Sarah is a single mother who moves into a somewhat isolated house with her young son Christopher to start a new life. One day, the boy goes wandering in the woods, where Sarah finds a giant sinkhole. Soon after, Christopher starts exhibiting odd behaviour, which leads his mother to wonder if something happened to him, or worse, if he really is who he pretends to be. Thus begins a dreaded descent into the terrifying depths of nature.

There aren’t that many films that can establish such an oppressive atmosphere with so much efficiency. Through his sense for framing, for narrative intelligence and for capturing the ominous beauty of the Irish landscape, Lee Cronin only needs a few minutes to immerse the audience in a spellbinding atmosphere. The Hole in the Ground is driven by a moving, nuanced mother/son relationship, anchored in the unpredictable world of supernatural folk horrors.