20140610: Horror Review--The Returned

The Returned

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. Spanish/Canadian live action feature length film, 2013, NR, 97 minutes, horror, thriller, zombies.
2. IMDB: 5.8/10.0 from 3,043 audience ratings.  Estimated budget, 5 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 58% on the meter; 38% liked it from 483 audience ratings.
4. Directed by: Manuel Carballo.
5. Starring: Emily Hampshire as Kate, Kris Holden-Reid as Alex, Shawn Doyle as Jacob, Claudia Bassols as Amber, Barry Flatman as Hospital Chief, Melina Matthews as Eve.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Twenty years after the zombie apocalypse, there is an edgy steady state.  There is a treatment that holds the zombie virus in check, but it is not a cure.  It needs to be taken everyday, roughly speaking.  The inevitable question is, will the supply give out?


2. So we have another film about the politics of scarcity.  There are anti-zombie protesters, and pro-zombie protesters.  There are political factions to go along with the protesters (or perhaps the other way around).  Even worse, there are groups in the two factions willing to kill to achieve their goals.


3. The mechanism for making the treatment comes from the bodies of recently deceased Returned individuals (those who got the virus, but got the treatment in time).  Since the program became more successful, fewer deaths have occurred among the returned.  Hence the success of the program undermines its continuance.  In another thread, a fully synthetic alternate treatment is being developed.  The problem is, it has not been developed quickly enough to take up the failure of the original program.


4. The film follows Kate, a physician who helps the Returned, and her husband Alex, who is secretly one of the Returned.  A group breaks into the hospital, kills many of the Returned, and steals the database of the names, addresses, and contact information of a large number of the Returned.  This puts Alex in danger.


5. As the supply of treatments fails, Kate and Alex face many challenges to preserve Alex's life and to stay out of military prison camps.  Will they succeed?  Will the new treatments be perfected in time?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Well-written thriller about containing the zombie apocalypse.
2. Four stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 9/10 Very nice camera work.


2. Sound: 8/10 No problems.


3. Acting: 9/10 Good performances all around, especially from Kris Holden-Reid and Emily Hampshire.


4. Screenplay: 8/10 Well-written, with good pacing for a thriller; both thoughtful and gut-wrenching.  This is one of the best zombie films I have seen.