David Arnold
Since the age of 11, Joanna Mills has been having strange visions but doesn't know the reason why. When her latest business trip takes her to Texas, she decides to visit her dad and also a small town called La Salle that's been in her visions. It's here she also meets Terry, a seemingly troubled individual that has been alienated by the towns residents. Joanna's visions continue, but they start to become more vivid and the more she sees, the more she starts to understand what is going on and not all secrets remain unknown.The Return is one of those films where the ending saves it from completely bombing, reason being is because the 70 minutes preceding the end scenes are so slow they make watching cricket seem exciting. Don't get me wrong...the story itself is actually pretty good (even if it's not that original) and I don't usually mind a slower-paced film, but the execution is what let's it down for me. You actually sit there hoping the ending saves the film, and it does. Just.It's also a pretty complex story and is one that you most definitely have to pay attention to right from the very start. If you don't then you will have no hope of understanding it. One other thing...if you're expecting some kind of creepy, scary horror then you'll need to keep looking as this most definitely isn't one of those films. There is some decent suspense to it - eventually - but overall it's hardly a gripping tale and it most definitely is NOT a horror film.The acting is also pretty wooden throughout, and I really do think that Sarah Michelle Gellar is completely overrated, especially in this role, because she just seems to wander through it aimlessly with the odd few "scream queen" moments. I really can't understand some of the rave reviews that The Return has been given by some people as it really is just - apart from the last 10 minutes or so - a bit of a snore-fest.It's definitely not the best and you're not missing that much if you choose not to see it.
grandmastersik
Sarah Michelle Gellar cuts herself on the leg as a kid and then on the arm as an adult... and because of two self-inflicted knife wounds some 10-15 years apart, we're supposed to believe that she's a troubled woman.That, unfortunately, is about as well scripted as this sore-fest is. We get told via someone's dialogue how troubled she is, that she's always moving around, and then later, she tells some bloke that she's kind of lost so keeps moving around. Yeah, it's that bad... only, not much seems to happen in between.Around the 45 minute mark there were hints of her character having some kind of repressed memories that are haunting her, and turning it off to take a phone call at the hour 6 minute mark, with the killer hot on her trail in some woods, I realised that I actually didn't care what happened in the end and never put the film back on.Normally, films that I turn off get a 1, but Sarah does her best to pull us into a tremendously non-event of a story and had I not been interrupted, I may have sat through it until the end... had I not dozed off.I honestly couldn't recommend this film to anybody.
JohnyR82
I have to admit, that based on IMDb ratings I didn't expect much from this movie. But I was really nicely surprised, because "The Return" was really good and enjoyable movie. And I loved every minute of it.First of all, "The Return" has everything a good movie needs: engaging and coherent story, great atmosphere and interesting characters. But moreover, the atmosphere doesn't rely only on gallons of blood or cheap scares like in many other "horror" movies, and the characters were not "stupid" or "unnatural" like we know from many other scripts. In fact, it was one of the best mystery movies I've seen.I am not sure, why the movie has so low rating here on IMDb, but in my opinion, "The Return" is a great movie. And greatly underrated as well.
Leofwine_draca
The best thing about this low-key supernatural chiller is the presence of Asif Kapadia as director, although what he's doing here is anyone's guess. Kapadia's a director who's difficult to pigeonhole, and he clearly isn't at home with this otherwise routine story of a girl who may be possessed by the spirit of a murder victim. For a far better example of the kind of film Kapadia excels at, check out his exceptional FAR NORTH.The presence of Sarah Michelle Gellar immediately reminds one of THE GRUDGE, but to be fair THE RETURN never depicts cheesy apparitions or predictable scare sequences. But that doesn't mean it's very good. In actual fact, it's a bit of a bore, one of those films with a too-slim plot that seems stretched out beyond all reason in order to sustain a feature-length movie. Thus half the stuff that happens on-screen (such as the scenes involving Adam Scott's villain) is totally extraneous to the main story.The film's well-shot but the scripting below par. Gellar once again struggles to bring life or vitality to an underwritten leading role, and you start to wonder if she's really cut out for movie parts. There was some novelty for me in seeing ex-NEIGHBOURS actor Peter O'Brien in the supporting role, but he also has little to do other than look moody and mysterious. The supernatural elements are subdued, the mystery elements too dull to entertain, and come the clichéd climax I was ready to switch it off. THE RETURN is a film that never once lifts from the norm.
AD
