elijah overcomer , 26 , left gloriavale , a town of about 500 on new zealand 's west coast , with his wife , rosanna , 29 , and their children in late march 2013 .
shortly following their departure , the family watched the 2004 psychological thriller the village , by m. night shyamalan .
mr overcomer said the film - where residents of a pretend 19th century town fear the ` wicked ' outside world - was a ` good comparison with our community ' , especially in the greater world .