The Return (2006)

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A surprisingly good psychological thriller, with outstanding cinematography, intelligent script and sophisticated visual storytelling. I suspect that the low rates on IMDb are due to the fact that the film misleadingly is packaged as a "horror movie", which it certainly is not. The film has more in common with David Lynch's "Mulholland drive" than "The Grudge". Obviously the film doesn't have the intellectual depth or the emotional impact of Lynch, but it's still quite original and holds up well compared to many other psychological thrillers. The poetic cinematography creates a compact, bleak atmosphere. The film's slow pacing works in its advantage, as we slowly are drawn into the heroines perception of the world. The acting is competent and the story itself is quite engaging, it kept me guessing until the very end. The constant jumping between reality, flashbacks and hallucinations becomes a bit overbearing at times, as well as the heavy use of "scary" sound effects, but apart from that I found "The return" to be a very enjoyable movie.

It wasn't that bad, it wasn't that great. The alternate ending makes more sense than the real ending, BUT major ick factor. I think I threw up in my mouth a little, to be honest. I can see why they didn't use it. I think it was the original ending and they only half fixed the rest of the movie to make up the difference in time. I would say they wrote it as 25 years and changed it to 15. Horrible job at age progression, makes the movie confusing as it ages some drastically and others not at all. I don't personally believe in reincarnation or possession, and this film sort of blends/confuses the two. Sarah was actually quite good but it's not a role that demands a ton of talent. Check out the alt ending, it works better(keeping that extra 10 years in mind or its criminal) but it'll still make you go ewww.I was generous with stars because others were stingy. If they actually used the creepy alternate ending, 2 stars, 4 since they didn't and it got 6 from me because of how many harsh 1 stars it got.

Why did Sam Shepard get involved in that business?This is the umpteenth story of past events which come pack to haunt you and might possibly "return" .Sarah Michelle Gellar -who has known better days in the fantasy and horror genre -portrays a strange girl,who at work can be tough and a real winner (her colleague gets jealous!),but who cannot cope with mysterious things which happened long ago when she was still a little girl.Maybe if the part of the father had been less underwritten ,it could have been a task equal to Sheppard's talent.I'd take "I know what you did last summer" (and even its sequel) over "the return " any day.

I just saw this movie yesterday...I cannot believe the reviews on this site. The ones that give it over one-star must be Buffy fanatics. Well, I am a Buffy fan of the first order, but I know crap when I see it. On every level, this film is terrible. Technically, much of the time you don't know where you are in this movie, even within one scene, it jumps POV like crazy for no reason. No logic whatsoever in cinematic terms. Emotionally is bleak for bleak's sake and attempts to be a psychological thriller when it is just confusing. Throwing nasty-looking red-necks in your movie is a cheap way to convey "atmosphere". I ran out of patience with it a long time before the last act, but I was having too much fun with my friends doing MST3K riffs to turn it off. Since leaving Buffy, SMG has had 2 successful movies, if even listing "Scooby Doo" on your resume could count. Gellar is a fine actress, but she (or her agent) sure can't find a vehicle for her. And Mr. Shepard, if you are having trouble paying your mortgage, I'll send you a few bucks if you promise to not appear in a movie like this again! ( Also, the estate of Patsy Cline should sue for defamation! )