‘COMING HOME IN THE DARK’
ONE HELLUVA DARK ROAD TRIP

No one will ever confuse the New Zealand thriller Coming Home in the Dark as a feel-good film.  Instead it is a deeply dark adventure where a school teacher is forced to confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of ruthless drifters take him and his family on a nightmare road-trip.

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?, b?ut as the night drags?? on?,? Hoaggie and Jill realize that this nightmare ?was set in motion 20 years earlier?.?

The film stars Daniel Gillies (of The Originals fame) as the sinister Mandrake who turns in a riveting performance. Erik Thomson turns in a solid performance as well as ‘Hoaggie’ who must fight for his life from his demented captors.

There are no belly laughs to be found here. Once the action kicks in, it is a pretty harrowing experience for the characters as well as moviegoers. Be prepared for a unsettling 92-minute ride.
Based on a short story by Owen Marshall, the screenplay was written by Eli Kent and James Ashcroft, and directed by Ashcroft.

Coming Home in the Dark will be in select theaters and VOD on October 1.