Summary
The Returned is an enjoyable horror mystery, which will keep you guessing right up to the shocking conclusion.
The Returned is an Argentinian horror movie directed by Laura Casabe (Benavidez’s Case), starring Alberto Ajaka, Edgardo Castro, Javier Brolas, Lali Gonzalez and Maria Soldi.
The Returned follows a family living on a plantation, with Julia (Soldi) being the mother who starts to see her son Manuel act strangely when a seemingly possessed man is captured on the land. We have a connection to events one year before with Kerana (Gonzalez), one of the maids on the plantation, who went missing
.The Returned is divided up into three main chapters, with the first being focused on meeting the plantation owners who start to see the strange event occur, which shows us that not everything is what it seems here, before moving back to the shocking truth about what has caused the uneasy events one year ago. This changes how we see the family on the plantation, seeing what changed everything for them and how the secrets will come back to haunt people. By breaking the story into chapters, we get to see different events from different angles which will help everything unfold.
The Returned dives into the horror genre by giving us the unease of the supernatural, seeing how the past will come back to haunt people. The music plays into the horror, making everything feel uneasy throughout, with the creepy characters lurking in the forest. We focus on tension being built up, rather than going into the jump scares we could easily have been led down.
Maria Soldi shows us just how a concerned mother will do anything to help their child, but also shows us how people could look down on the help in the home. Lali Gonzalez brings us a shocking introduction that asks more questions to help the story continue to grow while showing us both sides of the character, the caring maid, and the mystery woman in the forest. The rest of the cast do make us feel like we are watching the members of a plantation without taking the center stage of anything that happens.
Overall, The Returned is a horror movie that will give you a complete feeling of unease and a story that shows us how secrets will always come to life.
