Secrets and lives
Anyone who has read Owen Marshall’s short story Coming Home in the Dark will know that anyone who hasn’t is in for a jolt when it comes to seeing the film of the same name.
There’s a moment – nine pages into Marshall’s original 30, about 15 minutes into the movie – when it becomes brutally apparent just how deep and dark a nightmare is in the offing.
It’s not the last big shock in the film, which has expanded the story, widened its context and increased its mortality rate. But it’s the point where it takes hold as arguably the most gripping thriller in our movie history. This is cinema of unease at its uneasiest.
The screen adaptation starts with a family car trip with Alan “Hoaggie” Hoaganraad (Erik Thomson) and wife Jill (Miriama McDowell), who are both
