The pace also needed a lot of work. The first half is so slow and drawn out, I was surprised to see that the whole film wasn't even an hour and a half long. Only during the last 15 minutes of the film do things finally start getting interesting, but at that point I just wanted it to be over. The story itself wasn't bad, though it was very predictable. For example, halfway through, Joanna discovers a few "surprising" things when she snoops in Terry's house and barn, but they weren't surprising at all since the clues that Kapadia leaves throughout the movie are so huge that anyone with half a brain could figure it out. The subplot about the harrassing jerk co-worker was completely unnecessary. Surely, the writers could have found an alternative means to have Terry and Joanna meet.

I think one of the problems about this film is that Kapadia isn't big on subtlety and doesn't allow the audience to figure things out for themselves. For example, the opening sequence features a young Joanna cutting herself in the leg. The next scene shows an adult Joanna, who is getting dressed in her bedroom. The camera zooms in on a scar on her leg, apparently because the audience is too stupid for figure out that she was that same little girl.

The DVD has the standard extra features: a behind-the-scenes making of the film, deleted scenes, and an alternate ending. I'm glad that at least they went with the ending from the theatrical release because the alternative would have made the relationship between the 25-year-old Joanna and the 40-something Terry even more icky.

As you can see, I was thoroughly unimpressed with The Return. If you're in the mood for a scary, PG-13 movie, rent The Sixth Sense instead, or the American version of The Ring. If you want to see Sarah Michelle Gellar in a scary PG-13 movie, rent The Grudge... though I personally prefer the Japanese version.

Title: The Return
Year: 2006
Director: Asif Kapadia
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Peter O'Brien
Rated: PG-13