Coming Home in the Dark 2021

A school teacher, Alan ‘Hoaggie’ Hoaganraad, embarks on a family road trip with his wife, Jill, and their two teenage sons, Maika and Jordan. While hiking, Maika spots two suspicious men in the distance who quickly vanish. As the family enjoys a roadside picnic, they are abruptly confronted by two dangerous drifters, Mandrake and Tubs. The criminals rob them at gunpoint, forcing them to lie on the ground. In a chilling turn of events, Mandrake overhears Maika affectionately calling Alan “Hoaggie” and retaliates by murdering both Maika and Jordan before abducting the parents as night falls. In the struggle, Mandrake breaks Alan’s arm and knocks Jill unconscious.

As they are held captive, Mandrake reveals his awareness of Alan’s past as a teacher at a group home notorious for its cycle of physical and sexual abuse. Alan pleads his innocence, claiming ignorance of any wrongdoing, but Mandrake is unconvinced, suggesting that they are headed to the boy’s home where the abuse occurred. During a stop at a gas station, Alan risks a secret plea for help to the attendant, but Mandrake sees through it and brutally kills the attendant with a fire extinguisher. Moreover, Alan cleverly sabotages the kidnappers’ vehicle by using a nail to puncture the tire while pretending to recover from his injuries.

As tension escalates, Jill attempts an escape but is quickly recaptured. Under the pressure of Mandrake’s threats, Alan is forced to confess his complicity in the abuse. He recounts a harrowing incident involving a boy who had a swastika forcibly removed from his skin, a story that deeply unsettles Jill, leading her to retreat from Alan emotionally. With her life at stake, Jill makes a daring leap into a river rather than return to her captors, leaving her fate uncertain.

Alan manages to escape briefly when they stop to fix the damaged tire, but he is soon discovered and expelled from a group of teenagers’ car at Mandrake’s command. Tragically, they fall victim to Mandrake’s bloodlust, with all but one escaping the massacre. Once recaptured, they eventually arrive at an old, desolate boarding school that seems to hold personal significance for Mandrake and Tubs.

Within the haunting confines of the school, Alan confronts his dark past, acknowledging that he not only failed the boys but harbored a belief that the tattooed boy deserved his fate. This vulnerability elicits a revelation from Mandrake, who discloses that he is not the tattooed boy. In a shocking moment of violence, Mandrake shoots Alan in the chest before Alan fights back, hitting him with a rock. Although Mandrake is injured, he still attempts to finish off Alan. Tubs, who has often been seen as a mere follower of Mandrake, appears and ends the menace by shooting Mandrake. Tubs, recognizing the depth of pain engrained in the school, leaves Alan behind, stating “I hate this place,” a sentiment mirrored in a carving on a nearby stone, suggesting the lingering trauma of their past. The film concludes with Tubs looking at the rising sun, tears in his eyes, leaving his ultimate state of mind, and the true fate of the children, shrouded in ambiguity.