Walt D in LV:

Very nice character study, the kids are very good actors. A bit slow for some, but it had me wondering what the father was up to, while the kids attempt to learn lessons about life. 11-21-06. Walt D in LV

synergy:

This movie was too minimalist for my taste. It took nearly the entire movie to get anywhere really interesting and then suddenly cuts off. The same thing could've been accomplished in half the time. The cinematography was good to look at, but the story was so skimpy that I never actually started to care about any of the characters. At the point of the "shocking" ending I was left with a feeling of "oh well." I think I've seen too many t.v. movies and films about rebelious kids from broken homes with shady dads to think this one was any different or that great.

ggr 1546907:

O.K., first the good. The cinematography is outstanding. Beautifully composed shot after beautifully composed shot. Wonderful camera angles and movements, and a gorgeous bluish color pallet set up a wonderful sense of desolation. And the acting - top notch from all three of the leads. They build up fantastic emotional tension. The bad news: it's all for nothing. Yep, nothing is resolved by the film's end. I don't mind a mystery or drama film where there is resolution, but many questions left unanswered, or new questions raised. Films like 'Citizen Kane' and 'Apocalypse Now' demonstrate that style of filmmaking very well. The trouble with 'The Return' is that it sets up mysteries central to the plot from the very beginning, and then draws them out, building upon them, never to resolve them. Hitchcock was known to use plot devices as what he called "MacGuffins" - plot elements such as mysterious packages or items that deepen the mystery but whose actual nature is never known - and this film does that too - but Hitch would still reveal some answers in the course of even his slowest potboilers. This is not a film like 'Pulp Fiction', 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', or 'The Maltese Falcon' (all of which I'd happily watch again before having to sit through 'The Return' once more) where "the stuff that dreams are made of" is never fully revealed, but the effect these valuables have on the characters lives is the focus. No, here it all amounts to pointless, narrative that ends like they ran out of film...

khl 491889:

From the opening scene to the ending shots, both the visuals and the narrative were mesmerizing, beautiful, haunting, and deeply affecting. All this in a story with three characters that takes place over the course of a week. The cast and cinematography are superb. The three actors give what amounts to a master class in using the face, and they need little else. Similarly, the color pallet- basically a murky blue and dull white- is used so well every moment is interesting (at worst) and often glorious. It is never boring, forced, or academic. All that mastery of course serves the story: two brothers who meet their father for the first time in their conscious lives. And that story is every bit as interesting and artful as all the other elements of this incredible film.

VJ Purplequeen:

This movie seemed uncomplete since the mystery at the heart of the story is never revealed. It is a terribly perplexing story as the returned father gives no explanation for his absense, or his return, and then his rather cruel treatment of his sons. The boys were nicely developed and their reactions to the father wonderful, but the father remained a blank slate and the ending precluded any resolution. The story just felt unfinished so left me feeling depressed and empty. My 3 stars are for the bothers who different reactions to the father were wonderfully developed.

Lobster:

For those who relish character-driven films, you will find nothing better than "The Return" anywhere, in any language. Exploring the reaction of two young teenagers to the return of their brutish father after an absence of twelve years, it's brilliant in all its aspects and is a must-see. Don't, however, expect any special effects or conventional violence. It's the antithesis of those films.

3 Cat Michael:

I really wanted to like this film. Visually it is stunning, and the ambient music was well crafted with the visual style to pull one into the film's world. But I didn't like it. By the end, I felt that the director had become so caught up with the stlye and affect that he lost vital connecting elements of the story. Way to much supposition took away from the fine acting, and highly charge atmosphere skillfully crafted. This fillm really wanted to fly, but, was weighted down by its unclear assumptions of a foggy plot. I wish I could give it a almost made it rating, but given the choices I have, it gets two stars.