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The Return

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The Return (2006)

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Reviews Counted:14

Fresh:1

Rotten:13

Average Rating:3.7/10

Consensus: Unoriginality may be an acceptable risk in the Horror genre, but boredom is never okay.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, terror and disturbing images.

Runtime: 86 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:Nov 10, 2006 Wide

Box Office: $7,712,009

Synopsis: In 2001 British director Asif Kapadia's debut feature, THE WARRIOR, a lyrical, beautiful movie set in the Himalayas, was named Best British Film at the BAFTA Awards. For his second film, Kapadia... In 2001 British director Asif Kapadia's debut feature, THE WARRIOR, a lyrical, beautiful movie set in the Himalayas, was named Best British Film at the BAFTA Awards. For his second film, Kapadia headed to Hollywood for the suspenseful horror flick THE RETURN, written by first-time screenwriter Adam Sussman. Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as Joanna Mills, an aggressive young woman who works as a successful saleswoman in the trucking industry. She pushes hard to go after a big deal in Texas, even though she had previously deemed the state off limits--something that happened to her when she was a little girl has kept her away from her hometown for many years. Filled with fear, trepidation, and determination, she goes back to Texas, even visiting her estranged father (Sam Shepard). As she sees familiar places, she has frightening flashes of deja vu, remembering bits and pieces of a tragic incident involving an ex-con (Peter O'Brien), an unseen man, and a bad traffic accident. The visions haunt her dreams, sending her back to her childhood (where she's played by Darrian McClanahan). Reunited with an old friend (Kate Beahan), Joanna tries to move forward, but her unfinished past keeps dragging her back. Kapadia keeps things at a slow, suspenseful pace, every scene adding another piece of the plot--as well as a touch more mystery. Gellar, who has also starred in such horror films as THE GRUDGE, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, and SCREAM 2, plays Joanna with an involving sense of dread that is echoed by Dario Marianelli's score. [More]

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Peter O'Brien, Sam Shepard, Kate Beahan

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Peter O'Brien, Sam Shepard, Kate Beahan, Adam Scott, Darrian McClanahan, Erinn Allison, J.C. MacKenzie

Director: Asif Kapadia

Director: Asif Kapadia
Screenwriter: Adam Sussman
Producer: Aaron Ryder, Jeffrey Silver
Composer: Dario Marinelli
Studio: Rogue Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Feb 27, 2007

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Reviews for The Return

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1 - 14 (sorted by date)
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Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/18/06
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mellow -- nay, snoozy -- atmospherics trump actual scares, and it makes almost zero sense.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/15/06
Gregory Kirschling
Gregory Kirschling
Entertainment Weekly
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This murky psychological horror effort is not likely to inspire a return.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
11/13/06
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
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Time-killer chiller reps an undistinguished U.S. debut for U.K. helmer Asif Kapadia, though the undernourished script may be most at fault.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
11/13/06
Dennis Harvey
Dennis Harvey
Variety
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As B-level suspensers go, though, The Return isn't actively awful -- just slow and cursed with a lead who acts with her T-shirt.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/13/06
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Return universally fails to establish any sense of reality, which makes it hard to register when Joanna's world starts falling apart.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/13/06
Sam Adams
Sam Adams
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The horror movie workhorse Sarah Michelle Gellar is back to chill us with The Return, a rote thriller with an intriguingly frenetic shooting style.

comment Comment
11/13/06
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Return is routine in its depiction of a waifish young woman surrounded by men with predatory qualities. It's sad to see Buffy so disempowered.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
11/13/06
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
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Gellar, who isn't bad with comedy, can't do drama, even in the chocolate-colored hair she wears this time.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
11/13/06
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
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Since Adam Sussman's script is as lazy as Asif Kapadia's direction is disjointed, nothing ever makes sense, even after the anticlimatic explanation is revealed. Not even Gellar can work up any interest in Joanna's fate.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
11/13/06
Elizabeth Weitzman
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Return isn't the worst movie of the year -- or even in the top 10. But it's hard to imagine anyone seeing this movie and thinking they got their money's worth.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/13/06
Peter Hartlaub
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Many elements of The Return are quite sophisticated as past and present converge and Joanna's pursuer catches her scent. It's too bad that the plot takes us into irrationality, past the point of no return.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/13/06
Susan Walker
Susan Walker
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gellar's thousand-yard stare and somnambulant screen presence have become a serious drag.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
11/13/06
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
Globe and Mail
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
11/11/06
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sarah Michelle Gellar battled countless monsters as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her biggest challenge in The Return is to keep from yawning.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
11/10/06
John Monaghan
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
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1 - 14 (sorted by date)
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