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Just like a skateboarder who almost got the impossible move right, The Hole in the Ground missed more than one opportunity to make it.

The Hole in the Ground follows mother Sarah (Seána Kerslake) and her son Chris (James Quinn Markey) as they move to a new house by the woods. One day Chris disappears into the woods, and when he returns, Sarah notices that he has changed. Eventually Sarah concludes that the boy who returned from the woods is not her son. As the new Chris’ behaviour becomes more and more disturbing, Sarah has to risk sounding mad, and even harming what could be her son, to find out the truth.

The concept of the plot goes with the current horror trend of mother and creepy child which has been present in several recent films and is a truly scary concept. However, The Hole in the Ground’s most interesting aspect was not the mother-son dilemma but, rather the aspect in its name which unfortunately comes at the very end of the film.

The Hole in the Ground’s pace is very slow for a horror movie with only a few scary scenes and very few significant plot points, which could easily lead to audiences being bored.

Another main aspect that the film could have capitalised on, but didn’t, was the doubt of whether Sarah was going mad, being affected by her new medication, or that the boy who returned from the woods is not her son. This could have filled the gap in the second act and keep audiences wondering and therefore interested.

Some of the film’s shots were almost comical; like Chris throwing his mother across a room, and pushing a dining table really hard.

However, the film was very well shot with great lighting, some creative frames, and pleasant colouring which is especially noticeable since this movie it belongs to the horror genre, and this is not usually the case.

For the acting, Seána Kerslake did a good job with her performance but was not too impressive when it came to showing the mental struggle of whether the boy is her son or not and loving him. Kerslake lacked some essential facial expressions that could have definitely given the film and her character’s struggle much more gravity. James Quinn Markey did a much more interesting job and was able to seem really creepy without being over the top.

Not the most exciting horror film even though it had the potential to stand out. So if you just want to watch a horror movie, and don’t mind the missed opportunities, then go ahead.