Between the Darkness hit digital streaming platforms on August 20, 2019.
- Director and writer: Andres Rovira
- The cast of Between the Darkness:
- Lew Temple
- Danielle Harris (watch Marrow for something else she is in.)
- Nicole Moorea Sherman
“Between the Darkness” is a great title for a movie, and an even better one for a family that has decided the outside world is the problem. Also released as “Come Said the Night,” it’s a quiet, slow-moving family horror with a lot more going on under the dinner table than on top of it. Fans of The Walking Dead will recognise Lew Temple as the menacing father figure, and Halloween fans get Danielle Harris (Jamie Lloyd her) as Stella, who has no idea what she’s walking into when she gets involved with Roy.
Between the Darkness Review
Sprout wakes from a nightmare she can’t move through. It’s sleep paralysis, with a Gorgon lurking in the dark, and the film opens there before cutting to a calm drive and a family of three heading to their mountain compound, which Roy calls the Sanctuary. Dinner starts with a prayer. It’s the first anniversary of Magda’s death, and her flashbacks are all balloons and sunshine, which makes the present day feel even colder.
Roy has opinions about the world beyond the trees. He calls it the Otherness, he homeschools Sprout and Percy himself, and the entire curriculum is the Greek gods, delivered daily like a dad who found one podcast and built a lifestyle around it. Magda bought into it completely. Sprout and Percy look at him with the blind trust of kids who have never been given a reason not to.
“There Are No Gods, Only Monsters”
The best dark moments here are small. Percy can’t stand being touched, so his hands are kept covered, and he barely says a word. Animals turn up dead in the woods. Sprout’s Gorgon keeps coming back in the night, and the film is good at leaving you unsure whether she’s dealing with a monster, a trauma or a bedtime story that went too far. The nightmares are the loudest thing in the house, and everything else is whispered.
Roy is never played as a screaming villain, which makes it worse. Temple is gentle, grieving and completely certain. A man like that is far harder to argue with than a ranting one. When Ranger Stella turns up and decides he just needs a caring woman in his life, you want to warn her from the couch. Her son Max, a kid who has actually been to school, is the one who starts pulling at the threads.
The Performances Carry It
Performance is what drives Between the Darkness. Nicole Moorea Sheran gives Sprout an innocence that does the part justice. Tate Birchmore reminds me of Milly Shapiro’s Charlie in Hereditary and plays a damaged, introverted kid without overdoing it. Lew Temple is an easy “bad guy,” especially when his speaking voice alone is enough to put you off guard. It’s slow, it’s quiet, and the real question is whether the monster lives in the forest or at the dinner table.
Come Said the Night is rated
3 When Kids Shouldn’t Play Together out of 5
Simialar Titles to Between the Darkness
Phobia (2013): Visions of ghosts or a failing mind?
Killer Horror Critic has a great review for Between the Darkness if you want more proof about whether you should watch this film.
The Voices of Our Mother (2026): Possession or abuse? This family locks the answer down tight.
Other (2025): Something is creeping around in the darkness. You won’t believe what it is.
Between the Darkness Movie Trailer
