Home Before Dark

Over a number of years, Henrik and his second wife Charlotta have invited their three grown-up children Peter, Annukka and Emilia to the couple’s luxurious villa by the sea. This way, the family celebrates Easter, birthdays and Christmas together, yet the family members never quite find a way to fully connect with one another. As the father at one point notes, it has never been possible to really talk in this family. Over the years, Peter and Annukka, who are both from Henrik’s first marriage, struggle through life, he from one relationship to another, she from one therapy to the next. Emilia, meanwhile, cautiously re-establishes contact with her parents after having left the parental home at a very young age. Her distance fuels her siblings’ suspicions that their father has harmed Emilia as a young girl, and casts a special light on Peter and Annukka’s own problems with their father. It is only after Henrik and Charlotta pass away that Emilia learns from Peter about “Home before dark”, a game that they used to play as children. It had left Emilia with an incomprehensible fear of something, even though her brother had at the time intended the game to comfort her. At the end of the play, the attempts of Emilia and Peter at establishing meaningful relationships with their own children and grandchildren raise hope that the father’s mistakes would not be repeated. (Tinfo/Sunklo)