New Irish Psychological Horror, The Hole in the Ground, Opens in Cinemas This Friday
Posted: 27th February 2019
Lee Cronin’s eagerly awaited psychological horror The Hole in the Ground opens in Irish cinemas this Friday, 1 March.
The film, which had its World Premiere at the renowned Sundance Film Festival where it was touted as “the next Hereditary” and “one of 2019’s first great horror films,” stars Seána Kerslake (A Date For Mad Mary), James Quinn Markey (Vikings), James Cosmo (T2 Trainspotting), Simone Kirby (Jimmy’s Hall), Steve Wall (An Klondike) and Kati Outinen (Le Havre).
The title has continued to receive unanimous critical acclaim since its Sundance debut, with Screen Daily observing how Cronin has some “original, visceral shocks up his sleeve” and “bristles with confidence.” The title also praises the “freshness to the characterisations in the film.” Collider highlighted Seána Kerslake’s performance, billing it as a potential “game-changer” in her career. Variety noted how the film “abounds in bristly calling-card atmospherics” and particularly highlights the “beguiling” and “wonderfully expressive” Kerslake. Digital Spy called the film “the first great horror of 2019,” while Joe.ie previously heralded the film as possibly “the scariest Irish movie ever made.”
The Hole in the Ground follows Sarah O’Neill (Seána Kerslake) who is trying to escape her broken past by building a new life on the fringes of a backwood rural town with her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey). A terrifying encounter with a mysterious neighbour shatters her fragile security, throwing Sarah into a spiralling nightmare of paranoia and mistrust, as she tries to uncover if the disturbing changes in her little boy are connected to an ominous sinkhole buried deep in the forest that borders their home.
The film which Cronin wrote with Stephen Shields shot on location in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow and was produced by Conor Barry and John Keville for Savage Productions with Benoit Roland and Ulla Simonen for Wrong Men and MADE. The film was funded by Screen Ireland, the BAI and Headgear Films with support coming from Wallimages and the Finnish Film Foundation.
The Hole in the Ground opens in cinemas across Ireland and the UK on Friday 1st March.
There are two special Q&A screenings scheduled in Galway and Dublin over the opening weekend.
The Pálás cinema in Galway will host the opening night Q&A screening on Friday 1st March at 6.15pm where the films director Lee Cronin will take part in an interview following the screening – Book Tickets.
The Light House Cinema in Dublin will then host a Q&A screening with Cronin on Sunday 3rd March at 6.15pm – Book Tickets.