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| Scene from The Hole in the Ground (2019) |
In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for years to come.
Released: March 1, 2019
Release Number: 78
Directed By: Lee Cronin
Starring: Seana Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, Kati Outinen
Plot: A single mother living in the Irish countryside with her son begins to suspect he may not be her son at all, and fears his increasingly disturbing behavior is linked to a mysterious sinkhole in the forest behind their house.
While the year was only three months old, A24 was shaping up for an interesting year. They were coming off of a surprise success for provocateur director Gaspar Noe with Climax, looking for another surefire hit. Over in Ireland, director Lee Cronin was looking to make his jump to feature with The Hole in the Ground, which would involve sinkholes and changelings colliding with a mother-son story that was considered frightening. While the film may not feel like it, it was one of A24's earliest box office hits internationally for the year and one that played on more than conventional horror tropes. It was another success for the DirecTV branch, proving that any concept can be given haunting treatment if done in the right hands.
When asking Cronin where the ideas came from, he will claim that it came from sinkholes. He had been reading about them as a phenomenon and wondered what would happen if they swallowed you whole, consuming your life. There was a fear already in that, but he began to rely on his Irish heritage and think of Celtic mysticism. It's how he came up with the bigger themes of the film, which included a child being inhabited by the soul of somebody else and a mother dealing with her past simultaneously. He wanted to make it more than a conventional horror film with jump scares and instead relied on phobias (such as Cronin's fear of spiders) to create this underlying dread. He turned his attention to films like The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, and Repulsion to get an idea of tone, though he claims to not have borrowed any of the demented child tropes from said films.
As he wrote the script, he had envisioned an older mother-son pairing. It wasn't until a producer stepped in that things began to change. There was a suggestion that a younger mother had something richer to the dynamic, encouraging him to watch a certain movie for inspiration. Once he saw that, things began to change. This was in part because the producer thought that Seana Kerslake was perfect for the role much to Cronin's chagrin. Once he was persuaded, he threw out the other auditions and began to work around her, eventually settling on James Quinn Markey as the son character. Kerslake was praised for how she had this expressive face that made cutting out a third of the dialogue easier. Cronin felt that she could deliver it through expression.
From there they began to film in an old abandoned house. Cronin claims that spiders used in the film may have been in the house when they arrived. That was how old the house was. While he didn't intend it, the scenery recalled The Shining when he needed to buy drapes for a window and decided, unintentionally, on a set that was reminiscent of the film. There was also a desire to shoot with a certain amount of realism when it came to the sinkhole. He wanted to make it massive and spent time researching them. When filming "inside" the hole, he wanted to film it with natural lighting, lead by a torch. There was also a matter of working with Markey, who had to do perceptively "traumatic" things. Cronin claims that he conversed with him and his parents before the shooting started and remained honest while skewering the context in a way that communicated what he needed to do without hurting his fragile psyche.
When the film was completed, A24 and DirecTV bought the distribution rights in December 2018. It would go on to play at Sundance the following month. With a decent budget, the film would have a wide release in Ireland and a limited one in the United States. The film was a modest success, earning $3.4 million internationally. While it premiered through video on demand in America, it became a modest hit. In the time leading up to its release, its mothers-on dynamic got compared to a variety of recent horror movies, including A24's Hereditary, believing that it was part of a trend. Cronin claims that this was just a coincidence for his film.
The film also received largely positive reviews. According to critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received 84%. Dana Schwartz of Entertainment Weekly leads the positive reviews by stating "The Hole in the Ground never seeks to differentiate itself from the established horror movie aesthetic: we get creepy jangling lullaby music, a decrepitly old hooded women mumbling to herself ominously, bare feet on creaking wooden floors, broken mirrors." Jay Krieger of Cultured Vultures also praised the film when suggesting "The Hole In the Ground is an unsettling bout of paranoia that makes for a memorable directorial debut." Katy Hayes of Sunday Times (UK) was one of the few who were critical when noting "The camera loves Kerslake, and the actress excels as she stumbles between thinking she is going mad and that her son is possessed."
Continuing the great year that A24 was bound to have, The Hole in the Ground presented horror from a different perspective. Joining the likes of Hereditary and Monster, A24 was capturing the struggles of modern motherhood in ways that were inventive and full of riveting chills. Even the fact that the film played well overseas showed how their projects were beginning to appeal to audiences outside of America. Even then, there's a good chance that Cronin will be back for more sometime in the near future as he starts upon his next idea. Up next, it's time to see a recent Oscar-winner turn to a film about living a life footloose and fancy-free, living every day like it's your last. It was also another dramatic hit for A24 as Julianne Moore brings an empathetic core to the character. If nothing else, it was a nice shift from the recent group of surrealist horror.
Up Next: Gloria Bell (2019)
While the year was only three months old, A24 was shaping up for an interesting year. They were coming off of a surprise success for provocateur director Gaspar Noe with Climax, looking for another surefire hit. Over in Ireland, director Lee Cronin was looking to make his jump to feature with The Hole in the Ground, which would involve sinkholes and changelings colliding with a mother-son story that was considered frightening. While the film may not feel like it, it was one of A24's earliest box office hits internationally for the year and one that played on more than conventional horror tropes. It was another success for the DirecTV branch, proving that any concept can be given haunting treatment if done in the right hands.
When asking Cronin where the ideas came from, he will claim that it came from sinkholes. He had been reading about them as a phenomenon and wondered what would happen if they swallowed you whole, consuming your life. There was a fear already in that, but he began to rely on his Irish heritage and think of Celtic mysticism. It's how he came up with the bigger themes of the film, which included a child being inhabited by the soul of somebody else and a mother dealing with her past simultaneously. He wanted to make it more than a conventional horror film with jump scares and instead relied on phobias (such as Cronin's fear of spiders) to create this underlying dread. He turned his attention to films like The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, and Repulsion to get an idea of tone, though he claims to not have borrowed any of the demented child tropes from said films.
As he wrote the script, he had envisioned an older mother-son pairing. It wasn't until a producer stepped in that things began to change. There was a suggestion that a younger mother had something richer to the dynamic, encouraging him to watch a certain movie for inspiration. Once he saw that, things began to change. This was in part because the producer thought that Seana Kerslake was perfect for the role much to Cronin's chagrin. Once he was persuaded, he threw out the other auditions and began to work around her, eventually settling on James Quinn Markey as the son character. Kerslake was praised for how she had this expressive face that made cutting out a third of the dialogue easier. Cronin felt that she could deliver it through expression.
From there they began to film in an old abandoned house. Cronin claims that spiders used in the film may have been in the house when they arrived. That was how old the house was. While he didn't intend it, the scenery recalled The Shining when he needed to buy drapes for a window and decided, unintentionally, on a set that was reminiscent of the film. There was also a desire to shoot with a certain amount of realism when it came to the sinkhole. He wanted to make it massive and spent time researching them. When filming "inside" the hole, he wanted to film it with natural lighting, lead by a torch. There was also a matter of working with Markey, who had to do perceptively "traumatic" things. Cronin claims that he conversed with him and his parents before the shooting started and remained honest while skewering the context in a way that communicated what he needed to do without hurting his fragile psyche.
When the film was completed, A24 and DirecTV bought the distribution rights in December 2018. It would go on to play at Sundance the following month. With a decent budget, the film would have a wide release in Ireland and a limited one in the United States. The film was a modest success, earning $3.4 million internationally. While it premiered through video on demand in America, it became a modest hit. In the time leading up to its release, its mothers-on dynamic got compared to a variety of recent horror movies, including A24's Hereditary, believing that it was part of a trend. Cronin claims that this was just a coincidence for his film.
The film also received largely positive reviews. According to critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received 84%. Dana Schwartz of Entertainment Weekly leads the positive reviews by stating "The Hole in the Ground never seeks to differentiate itself from the established horror movie aesthetic: we get creepy jangling lullaby music, a decrepitly old hooded women mumbling to herself ominously, bare feet on creaking wooden floors, broken mirrors." Jay Krieger of Cultured Vultures also praised the film when suggesting "The Hole In the Ground is an unsettling bout of paranoia that makes for a memorable directorial debut." Katy Hayes of Sunday Times (UK) was one of the few who were critical when noting "The camera loves Kerslake, and the actress excels as she stumbles between thinking she is going mad and that her son is possessed."
Continuing the great year that A24 was bound to have, The Hole in the Ground presented horror from a different perspective. Joining the likes of Hereditary and Monster, A24 was capturing the struggles of modern motherhood in ways that were inventive and full of riveting chills. Even the fact that the film played well overseas showed how their projects were beginning to appeal to audiences outside of America. Even then, there's a good chance that Cronin will be back for more sometime in the near future as he starts upon his next idea. Up next, it's time to see a recent Oscar-winner turn to a film about living a life footloose and fancy-free, living every day like it's your last. It was also another dramatic hit for A24 as Julianne Moore brings an empathetic core to the character. If nothing else, it was a nice shift from the recent group of surrealist horror.
Up Next: Gloria Bell (2019)
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