Brilliant and beautiful moving film.

Stylistically near to perfect, reminiscent of Tarkovski, Bergman, Antonioni, et al. Storyline in multiple layers, with, amongst other, bliblical, psychological, political and social dimensions very symbolical, yet very natural and convincing acting + storyline very well chosen symbols etc... about living, dying, growing up, fathers and sons, siblings, the bible, moral questions (but rare answers). … Expand

A superb and richly evocative film. All of the elements (including the beautiful musical score) work together to produce an engrossing experience.

A road trip, especially a movie about one, in which its travellers are an absentee father and his two sons, can be a feel-good, bury-the-hatchet so we can bond love-fest, or it can be a psychological thriller that ends with the hatchet buried in the father, because the boys weren't aware they were being kidnapped. "The Return" isn't like that, I think. The father is a bastard, but not a big one (or is he just simmering?) and the kid that looks like Haley Joel Osment, but Russian, is whiny, and something of a wuss. There seems to be an awareness of Hollywood formula when the father pursues Vanya (the wuss) up a water tower. In another context, this episode is the climax to a psychological thriller. What ensues, is surprising. When the film is over, you're almost sure the film ended tragically, but the director had created ambiguity by not telling us anything about the father's past, so it's not a closed issue. Is he an antagonist? "The Return" is so subtle, so devoid of the big gesture, everything is open to debate. … Expand

I found it amazingly compelling. The simultaneous dread and wonder that the boys experience in the first scenes after their father's return is extremely well done. The unfolding of the story and its resolution drew me in completely. A film very much worth seeing.

This movie sucked! What are you talking about??? Here's the plot of this movie: two kids' father comes home after not being there for twelve years. then they go fishing and he dies. then theres a slide show. the end! and this garbage is two hours long!!!

Best russian movie I have ever seen...it really makes me think.

A real gem from Russia. Excitement of senses at its best!

Beau Travail, The Son, In the Mood for Love, Adaptation... all masterpieces. The Return trounces them on all levels. The first true classic of the new millenium.

Yes, it's well-acted and beautifully shot but I'm afraid the careful ambiguity of it all frustrated me so much I couldn't enjoy it. I agree with Mark L.

Excellent, excellent, excellent direction. It takes someone with unimaginable vision to make such an uneventful story remotely interesting. There is nothing "riveting" or "stunning" or viscerally powerful at all beyond the deeper implications of the visuals and minor movements (which are aplenty). Basic characters. Minimal story. Lacks tension, motivation, compulsion. These are malfunctions in the screenplay (though probably intentional). Ambiguous or not, it's an incomplete movie.… Expand

Great psichology. It shows a unbalanced relationship between the father and the younger son. Perhaps the father should have had built a strong relationship with his sons before going to the trip. The trip itself was very educational for the youg boys but it also indicated a cover-up from their father that gave a negative impression about him.

Well-acted, but the screenplay is elliptical and implausible (I know Russians aren't exactly well reputed for their manners or social skills, but fathers don't walk in on their kids for the firs time in 12 years by surprise without telling them where they've or what they've done). The story arc of the dad returning to hoping resolve an existential crisis in his children and to teach them about individual responsibility is his hammered home in an obvious fashion that doesn't hold up for two hour, halfway through which I lost all interest. The direction and photography are affected and pretentious. Zvyagentsev appears to fancy himself as a kind of post-Soviet era Tarksovsky, but lacks the imagination or human insight of the said director.… Expand

A subtle, engrossing Russian film that deserves wider distribution.

Ok, look, it isn't absolutely impossible to make a good movie without a plot. It's been done -- My Dinner with Andre, Babette's Feast -- but not often (and food helps). And not this time. There's good acting, but what else good can you say? Yeah, mean distant, dad. That sucks. And its been done rather a few times. We learn nothing about these people. The symbolism is obvious. The psychological tension, dialogue, camera work, etc. is all ok, plenty good enough to combine with a plot to make a good movie. But there is no plot. Nothing happens. "Hey, Andrey, you should make a movie". "Boris, what about?" "I don't know. Maybe some kids with a mean dad, and they could like, go on an adventure." "But what would happen?" "Well, the dad could have some mysterious hidden box, that would imply a dark hidden life, standing in for his mysterious disappearance from their life" "Wow, subtle. So what's in the box?" "Who cares? We'll make it dark, moody, unclear, never really end it." "Boris, what an idea. A dark Russian movie. Never been done." "Andrey, don't worry. Americans are morons. They'll think we are deep if there is no plot."… Expand