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The Return (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
The Return is a 2006 psychological thriller
directed by Asif Kapadia. The film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar
, Kate Beahan
, Peter O'Brien, and Sam Shepard
. It was released theatrically on November 10, 2006, and on DVD on February 27, 2007.The Blu-ray Disc was released on October 6, 2009.
), a travelling rep for a trucking company, dedicated to her successful career but something of a loner. Since the age of 11 she has been a troubled person, with episodes of self-mutilation and menacing vision
s. Normally she avoids returning to her native Texas, but agrees to a trip there to secure an important client. During the trip her visions, which take the form of memories of events not from her life, increase in intensity. She sees a strange face staring back at her in the mirror. Her truck radio plays Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" no matter what station she selects. She stops at the scene of an accident that, on the following day, seems not to have happened. Joanna cuts herself in a bar restroom and is narrowly rescued by a friend. She visits her father, who observes that from age 11 she was "a different girl". The visions continue, becoming both more specific and more threatening, centering upon a menacing man she does not recognize and a bar she has never seen, but a picture of which is in one of her catalogs.
Drawn by the image to the Texas town where the bar is located, a place she has not been since childhood, Joanna meets a man named Terry Stahl, whose wife, Annie, was stalked, brutally assaulted, and left to die fifteen years before, a crime of which Terry was suspected but not convicted. Joanna continues to have visions of this crime and the events that led up to it, and to discover other links between Annie's life and hers. She meets the real killer and is led by what she has seen in her visions to recover the knife he used from its hiding place. She is then herself stalked. Inevitably, she finds herself drawn into a repetition of the crime, but this time she stabs her assailant with the recovered knife, using the original weapon to avenge the original crime.
The story ends with the revelation that Annie, clinging to life as Terry drove her to the hospital after the original assault, died when his car crashed into one driven by Joanna's father, in which the eleven-year-old Joanna was a passenger. After momentary unconsciousness, the young Joanna seems to have survived the crash. But is she still Joanna, or has her soul been replaced by that of the dying Annie? In the final scene, a silent Joanna is seen reflecting on who she is, and what has happened to her. She seems to reach an inner resolution of these questions, but what that is we are not told.
An alternative ending included on the DVD release more straightforwardly supports the interpretation that Annie's soul has been placed in Joanna's body.
. However, the reviews were not incredibly negative, and ranged from mostly mixed with some more on the negative side and some more positive. The biggest criticism was the very slow pace. The artistic tone and cinematography of the film were heavily praised, as was the film as a whole by some. The Return opened with what distributor Rogue Pictures
called a "very disappointing" $4,800,000 weekend gross.
Except for TV trailer spots, there was no publicity nor a premiere for the film, as Sarah Michelle Gellar
was busy shooting the movie Possession
in Vancouver, British Columbia. The movie only earned a disappointing $7.7 million dollars. Worldwide, the movie made $14,949,851.
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
directed by Asif Kapadia. The film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
, Kate Beahan
Kate Beahan
Kate Beahan is an Australian film actress.Beahan was born in Perth. she appeared mostly in movies and TV series in Australia ....
, Peter O'Brien, and Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
. It was released theatrically on November 10, 2006, and on DVD on February 27, 2007.The Blu-ray Disc was released on October 6, 2009.
Synopsis
The Return is focused on a 25-year-old woman named Joanna Mills (Sarah Michelle GellarSarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
), a travelling rep for a trucking company, dedicated to her successful career but something of a loner. Since the age of 11 she has been a troubled person, with episodes of self-mutilation and menacing vision
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
s. Normally she avoids returning to her native Texas, but agrees to a trip there to secure an important client. During the trip her visions, which take the form of memories of events not from her life, increase in intensity. She sees a strange face staring back at her in the mirror. Her truck radio plays Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" no matter what station she selects. She stops at the scene of an accident that, on the following day, seems not to have happened. Joanna cuts herself in a bar restroom and is narrowly rescued by a friend. She visits her father, who observes that from age 11 she was "a different girl". The visions continue, becoming both more specific and more threatening, centering upon a menacing man she does not recognize and a bar she has never seen, but a picture of which is in one of her catalogs.
Drawn by the image to the Texas town where the bar is located, a place she has not been since childhood, Joanna meets a man named Terry Stahl, whose wife, Annie, was stalked, brutally assaulted, and left to die fifteen years before, a crime of which Terry was suspected but not convicted. Joanna continues to have visions of this crime and the events that led up to it, and to discover other links between Annie's life and hers. She meets the real killer and is led by what she has seen in her visions to recover the knife he used from its hiding place. She is then herself stalked. Inevitably, she finds herself drawn into a repetition of the crime, but this time she stabs her assailant with the recovered knife, using the original weapon to avenge the original crime.
The story ends with the revelation that Annie, clinging to life as Terry drove her to the hospital after the original assault, died when his car crashed into one driven by Joanna's father, in which the eleven-year-old Joanna was a passenger. After momentary unconsciousness, the young Joanna seems to have survived the crash. But is she still Joanna, or has her soul been replaced by that of the dying Annie? In the final scene, a silent Joanna is seen reflecting on who she is, and what has happened to her. She seems to reach an inner resolution of these questions, but what that is we are not told.
An alternative ending included on the DVD release more straightforwardly supports the interpretation that Annie's soul has been placed in Joanna's body.
Cast
- Sarah Michelle GellarSarah Michelle GellarSarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
as Joanna Mills - Sam ShepardSam ShepardSam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
as Ed Mills - Peter O'Brien as Terry Stahl
- Kate BeahanKate BeahanKate Beahan is an Australian film actress.Beahan was born in Perth. she appeared mostly in movies and TV series in Australia ....
as Michelle
Reception
Reviews of the film were mostly negative with 15% positive on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. However, the reviews were not incredibly negative, and ranged from mostly mixed with some more on the negative side and some more positive. The biggest criticism was the very slow pace. The artistic tone and cinematography of the film were heavily praised, as was the film as a whole by some. The Return opened with what distributor Rogue Pictures
Rogue Pictures
Rogue is a subsidiary of Relativity Media. The company has about 25 titles in its library.- Background :In 1997, Rogue Pictures was formed as a division of PolyGram Pictures but the name was dropped in 2000 after Universal Pictures bought PolyGram...
called a "very disappointing" $4,800,000 weekend gross.
Except for TV trailer spots, there was no publicity nor a premiere for the film, as Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
was busy shooting the movie Possession
Possession (2009 film)
Possession is an American remake of the Korean film Addicted. It is a psychological thriller film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Lee Pace.-Plot:...
in Vancouver, British Columbia. The movie only earned a disappointing $7.7 million dollars. Worldwide, the movie made $14,949,851.
Trivia
- An excerpt from the song "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" by Patsy ClinePatsy ClinePatsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
, which seems to have a will of its own, appears as the "warning" before many supernatural occurrences.
- The R1 DVD was released on February 27, 2007 with a "Creation of a Nightmare: The Making of The Return" featurette, deleted scenes, and the "too shocking for the big screen" alternate ending.
- The R2 release was of the movie only.
- In Australia, The Return was a straight to DVD feature, released June 5, 2007.