When the Lights Went Out

When the Lights Went Out

Year: 2012

Runtime: 86 mins

Language: English

Director: Pat Holden

ThrillerHorrorDramaHorror

In 1974 Yorkshire, the Maynard family moves into their ideal home, only to have the dream turn into a terrifying nightmare. They soon uncover a horrifying truth that will enter the history books: the house is already haunted by the most violent poltergeist recorded, a spirit that can wrench occupants from their beds and drag them into darkness.

Tense
Mixed feelings
Emotionally heavy
High intensity
Steady pacing
Simple story

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – When the Lights Went Out (2012)

Explore the full timeline and setting of When the Lights Went Out (2012). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

1974

The events unfold in 1974 rural Yorkshire, a Britain still guided by traditional institutions and limited scientific explanations. The family’s move coincides with a period when paranormal concerns could be pursued but not easily resolved. Exorcism and ghostly encounters mark a clash between faith, power, and skepticism.

Location

Yorkshire, England

A secluded house in rural Yorkshire becomes the family’s home base. The setting emphasizes isolation as a supernatural presence takes hold around Sally. The nearby forest carries a dark history of a murdered girl that ties the ghosts to the land. The town’s quiet façade is challenged by the family’s attempt to confront the haunting.

🏡 Haunted house 🌲 Forest setting 🕰️ 1970s Britain

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:33

Main Characters – When the Lights Went Out (2012)

Meet the key characters of When the Lights Went Out (2012), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Len Maynard (Steven Waddington)

Len is the practical, protective father who moves his family into a new home and fights to keep them safe from the hauntings. He pushes to involve experts and clergy, ultimately driving the purge of the house.

🛡️ Protector 🧭 Determined 🗝️ Skeptical

Jenny Maynard (Kate Ashfield)

Jenny is Len’s partner who remains supportive as fear rises. She stands with Sally and participates in seeking help, embodying resilience in the face of the supernatural threat.

👩‍👧‍👧 Family 💪 Supportive 🕯️ Faith

Sally Maynard (Molly Windsor)

Sally, the 13-year-old, is the conduit for the haunting, experiencing visions of the Pale Girl and the Monk. Her courage under pressure drives much of the family’s response.

👧 Vulnerable 🧠 Sensitive 🌟 Resilient

Brian (Craig Parkinson)

Brian is Len’s friend who pushes them to take action and helps persuade Father Clifton to perform the exorcism. He provides practical support and a skeptical voice that escalates the plan.

🤝 Ally 🧭 Loyal 🗨️ Determined

Mr Price (Martin Compston)

Mr Price is the history teacher who informs the family about the murdered girl and the forest’s dark history, triggering their search for help.

📚 Informant 🧭 Investigator 🧠 Knowledgeable

Father Clifton (Gary Lewis)

A local priest who only agrees to exorcise the home after being blackmailed, revealing the church’s selective intervention and moral compromise. He explains the backstory of the monk and leads the rite.

🙏 Priest 🗝️ Authority 🔥 Exorcist

The Pale Girl (Molly Windsor)

The ghostly victim whose presence torments Sally and anchors the backstory of the forest murder, linking past trauma to present danger.

👧 Ghost 🪞 Reflection 🕊️ Trauma

Monk (Ross Mullan)

The demonic spirit of a murdered monk who preyed on young girls, representing the abuse of power and the lingering danger in the house.

👹 Evil 🗡️ Predator ⏳ Past

Mrs Blithe (Martina McClements)

The housekeeper involved in an illicit affair, symbolizing the personal stakes and moral compromises surrounding the exorcism and church influence.

🧹 Household 💔 Complicity 🪟 Secrets

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:33

Major Themes – When the Lights Went Out (2012)

Explore the central themes of When the Lights Went Out (2012), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

👻 Hauntings

The film centers on the haunting by the Pale Girl and Monk, anchoring Sally’s fear and driving the plot. The ghosts repeatedly haunt the house, testing the family’s resolve and their willingness to seek help. Supernatural forces confront the limits of human control and the motives of those who would confront them.

👨‍👩‍👧 Family

Len and Jenny rally to protect Sally as the hauntings intensify, illustrating parental devotion under extraordinary danger. The family pursues external help—a paranormal specialist and a priest—revealing how love, duty, and desperation intersect. The home becomes a battlefield where familial bonds are tested and reaffirmed.

🏛️ Religious Secrets

The backstory exposes a monk who preyed on young girls and was kept hidden to protect the church’s reputation. The exorcism underscores conflicts between faith, power, and accountability. The narrative critiques how institutions can conceal abuse while communities struggle to confront painful truths.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:33

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Grim historical hauntings like in When the Lights Went Out

True-story hauntings with violent, documented poltergeist activity and grim outcomes.If you liked the true-story terror of When the Lights Went Out, you'll find more movies here based on documented hauntings. These films explore violent poltergeist activity with a grim, historical foundation, delivering similar feelings of oppressive dread and family trauma in the face of a seemingly unstoppable evil.

based on true storyhistorical evilviolent poltergeistoppressivefamily traumadocumented hauntingexorcismdread

Narrative Summary

These stories typically follow a family or group moving into a new space, only to uncover its violent paranormal history. The narrative progresses from initial skepticism to terrifying confirmation, often involving outside experts or religious figures. The climax is a desperate confrontation with the entity, frequently leaving lingering trauma even if the immediate threat is subdued.

Why These Movies?

They are grouped by their grounding in real-world paranormal claims, a focus on violent physical hauntings (poltergeists), and a consistently grim, high-intensity tone. The shared experience is the claustrophobic terror of a home turned hostile by a malicious presence with a documented backstory.

Claustrophobic domestic terror movies like When the Lights Went Out

The home becomes a prison as a family is tormented from within its walls.For viewers seeking similar films to When the Lights Went Out, this thread features horror stories where the home itself becomes the enemy. Discover movies about families trapped and psychologically tormented by supernatural forces, all sharing a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere and a heavy emotional weight focused on survival.

claustrophobichaunted housefamily in perilpsychological tormentdomestic invasionoppressivesuspensefulanxious

Narrative Summary

The narrative revolves around a family's struggle for survival within their own compromised sanctuary. The threat is internal and pervasive, escalating from subtle disturbances to direct physical attacks. The story explores themes of familial bonds under extreme stress, psychological torment, and the desperation to reclaim a sense of safety that has been violently shattered.

Why These Movies?

These films share a core premise of domestic invasion by a supernatural entity, resulting in a uniquely claustrophobic and anxious viewing experience. They are united by a high-intensity, tense tone, a steady pacing that builds oppressive dread, and a focus on the emotional devastation of having one's safest space violated.

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When the Lights Went Out Summary

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