The Return
Rogue Pictures | Release Date: November 10, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
9
Negative:
6
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's more haunting than it has any right to be, thanks to its love of long, lonesome highways and the way the violence of the past bleeds into the present. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
The minimalist style keeps the suspense warm. The movie is unusual among teen horror flicks in that it largely avoids the usual cheap thrills and bursts of scare music. Instead, it carefully repeats isolated images and sound bites until they take on a shivery power. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesSam Adams
As for Gellar, she seems game but glum, treading water in a role that represses her comic talents and leaves her little to do but suffer in silence. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
London-born director Asif Kapadia's second feature, following 2001's critically acclaimed "The Warrior," is a slow, low-key supernatural thriller whose story is too slender to justify its feature-length running time. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirshling
Mellow -- nay, snoozy -- atmospherics trump actual scares, and it makes almost zero sense. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
You may see scarier movies this year, but none so redolent of decomposition. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
While Adam Sussman's screenplay can be admired for its emphasis on subtle atmospherics rather than cheap scares, it is a gimmicky slog of an affair that lacks narrative coherence or strong focus. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
A welcome antidote to most of the crap that for passes today for horror and other supernaturally themed movies. Read full review
40
VarietyDennis Harvey
Forgettable PG-13 pic will particularly strike fans of harder-edged recent horror pix as much ado about not much. Read full review
40
EmpireJames Dyer
A large step backwards for a promising director and far from the return we'd been hoping for. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
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. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jason Anderson
Sarah Michelle Gellar is not faring well as a horror-movie scream queen. Gone are the attitude, wit and verve she used to routinely display in the title role of TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
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. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderStaff (not credited)
A soporific ghost story. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyLuke Y. Thompson
The Return gets this year's award for most misleading poster, with its image of an empty-eyed, gray-skinned zombie/ghost that appears nowhere in the movie. You might, however, feel a little empty-eyed and zombie-like yourself after emerging from this languid story. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
At the heart of The Return is a murder that even the most bumbling homicide investigator could have solved in about 12 seconds. Read full review
More From This Movie

38 Critic Reviews

7.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL