Coming Home in the Dark

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Coming Home in the Dark

Released Oct 1, 2021

1h 30m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

92%

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63 Reviews

45%

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100+ Ratings

A family's idyllic outing at an isolated coastline descends into terror when high school teacher Alan 'Hoaggie' Hoaganraad, his wife Jill, and stepsons Maika and Jordon unexpectedly come across a pair of murderous drifters -- the enigmatic psychopath Mandrake and his hulking man-child accomplice Tubs -- who thrust them into a nightmare road trip. At first, the family's terror seems to be born of a random encounter with two sociopaths, but as the night drags on, Hoaggie and Jill realize that this nightmare was set in motion 20 years earlier.

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Critics Consensus

Smart, well-acted, and above all scary, Coming Home in the Dark finds first-time director James Ashcroft making his mark with a white-knuckle ride for horror fans.

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Richard Whittaker

Austin Chronicle

It's Gillies' performance that raises Coming Home in the Dark from fascinating to utterly chilling, complimenting Matt Henley's cold, angular cinematography and John Gibson's score.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 15, 2021

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Matt Zoller Seitz

RogerEbert.com

The filmmaking and acting talent on display is undeniable.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 1, 2021

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Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Ashcroft and his cast - and especially Gillies as the menacing and charismatic Mandrake - excel at drawing out the moment-to-moment tension of a crime in progress.

Sep 30, 2021

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Paul Lê

Tales from the Paulside

Coming Home in the Dark never lets up until the very end. The suffering is extensive, and the sorrow is ceaseless. There is only so much people can take before they have to look away out of fear for their own wellbeing.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 23, 2023

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Mitchell Beaupre

Awards Radar

With his debut, Ashcroft shows a knack for bringing visceral thrills to a genre audience craving some gnarly fun in the middle of the night.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 22, 2022

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Kristy Strouse

Wonderfully Weird and Horrifying

In the end, Coming Home in the Dark provides enough intellectual stimuli with adequate gritty tension to chew on, even if it isnt entirely persuasive in its intent.

Apr 20, 2022

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Diet Dr. Paul .

A combination of Eden Lake and The Landmine goes click… this is a genre bender than will carve itself into your bones and linger long after the credits roll. Smart, Twisted and incredibly unsettling, this isn’t a movie for the weak stomached, be warned!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/31/25

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Andrew B

I'm writing this review to offset the one star ratings. But, my primary reason is to mention how much I hate the people giving this movie a low score. The display of stupidity with some of these audience reviews makes me want to hunt down the people who wrote them and do really awful things.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/25

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Craig B

Coming Home In The Dark is actually a pretty decent thriller. Nothing extravagant here, just a standard, well-paced and well-acted movie. As long as you can ignore the villains in this movie are just flippantly causing death and destruction and leaving their fingerprints everywhere, you should find this film quite engrossing.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/28/25

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Tyler B

What looks like overkill in hollywood is about right in terms of realness.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/25

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Hugo S

"Coming Home In The Dark" follows a family going on a road trip in New Zealand's countryside. The family of four is approached by two drifters who murder the couple's sons. Instead of a random act of violence, the viewer is confronted with a vengeance perpetuated by two men who suffered systemic abuse in their childhood. The story unfolds a dark secret hidden by the family targeted by these deranged men. A psychological thriller that feels repetitive and cursed by an undeveloped narrative.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

Full Review

Kevin L

Didn't work for me. Sick, venal twistos, but no sufficient justification for the most immediate, shocking acts of abhorrent violence. I get it that some ppl are just inherently weak, submissive; esp. when it means their job. So many ppl identify themselves too much by their job. The father was the weak one here. But that in itself doesn't make him a useless or 'evil' person; or s/one deserving of such treatment. The victimized men here clearly never recovered from the wrongs apparently carried out upon them. But there's also just sick, venal twistos who just get off on being that. Seems a lot of the case here; at least with the Mandrake figure. 2.8 stars

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/15/24

Full Review

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James Ashcroft

Director

Daniel Gillies

Mandrake

Matthias Luafutu

Tubs

Miriama McDowell

Jill

Erik Thomson

Hoaggie

Frankie Paratene

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Coming Home in the Dark: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

A family's idyllic outing at an isolated coastline descends into terror when high school teacher Alan 'Hoaggie' Hoaganraad, his wife Jill, and stepsons Maika and Jordon unexpectedly come across a pair of murderous drifters -- the enigmatic psychopath Mandrake and his hulking man-child accomplice Tubs -- who thrust them into a nightmare road trip. At first, the family's terror seems to be born of a random encounter with two sociopaths, but as the night drags on, Hoaggie and Jill realize that this nightmare was set in motion 20 years earlier.

Director: James Ashcroft
Producer: Desray Armstrong, Mike Minogue, Catherine Fitzgerald
Screenwriter: James Ashcroft, Eli Kent, Eli Kent, James Ashcroft
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Production Co: Light in the Dark Productions
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Australian English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 1, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2021
Runtime: 1h 30m

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