Coming Home In the Dark

Official Selection – Sundance Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Cleveland International Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Imagine Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Calgary Underground Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Milwaukee Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – BiFan 2021
Official Selection – Chattanooga Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Fright Fest UK 2021
Official Selection – Fantasia 2021
Official Selection – Melbourne International Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Lost Weekend Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Fantasy Film Fest 2021
Official Selection – Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Eerie Horror Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Sitges 2021
Official Selection – Terror Molins 2021
Winner – Midnight Jury Award – Best Cinematography: Matt Henley – Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best Narrative – Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best Director: James Ashcroft – Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best Supporting Actor: Matthias Luafutu – Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021
Official Selection – Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival 2021
Official Section – Best Director, Best Actress, Best Script; Official Section – Special Mention – Best Actor – Terror Molins 2021
Official Selection – Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival 2022

A family’s outing descends into terror when teacher Alan Hoaganraad, his wife Jill and stepsons Maika and Jordon explore an isolated coastline. An unexpected meeting with a pair of drifters, the enigmatic psychopath Mandrake and his accomplice Tubs, thrusts the family into a nightmare when they find themselves captured.

ROTTEN TOMATOES CERTIFIED FRESH!

“COMING HOME IN THE DARK IS ONE OF THOSE UNPREDICTABLE, BRUTAL FILMS THAT STAY IN YOUR MIND LONG AFTER THE END CREDITS.”
– FILM SCHOOL REJECTS

“A ONE AND A HALF-HOUR GUT-PUNCH, COMING HOME IN THE DARK IS BLEAK, TENSE, AND OFTEN UNSHAKABLE. … IT STICKS WITH YOU; HAUNTS YOU.”
– /FILM

“WITH ITS SHOCKING SCENES AND AMBIGUOUS ENDING, COMING HOME IN THE DARK IS DEFINITELY A FILM THAT WILL HAVE PEOPLE TALKING IN 2021.”
– IHORROR

“WORKING WITH STRONG ACTORS CAPABLE OF WALKING THE KNIFE EDGE BETWEEN FEAR AND MORAL REVULSION, SADISM AND BARELY STIFLED RAGE, ASHCROFT AND EDITOR ANNIE COLLINS MAXIMIZE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MURK HIDDEN BETWEEN THE LINES, DOING A REMARKABLE JOB OF SUSTAINING EXTREME TENSION. “
– THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“SOMETIMES, A FILM IS SO INTENSE THAT EVEN THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMMERS WARN THE AUDIENCE ABOUT WHAT THEY’RE ABOUT TO WATCH. COMING HOME IN THE DARK IS DEFINITELY NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.”
– ROTTEN TOMATOES – SUNDANCE GENRE EDITORIAL

“MANDRAKE, PLAYED BY BRIAN GILLIES (SPIDER-MAN 2) IS A BLACK HOLE OF A HUMAN BEING, CONSUMING AND DESTROYING EVERYTHING THAT COMES WITHIN REACH OF HIM. HE IS TRULY TERRIFYING BUT THE REAL BRILLIANCE OF HIS PERFORMANCE COMES FROM THE SLOW-EVOLVING CONSTRUCTION OF HIS CHARACTER AS HE REVEALS MORE AND MORE OF HIMSELF.”
– NIGHTMARE ON FILM STREET

“DANIEL GILLIES IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING. FOR FANS OF “THE VAMPIRE DIARIES”, HE IS UNRECOGNIZABLE. COMPLETELY TRANSFORMING INTO MANDRAKE, THERE’S A WILINESS AND CHARM THAT WILL EASILY LURE THE VIEWER INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. BUT, WHEN GILLIES’ LEANS INTO THE INNATE VIOLENCE OF HIS CHARACTER, SHOCKED PIKACHU FACES WILL ABOUND.”
– NIGHTMARISH CONJURINGS

“THE ENTIRE CAST NAILS THEIR ROLES, BUT IT’S GILLIES THAT CONSTANTLY DRAWS OUR ATTENTION AS THE CALM, CALCULATED YET FRIGHTENINGLY VIOLENT MANDRAKE.”
– KILLER HORROR CRITIC

“ASHCROFT KEEPS IT VISUALLY ENGAGING WITH A STRONG SENSE OF DIRECTION, BOLSTERED BY VIVID CINEMATOGRAPHY BY MATT HENLEY. “
– BLOODY DISGUSTING

“A LEAN, 90-MINUTE NAIL-BITER WITH AN UNPREDICTABLE LEAD PERFORMANCE FROM DANIEL GILLIES. … THE BEST SUNDANCE MIDNIGHT SUBMISSION BY A MILE. “
– THE ONLY CRITIC

“FILLED WITH AN UNRELENTING BRUTALITY THAT WILL GIVE YOUR NERVES A JOLT.”
– SCREEN ZEALOTS

James Ashcroft – Director
Daniel Gillies (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals)
Erik Thomson (All Saints, Packed to the Rafters)
Matthias Luafutu
Miriama McDowell (Waru)