VOD's You Should See: The Hole in the Ground

VOD's You Should See looks to highlight independent cinema that has a very limited theatrical release or is being directly released On Demand. The hope of this column is to help other film lovers discover an indie gem and for the film to be recognized and seen by a wider audience!

This week's film: The Hole in the Ground

Starring Seána Kerslake, the film centers around Sarah and her son Chris (James Quinn Markey), who have moved to a new town to start over after her divorce. After discovering a large and mysterious hole in the ground behind her home, she starts to notice Chris is behaving oddly and not like himself. Sarah soon discovers a local woman named Noreen (Kati Outinen) who was labeled as delusional after she started claiming that her son wasn't actually her son. After buying a video camera to spy on Chris, Sarah begins to believe Noreen was telling the truth as she comes to realize Chris isn't who he is pretending to be.

I'm going to come right out and say it. This Irish horror gem, which made its debut at Sundance this year, should have been released in theaters. With the right marketing and word of mouth, this could have become a horror runaway hit. While it's not terribly original, the filmmaking and cinematography are stellar and has some effective moments up its sleeve that help elevate it above other genre films.

Directed by Lee Cronin, the film opens with a fantastic tracking shot following Sarah's car that flips over upside down to resemble her driving straight into hell. From there, Cronin ratchets up the tension slowly, including several nerve wracking trips to the woods, and pulls us further in to Sarah's investigation. While the movie does slip into a couple unintentionally funny moments, Cronin is able to reel us back in for more than a few terrifying moments (bonus points are scored for a super creepy kids talent show).

Anyone who liked The Babadook should find a lot to enjoy here as it also heavily features a mother's relationship with her son. Seána Kerslake, while not quite on the level of Essie Davis, in nonetheless effective and believable as her character starts to believe what it going on with her son and slips into potential madness.

Despite losing some steam in the third act, this is a well acted and well shot horror film that deserved a theatrical release. I enjoyed this much more than Hereditary and It Comes at Night, and A24 should have put this in theaters this weekend over Climax. Just saying.

The Hole in the Ground is currently available for rental on iTunes or on DirecTV.