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Fantasia 2021: Coming Home in the Dark Review
Loading...Directed by: James Ashcroft
Written by: James Ashcroft & Eli Kent
Starring:
Daniel Gillies – Mandrake
Erik Thomson – Hoaggie
Matthias Luafutu – Tubs
Miriama McDowell – Jill
Billy Paratene – Maika
Frankie Paratene – Jordan
Running Time: 93 minutes
Not Rated
For all that the supernatural often drives the box office when horror is concerned, it’s often the more grounded, reality-based terror that really resonates. Man is capable of far worse things than demons in the form of nuns or bratty ghost children. And while I am by no means denigrating some of the great supernatural horror films we’ve seen over the years, fear-feeding space clowns and vengeful Japanese ghost girls –- while both terrifying – allow us some emotional distance that flesh-and-blood killers don’t. It’s easier say “that can’t happen to me” when it’s not a (possibly) random encounter with someone who doesn’t care about whether you live through the night if it suits their whims.
James Ashcroft’s Coming Home in the Dark is a perfect example of that. The New Zealand film, which screens on demand through the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival, makes no bones about the fact that its threats are very real and very dangerous. Based on the short story by Owen Marshall, Ashcroft’s movie starts the tension early and, once it gets rolling, never lets the audience go.
The film stars Erik Thomson and Miriama McDowell as Hoaggie and Jill, a married couple taking their two kids on a camping vacation through the beautifully shot New Zealand countryside. After a pleasant day out (briefly marred by a speeding ticket), the four take a picnic next to a lake. That interlude turns sour as the family is interrupted by two scraggly and dangerous-looking men, one of whom introduces themselves as Mandrake (Gillies).
Suffice it to say, Mandrake and the uncommunicative Tubs (Luafutu) aren’t not there to share a picnic blanket. As their menacing and robbing of the family unfolds, a chance utterance turns the situation irrevocably. Before long, Mandrake and Tubs are taking their now-hostages on a nightmare trip in the family’s vehicle.
On its face, Coming Home in the Dark is a pretty straightforward white-knuckle kidnapping thriller. The bad guys are bad, and the good guys are – well, you get the picture. There are a few twists and turns here, but mostly what you see is what you get. That the film works as well as it does is a testament to first-time director Ashcroft’s remarkably steady hand guiding the production and some stellar work in front of the camera, most notably by Gillies.
Best known in America as the suited-up vampire Elijah on The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, Gillies channels his charisma in a much more laconic direction as Mandrake. He’s a character out of the soft-spoken killer mode, occupying a space much larger than his physical frame and exuding threat without often raising his tone very far. He’s well-matched with Luafutu, who is a more passive danger but whose presence is always felt even when he’s just out of frame. Thomson and McDowell match up well with the two as Hoaggie and Jill, a couple of schoolteachers caught in a horrific situation.
Molding a short story into a feature-length script can be a tricky endeavor, and Ashcroft and his co-writer Eli Kent maintain an economy of story. There is a whole backstory going on, one which makes an effort to muddy the waters of morality a bit. That backstory fills in the middle portions of the film when Ashcroft has his whole cast in the confines of a single SUV, and this is perhaps the weakest part of the film.
It gets by in those scenes thanks to the fact that Ashcroft never really loses his thematic bearing. While there are a lot of questions raised and there are a lot of shades of grey the brutality is never excused, and the victims remain sympathetic. But that doesn’t mean that Ashcroft is interested in easy answers or simple resolutions. And as frustrating as that might be for those who want a clearer delineation, it makes for a more compelling film.
It also helps that Ashcroft keeps this film moving along briskly; the 93 minutes race by as the vehicle of killers and hostages draws closer to its destination. There is maybe one escape attempt that could have been cut to keep things a bit leaner and a bit less repetitious, but the cast make sure that their time spent together is never dull. Add in some breathtaking cinematography from Matt Henley in both the New Zealand landscapes and the more intimate vehicular scenes, and you have a film that will stay with you for quite a while.
The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in person and online from August 5th through August 25th
