The Hole In The Ground is a 2019 Irish horror film directed by Lee Cronin and starring Seána Kerslake and James Quinn Markey. The film follows Seána's character Sarah and her son Chris as they become haunted by the supernatural powers of the hole in the ground behind their house.
All in all, the ending of the film is rich with rational decisions to a level not often seen in horror films, and, as such, contains a few surprises. This ending is not perfect, however, and, for most of its applauded progressions, there is a less than revered choice lurking around the corner.
Perfect: Sarah Goes Back To School
Judging by the ending of the film, it appears that the whole experience has motivated Sarah to make some real changes in her life. After Sarah burns down her house and escapes the hole, Sarah and Christopher drive far from the scene and set up a new life. The ending shows Sarah having gone back to college.
Sarah spends her days in lecture halls and in cafeterias chatting with fellow students. Meanwhile, Chris appears to be attending a new school and has even gotten a bicycle, something that he was begging his mother for at the beginning of the film. All in all, the two seem better off after their harrowing experience than they were when they started.
Fell Flat: Burning Down The House
In an entirely heroic, and surprising turn of events, Sarah opts to burn her house to the ground, with Christopher's possessed alternate locked inside the basement, before they leave town. On the one hand, this was a clever move, and significantly more thorough than simply just running away.
On the other hand, however, there has been no evidence to suggest that fire can kill these unknown creatures. It may be a safe bet, but it holds no certainty, and, for all Sarah knows, this creature could simply walk right out of the fire. Also, all of the other creatures that live inside the hole remain untouched and ready to pounce again.
Perfect: Sarah Becomes Noreen
In an effective—if predictable—use of foreshadowing, by the end of the film, Sarah has very much become the initially feared Noreen Brady. Just like Noreen, Sarah has become convinced that her own child is not her own and becomes completely consumed by this, to the detriment of her daily life.
The glaring difference, however, is that Sarah is an example of what could have happened if Noreen had succeeded. Had Noreen convinced her husband of her theories, or even ventured into the hole and the bottom of the phenomenon, she too may have overcome the hole in the ground, just as Sarah did.
Fell Flat: Why Wasn't The Hole Reported?
One burning question that may have chipped away at audiences is why Sarah never thought to report the hole in the ground. At face value, before any supernatural events come into play, the hole in the ground appears to be some kind of huge sinkhole that is gradually swallowing up the forest.
Yet, for some reason, Sarah never thinks of this as a geographic anomaly or something that she should maybe report to the local authorities. It seems strange that for an individual with no mentioned prior involvement with the supernatural, Sarah decides to initially ignore the hole, and then flip to being convinced that it is something sinister and supernatural.
Perfect: Destroying The Evil Chris
The act may have its pitfalls, but Sarah's decision to burn down the house without hesitation is in many ways a perfect ending in itself. Sarah has locked Christopher's double into the basement of the house, and, once she rescues the original Christopher and gets him to safety, she returns to the house.
As Sarah hears the cries of the double from the basement, she sets the house alight and stands outside to watch it burn. This is an act of closure not often seen in horror films, and, instead of simply fleeing and never looking back, Sarah has taken the time to at least attempt to destroy the creature who has been plaguing her.
Fell Flat: The Creatures In The Hole
Putting the demon who burned inside the basement aside, there is still a very much thriving hole in the ground that is full of demonic creatures. If Sarah has been successful in destroying the demon inside the basement, that does not detract from the fact that there are many many more where he came from.
The ending offers absolutely no closure on the hole itself, and, short of saving Christopher, Sarah has left town having done absolutely nothing to stop the creatures living inside the hole or to warn anyone of their existence. Perhaps if Sarah had also attempted to set the hole itself alight, everyone could have walked away with more peace of mind.
Perfect: Sarah Learns From The Experience
If Sarah has learned anything from Noreen Brady, it is that reflections and photographs cannot lie; they always reveal the true form of an individual. Sarah used this nugget when locking the demon in the basement, as she took the broken wing mirror to capture the demon's reflection and confirm that it was not her son.
Having learned this, the home that Sarah and Chris have moved to at the end of the film is, in a very similar way to Noreen's house, covered in mirrors. Sarah stands in a room surrounded by mirrors, as she watches her son out the window and takes photos of him riding his bike, to ensure that he is still himself.
Fell Flat: Christopher's Effortless Rescue
It is confirmed towards the end of the film that Christopher has, in fact, been replaced, and the real boy is lying unconscious at the bottom of the hole in the ground. How Sarah came to realize this, however, is not quite so clear. Firstly, there is no lead up as to why Sarah decides that it is a good idea to enter into the hole and let it swallow her.
There was no reason to believe that this was something that she would survive, nor that this was something that would reap any rewards. Secondly, if it was so obvious to Sarah how she could save Christopher, why was it not so to Noreen? Noreen is a woman who has been plagued by the actions of these creatures for most of her adult life, yet she never thought to overcome them as Sarah did.
Perfect: Sarah Only Saved Herself
Perhaps one positive of Sarah's questionable and rash decisions was that she simply set out to save herself and her son, and wasted no energy in attempting to overcome something that was so obviously much larger than her. Upon understanding what was happening, Sarah opts to save herself and her son, with no attention given to the larger issue.
Sarah set out to destroy the creature who was impersonating him, burn down the house, and flee. In no way did she put herself in unnecessary danger by trying to destroy from the root, something that she would very likely never understand. Sarah saved herself, created distance, and left the creatures to their own devices.
Fell Flat: Sarah's Double
As Sarah was making her way back out of the hole in the ground, after saving Chris, she was met with her very own evil double. This creature grabbed Sarah's arm to stop her from leaving and instantly revealed themself to be her double. The screen turns black, a loud noise is heard, and Sarah is freed from this grasp and subsequently the hole.
Therefore, audiences are left wondering about this version of Sarah. Is she going to remain in the hole, or is she going to enter into the town and terrorize others? Even more worryingly, is she going to find Sarah or somehow switch places with her further down the line? While Chris may be safe, Sarah's fate is not so clear.