Coming Home in the Dark

Violence, cruelty, content that may disturb Rated on: 12 August 2021

Coming Home in the Dark

What is it?

Coming Home in the Dark is a tense, realistic thriller movie from Aotearoa, produced in 2020. School teachers Jill and Alan are on a road trip with their two young sons. Picnicking, they are approached, intimidated and abducted by a man with a gun called Mandrake, and his companion, Tubs. Dark secrets and motivations are revealed along with the way, to do with a boys’ home where Alan worked a long time ago.

What to expect

The tense, well-produced thriller about murder, abduction and institutional abuse is realistic and convincing, especially so for a New Zealand audience, due to familiarity of setting, characterisation and dialogue. The gritty violence and cruelty is highly likely to shock and disturb children and younger teenagers, particularly as two young teens are callously murdered in the opening scenes. For those reasons, Coming Home in the Dark is classified R16.

Recent featured decisions

22 May 2026

Scary Movie 6

Scary Movie

Violence, offensive language, drug use, sex scenes, nudity & sexual material

In this sixth instalment of the horror comedy franchise, a character’s daughter is attacked by a ghost-faced killer, pushing her to call on friends for help. The film reunites characters from earlier films and slapstick chaos happens.

Read more

05 May 2026

Violence

Rick, a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny, a fading boy band star, bond over music and a late-night jam session. When Danny turns Rick's song into a hit, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves.

Read more