mb mannerisms and the way he reacts to spiders and other kids he used to hate. But as things get increasingly strange she decides to confront him with truly terrifying consequences. The movie is a slow burn to be sure but it's very well done and undoubtedly suspenseful. It all leads up to a nightmarish finale that's worth the wait. Fine performances and confident direction highlight this great piece of genre.

4/5
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1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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5
Bizzylorenzo70May 1, 2019
This Irish horror tale has its moments of fright but with its most deliberate pacing never seems to gel into a consistently scary film. It's also marred somewhat by some unexplained plot elements, as I see it.
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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0
Marcin1234Dec 7, 2019
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The movie itself is slow and boring with zero original ideas. Then you realize it's just a front for feminist propaganda. We have a female protagonist with background of abuse by her husband (even though it has nothing to do with the plot), and her son getting more and more aggresive. One of a telling scenes is where his mother wants to set a spider free and calls it a "she" fpr some reason. Then her son says daddy would kill it and so he kills it too. Then you have a guy just bragging about beating up other man. Or an old guy getting angry and destroying evidence. At one point the protaginist is even dressed like the "we can do it" chick. Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
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6
RobbyPSep 1, 2019
A very standard, run-of-the-mill horror film that checks off a lot of the typical boxes. Near crash because the driver's not looking? Check. Crazy old muttering woman who actually knows the truth? Check. Dream sequence with jump? Check.A very standard, run-of-the-mill horror film that checks off a lot of the typical boxes. Near crash because the driver's not looking? Check. Crazy old muttering woman who actually knows the truth? Check. Dream sequence with jump? Check. Doesn't turn on any lights when things go bump in the night? Check.

Honestly, it wasn't a total loss. There was one fairly tense scene in the woods at night, and it wasn't a bad story. Just as a whole, it was nothing special or spectacular.
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0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
bartcbemAug 6, 2019
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Its a "possession" type of horror with a small twist as the evil entity ends up to be shape-shifting ghoul like creature living underground.
Sadly yet again everything revolves around mother with questionable mental health and her child that cant really act. Movie is a slow burner, it adds very little to the genre but its competently made. Watch and forget.
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6
Iamcritical86Jul 4, 2021
This movie was... just okay. It had it's brief moments that kept me on the edge of my seat, but the ending was a bit ridiculous. First of all, what I'd like to know is how in the hell did that woman manage to get herself out of that hole....This movie was... just okay. It had it's brief moments that kept me on the edge of my seat, but the ending was a bit ridiculous. First of all, what I'd like to know is how in the hell did that woman manage to get herself out of that hole.... whilst carrying her kid!? Expand
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7
CallOfTheVoid88Nov 30, 2021
For the most part, the tale holds up well. At points, it appears to be veering towards the tired trope of "is the horror real or in the mind of the pill-popping primary character," and we wonder whether Chris has been taken over by an evil entity.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
alvindinoMar 11, 2019
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As the genre entries pass, the hole in the ground operates in some recognizable genres, only for effective results sporadically, the underground light bulb blinks for example, has long lost its ability to fear. Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
movieworshiper8May 28, 2019
the movie wasn't perect . the emotions of the mother's face were not wisible and the film was not scary. you can see it once but,not a good horror movie
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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1
Mauro_LanariJan 18, 2020
(Mauro Lanari)
"Psycho", "Dark Water" (Nakata, 2002; remake of Salles, 2005), "Changeling" (Eastwood, 2008), "Enemy" (Villeneuve, 2013), "The Babadook" (Kent, 2014), "Mother!" (Aronofsky, 2017), "Stranger Things" with Winona Ryder on the hunt
(Mauro Lanari)
"Psycho", "Dark Water" (Nakata, 2002; remake of Salles, 2005), "Changeling" (Eastwood, 2008), "Enemy" (Villeneuve, 2013), "The Babadook" (Kent, 2014), "Mother!" (Aronofsky, 2017), "Stranger Things" with Winona Ryder on the hunt for her son Will Byers? More than those, "Tully" (Reitman, 2018) in horror form: an abysmal depression (the "hole") up to dissociative identity disorder, ergo: little logic, very little budget, zero originality. To the delight of the beginners pampered by Sundance.
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5
Im_just_playingMar 27, 2020
Well, let's just say. This isn't a good movie, but it also isn't a bad tho. Music, camera movement, acting are great and it hasn't got any jumpscares, but it has many cliches that were overused in the horror genre. A plot was really similarWell, let's just say. This isn't a good movie, but it also isn't a bad tho. Music, camera movement, acting are great and it hasn't got any jumpscares, but it has many cliches that were overused in the horror genre. A plot was really similar to "Babadook" and "Omen". And [No spoiling] the ending has no logic. 5/10 Expand
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4
JLauSep 27, 2020
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A little Irish kid is acting creepy because he's actually been replaced by an alien (?) that was under his house in a "hole in the ground". Expand
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0
ArsybaldOct 13, 2020
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nope, sorry. No scares, no logic behind. Timing, when Mom gets suspicious, utterly off- had to laugh out loud, why a school play is more odd to her than the son eating spiders. Worthy to hate watch, no other purpose. Don't waste your time. Expand
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7
davidlerFeb 18, 2021
Centering the focus on the heroine and the decisions she makes, an interpretation arose around confronting fears and the consequences of passivity. There are cliches but I enjoyed the plot and almost continual tenseness of this film.
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7
ThenoobaboveallFeb 24, 2021
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Honestly the negative reviews here are just laughable to say the least, apparently paying homage is the same as ripping off.

But anyway back to the movie itself, the film is effective and well paced with a great atmosphere and sense of dread, also I really enjoyed the whole concept of if her son was truly hers which is quite interesting as it also shows her slow decent into madness and you really begin to question her sanity and whether or not her son is indeed possessed or not, something that few other similar films have done before. Overall its a pretty good modern horror that wears its influences on its sleeve whilst also introducing new elements which some people confuse for being derivative.
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