The Hole in the Ground

Sarah (Seána Kerslake, 'Can't Cope, Won't Cope') is a single mother struggling with the weight of the pressures put up on her. She moves to an isolated house near a forest to escape from an abusive ex lover, and brings their young son Chris (James Quinn Markey, 'Vikings') with her.

When an argument between Sarah and Chris at the local funfair leads to Chris fleeing into the forest, Sarah runs after him, terrified, stopping only to prevent herself from falling into a huge sinkhole. Just as she begins to fear for her son's life, Chris steps out from the trees apparently unscathed...if it is her son at all.

The bizarre changes Sarah notes in her son as well as a confrontation with the town's local mystery, a women named Noreen (Kati Outinen, 'Everything Outside') who reportedly murdered her own son after claiming that he was an imposter, begins to worry Sarah that someone - or something - truly has taken her beloved child's place. She starts to wonder whether Chris's newfound behaviours, and perhaps those of Noreen's late son, are related to the ominous hole in the forest.

Directed by Lee Cronin ('Ghost Train', 'The Masterplan') and co-written with Stephen Shields ('Mini Moguls'), 'The Hole in the Ground' is a horror film from A24.