Direction: James Ashcroft
Country: New Zealand
This New Zealander dark psychological thriller put together by debutant director James Ashcroft shapes a short original story written by Owen Marshall.
The plot follows Hoaggie (Erik Thomson), a school teacher who takes a road trip with his family to a remote, bucolic area. Once there, he’s confronted with the brutality of two insidious strangers - the garrulous and unpredictably violent Mandrake (Daniel Gillies); and the silent, watchful Tubs (Matthias Luafutu) - who might have not approached them by chance.
Coming Home in the Dark is a brutal film, psychologically heavy and startlingly gripping. A slightly loopy take on a pugnacious machination of crime and punishment that hung in doubt from start to finish, rooting one's discomfort in the insensitive aggressors and their vicious actions as well as in the desperate victims.
The tension builds in a slow boil and the film is powerful at times, but this impression becomes dangerously diluted with some less fortunate decisions preceding the ending. With that being said, Ashcroft, unafraid to take some risks, announces himself as one to watch. His work makes the most of the plot’s obscurities and limitations, and Gillies’ dedicated performance gives it a good extra push.
