Guest review by Dan Berman
Andrey Zvyagintsev, in his feature-directing debut, gives you one heck of an eye opener with this cinematic masterpiece.

The Return confronts two young brothers with their suspicious, unpredictable, and bitter father who returns home after a twelve-year absence from their lives. The Return is compelling, dark, and so well scripted that it's one of the creepiest films I've ever seen in a drama. The story follows a family that is so full of betrayal that what is left of the loving family was torn apart years before.

Director Zvyagintsev forms a wonderfully diverse and utterly breathtaking film with all the right pieces to easily make this an art film. It's a stunning visual of the complex, frustrating, unattainable bonds between two sons and their father who has been away for well over a decade of their lives. But, this film takes a very sinister look at the father's "return" home and the overwhelming feeling of deception.

The Return introduces the two brothers to a world that revolves around their mother (Natalia Vdovina). Without any prior warning their father has suddenly made a trip home after years of being away and their world begins to look darker, and with a few twists. Suddenly, the brothers discover that dear old dad has no explanation as to where he has been over the years. Which leaves something of a mystery to be solved. One evening, the father announces that he is taking his boys on a fishing trip. However he turns out to be hiding something- and the boys must try to piece it all together.

The father turns out to be cold; an unbending disciplinarian, and at times down right cruel. The boys, from whose point of view we largely see the trip, unravel. They respond to this in the typical father and son ritual of opposing views that all children choose from. It turns into heated arguments between the brothers. The eldest son is looking for attention from his father and would do anything to make him proud. The youngest son chooses to rebel, challenge authority, than simply acknowledge that he might want a relationship with his long departed dad.

The Return is truly an independent film fixture that collaborates in numerous and varying ways. With a sensational cast backing-up some of the best performances by all four main actors, it’s simply one of the best psychological thrillers yet.

Dan Berman