The Hole in the Ground (2019) is a supernatural horror mystery film directed by Lee Cronin. The storyline of the movie is very straightforward, but the ending is as complex as it is interesting, which you need an explanation.
The Hole in the Ground (2019) Ending Explained
* * * Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now! * * *
Sarah and her son Chris moved to a village to start a new life. They start living in a secluded location close to a deep jungle.
Recently Sarah left Chris’s father and now she is a little bit worried about Chris. Because Chris has no intention of making new friends in the new place. But she doesn’t force Chris about that.
One day Sarah almost hit an elderly lady named Noreen while driving. But no fatal accident occurs. Sarah notices Noreen looks at Chris and mutters impatiently something. Then they left the place.
That evening Chris was scared by seeing a spider in their house. Sarah takes that spider into a jar and releases it outside the house. Suddenly Chris asks about his father, and Sarah becomes upset.
Chris becomes upset too and runs into the forest. Sarah tries to catch Chris, but she loses.
Sarah finds a large sinkhole in the middle of the forest, and Chris is also standing there. Then they come back home.
After that incident, Chris changes a lot. He acts like someone else and does some weird things that Sarah never noticed in his son. As Chris starts eating his disliked food, he cannot remember a game that he always plays with Sarah. Even one night Sarah allegedly finds Chris eating a spider in the middle of the night.
Sarah can merely feel that this ‘Chris’ is not her child but her conscious brain cannot willingly accept that. Thence, she accompanies Chris to a doctor, and finds out he is completely fit.
Middle of this, Sarah identifies some mysterious information about Noreen. That she had a son named James and she also believed that James was not his son but an imposter.
A few days later, Sarah & Chris go back to the house and suddenly encounter Noreen. She weirdly screams at Chris and says he is not Sarah’s son.
After the incident, Noreen finds murdered in a gruesome way. Her head, hands, and feet were buried in the ground. The scene reminds me of another slasher movie Inside (2007).
Incidentally, Sarah observes a reflection of Chris in a mirror and there she finds that he is not a human but an imposter who takes the form of Chris. Therefore, Sarah becomes sure that this is not her son but an imposter. She goes to the sinkhole to find her real son.
Sarah discovers an unknown creature inside the sinkhole. She finds senseless Chris in the hole. Sarah wakes up Chris and comes back to the ground.
After that Sarah fired up the house and moved to a city with Chris.
In the concluding scene of the movie, we see Chris cycling alone on the ground, and Sarah captures several pictures of him from the apartment. Her room is crammed with many shapes of mirrors. In the photo taken Sarah finds Chris’s face suspiciously blurred. And the movie ends here.
Is it the ‘real Sarah’ or ‘monster Sarah’ at the end of the movie?
When Sarah went down into the hole, middle of the forest, then a monster grasped her leg for a few moments. After a while, that monster turned into an imposter of hers.
At this point the question that comes at the end of the movie was that real Sarah or an imposter?
Well, at the end of the movie that is human Sarah. Because in the past, when Sarah checks the photo taken of Chris, a reflection becomes visible in a mirror.
As we see before, in the mirror reflects the imposter’s real face comes to light. Hence this is human Sarah in the last scene of the movie.
Read more, The Boy (2016) ending explanation.
Is it her son at the end of The Hole in the Ground movie?
Although many have argued a lot about this, I think that it is human Chris.
- Sarah took several photos of him from a top-long distance. In every photo, we see Chris has hair on his head. But none of the monsters seen in the past had any hair on their heads. As a result, this Chris is her son.
- The room is overcrowded with mirrors. So, there is no escape point from Sarah for an imposter.
- As we discussed in the past, Sarah is real and she is exceedingly careful about Chris’s safety. Therefore, no monster can enter through such a safety net.
In conclusion about Chris’s identity, I believe Sarah succeed to rescue her son and this is the real Chris in the end of the movie.
Why was Chris’s face blurred in the photo?
Well, that is for motion.
Chris was cycling, and the photo was taken in that condition, yet again from a long distance. And just in time for taking the photo, he turned his face towards the camera. Resulting in increased speed.
And this is why his face is blurred in the picture.
What are creatures?
The monsters of the movie The Hole in the Ground are very similar to the Irish mythological creature Changeling. This creature can transform its form by touching any living thing and stealing its identity. The similar thing we perceive in the sinkhole when Sarah goes down there.
Chris was left in the sinkhole to die by those changelings, and one of them is turned into Sarah’s imposter when it catches her feet.
There is another possibility.
Those are aliens that come from outside the world.
Because when Chris runs into the forest and Sarah follows him to catch that time a comet or something like that was falling from the sky. And after that Sarah finds that sinkhole.
It is possible that that was a spacecraft that crashed into the forest and made that hole. And all those are in fact, outsider creatures.
Why was Sarah separated from Chris’s father?
There is no direct exposure in the movie about Chris’s father. But there is a major hint conveyed by Lee Cronin.
When Sarah seizes the spider in a jar and Chris asked her why she abandoned his father.
At that point in time, she delivered a strong quote that his father would have killed that spider instead of releasing it.
This statement indicates that Chris’s father was abusive and that’s the reason Sarah left him.
What happened to James (Noreen’s son) in The Hole in the Ground (2019)?
James was also taken by those monsters, and an imposter took his place.
Who in the world has the power to deceive a mother’s eyes?
Noreen also understands he is not her real son. She also placed mirrors in his room and tried to find out the real James.
At last, James died in a car accident.
How scary is the Hole in the Ground (2019)?
The Hole in the Ground (2019) is not a hardcore horror film. This movie has a very limited number of minor jump scares. But the concept of the movie is good enough to watch it.
Summary
Original Title The Hole in the Ground
Genre Supernatural/ Mystery/ Horror
Runtime 1hr 30min
Original Language English
Directed by Lee Cronin
Written by Lee Cronin, Stephen Shields
Release date February 26, 2019 (USA)
Origin Country Ireland, United Kingdom
Awards 02 Wins, 16 Nominations
Cast of Characters
| Actor/Actress Name | Characters Name |
|---|---|
| Seána Kerslake | Sarah |
| James Quinn Markey | Chris |
| Kati Outinen | Noreen |
Conclusion
The unique relationship between a son and mother is the core theme of the movie. Director Lee Cronin represents this generous emotion in a supernatural horror flavor.
