THE HOLE IN THE GROUND

UK, 2019, 90 minutes, Colour.
Seana Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen.
Directed by Lee Cronin.

This is a psychological horror film, though the explicit horror comes in the latter part of the film, even to the presence of mysterious monsters.

A clue is given in the opening sequence, Sarah (Seana Kerslake) at the fair with her son, Charlie (James Quinn Markey) looking at themselves in mirrors, distorted mirrors, sometimes humorous, sometimes monstrous images of themselves. And the suggestion that the audience, looking at the screen, is also looking in a mirror and seeing all kinds of distortions.

For audiences who assume that horror films have touches of the supernatural, have images of monsters, gory moments, this film will be quite a disappointment. Rather, it uses slow buildup, a psychological portrait of a mother and son – intimating suggestions of something not quite normal, upsets in the relationship, gradual revelation of what has happened to the son.

The setting is Ireland, a remote town, ordinary homes and school, but overcast weather on the roads, scenes in a forest – and the sudden revelation of the hole in the ground which turns out to be not just a whole but a vast and deep/wide sinkhole, a crater. And it is shown frequently, evocative of an atmosphere where something mysterious is going on.

As with this kind of storytelling, one way of looking at it is taking it as realistic, home, relationships, school, a loving mother dealing with her son, with the neighbours – even though there is a mysterious woman who appears on the road, threatening, rescued by her husband.

On the other hand, a way of looking at it is in terms of imagination of the central character, going into her mind, her creating the mysterious situations, a psychological drama.

This reviewer had not come across a psychological condition, Capgras Delusion (named after the scientist who identified the syndrome). We can be indebted to a blogger on the IMDb who suggests that the mother, Sarah, has the syndrome, and is possessed by it. Wikipedia makes a suggestion that Capgras Delusion is a ‘delusional misidentification syndrome’, someone believing that a relative or a person close to them is an imposter, not the real self. Watching the film with this in mind makes a lot of sense of the characters, the behaviour, the illusions.

The possibility is raised by the demented woman on the road, believing her dead son was not her real son, warning Sarah that Charlie is not her real son.

If interpreted as a psychological thriller within the central character’s mind, it works very well, slow pace, not in the sense of a monster film, though, as has been said, monsters do appear,

it is a kind of hallucinatory horror thriller.

1. A psychological horror thriller?

2. The Irish locations, characters? Homes, the town, school, the roads, the vast sinkhole in the forest? The underground caves, the monsters? The musical score?

3. The title, the sinkhole, the caverns beyond the sinkhole?

4. The opening, the distorted mirrors? The images of Sarah and Charlie? (And the audience looking into the screen as a mirror – and the distortions of Sarah and of Charlie?

5. The bond between mother and son, the absent father? Sarah and her age, qualifications as a teacher, her studies? The accident and the gash on her forehead? The routines at home, meals, Charlie and his moods, contradicting his mother, reconciliations? Travelling in the car, his whims? At the fair, the fairy floss?

6. The film creating an atmosphere, the family? Charlie disappearing, Sarah chasing him, the discovery of the sinkhole? Its vastness? Charlie continually reappearing after disappearing?

7. Sarah, at school, her friends, the teachers, the stories, the meals?

8. The encounter with Noreen Brady on the road, the ghostly figure? Her standing in the way of the car? Her husband coming to rescue her, apologies? Her delusion that her dead son was not really her son? Her attack on the car, telling Sarah that Charlie was not her son? Her death, face in the mud? Her funeral?

9. The background of the Capgras Delusion, thinking that someone was in impersonator?

10. Sarah, going to the doctor, the nature of her gash and explanations? The potential effect on her brain? The nightmare with Charlie gouging the wound?

11. Charlie’s more erratic behaviour, different appearance, at school, his friends, the talent quest, his performance and singing? Sarah being isolated from the audience, alone? Charlie asking about her response?

12. The effect on Sarah, going to the sinkhole, going through the hole, seeing the monsters, seeing the image of herself? Her taking Charlie, rescuing him? Her being facedown in the mud?

13. The effect, Charlie real or not, Sarah real or not? The scenes of her studying – the past, the present, the future?