Movie review: Coming Home in the Dark

Daniel Gillies stars in local thriller Coming Home in the Dark, in cinemas now.

REVIEW:

Following a positively received premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, this searing New Zealand thriller, Coming Home in the Dark, opens to a local audience before a global rollout.

Adapted from a short story by Owen Marshall, it follows a family of four as they enjoy a hike and a lakeside picnic against the backdrop of some beautiful but foreboding New Zealand scenery.

Their idyll is shattered by the arrival two strangers, Mandrake (Daniel Gillies) and Tubs (Matthias Luafutu), who begin terrorising the family for (initially) unknown reasons.

Once the torment begins, the film adopts a deliberate pace that maintains a high degree of tension. Every time a glimmer of hope is offered, it is quickly stamped out in a manner that almost seems to taunt the audience. It's heavy stuff, and as well-crafted as the film is, there is an endurance factor to getting through it.

But if you can stomach the grim tone, there is much to be appreciated in this beautifully made film. It taps into some of the uglier aspects of our country's history without relying on that history to provide meaning. There are no easy answers here.

Debuting director James Ashcroft (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Eli Kent) reveals a talent for generating off-kilter suspense that really keeps you on your toes. As parents facing unimaginable horrors, Erik Thomson and Miriama McDowell both deliver authentic performances that match the craft on display.

But it's Daniel Gillies as Mandrake who perhaps delivers the most revelatory work, projecting a layered menace that goes beyond anything we've seen before from the Canadian/Kiwi actor. He embodies the film's unrelenting sense of dread.

The best movies stay with you after the credits roll, and I've yet to shake this one six months after I first saw it.

Cast: Daniel Gillies, Miriama McDowell, Erik Thomson.
Director: James Ashcroft.
Running time: 93 minutes.
Rating: R16 (Violence, cruelty, offensive language & content that may disturb).
Verdict: A stark and unsettling instant Kiwi classic.