The Return begins in the dark. This is after all a film noir and so Oliver Nias chooses to reinforce that by shooting the entire film in atmospheric black and white, highly stylised, telling the audience that everyone has a secret.
What is this film about? Discovering this secret even if ten minutes into the film you’ve guessed the film and only stay until the bitter end to be proven right. What does this mean. It is predictable and a collage of the most famous gangster films you’ve seen that was shot in London sprinkled with an attempt at Christopher Nolan misdirection magic that after a while it is laughable.
Oliver Nias wrote and directed his debut film and I have a lot of time for writer-directors. The direction is good as is the photography and sound. However, the script is weak aside from the opening scene everything is predictable and not in an enjoyable way. There are a lot of brooding silences, close ups. The editing gives this a film slicker feel than it deserves. The paired down dialogue works and Sam Donnelly as Jack, the protagonist in this film is certainly one to watch. He gives a stellar performance.
Had the film been kept to a reasonable 60 minutes then possibly it might have been a little bit enjoyable. At the end of the day The Return is not just another gangster film it is a poor imitation and pastiche of all those that have been before.
The Return will be screened at Raindance Film Festival 2015 and is nominated for Best UK Feature. It had its premier on 27 September and you can see whether I’ve been overly harsh at the public screening on 3 October.
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