The Return | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

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96%

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89 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Andrey (Vladimir Garin) and Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) are brothers who have been raised alone by their mother. When their father (Konstantin Lavronenko) suddenly returns home after vanishing some 12 years earlier, they are both extremely happy to see him back in their lives. Ivan, however, quickly grows suspicious of his father, and determines to find out where exactly his father vanished to all those years ago, and why he suddenly decided to come back into their lives now.

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The Return

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Critics Consensus

A suspenseful but perplexing thriller.

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Critics Reviews

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Joe Morgenstern

Wall Street Journal

The story, set in contemporary Russia, seems unexceptional at the start. Yet it plays out against a vast wilderness of shorelines and lakes, and turns tantalizing ambiguity into urgent mystery.

Mar 27, 2013

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Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

The long and eventful fishing trip Dad drags the boys on is simultaneously a very real voyage through the Russian wilderness and also, like, a Jungian trip, man.

Mar 27, 2013

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Scott Tobias

AV Club

Throughout his expertly controlled film, Zvyagintsev never allows a break in the clouds to provide some reassuring sign that the brothers are on solid footing.

Rated: B-

Mar 27, 2013

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Konstantin Lavronenko provides the film with a menacing, glowering backbone, the return of the mythical fatherland who seems interested only in typically masculine, overtly cruel rites of passage as the way to approach his progeny.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 18, 2020

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Nathanael Hood

Nate Hood Reviews

The kind of movie you watch between your fingers as you hold your hands up to your face for protection.

Rated: 9/10

Jan 26, 2020

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Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

Deftly explores the dynamic between father and son and its roots in masculine rage.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 3, 2019

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Audience Reviews

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Zapirate Z The film is not about the war, but it has analyzed very well what the war brings and takes away, and has been able to show it to the audience. Radicals who yearn for war should watch it to be rehabilitated. Who knows, maybe it will work. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/13/23 Full Review Jos Ricardo da V Excelente filme. Uma obra prima. Já assisti umas 50 vezes. Sou professor e já passei para meus alunos de ensino fundamental e médio. Capaz de estimular debates profundos sobre a relação familiar. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/10/23 Full Review mary b Frustrating ending models life - unanswered questions that would haunt these boys for life. Ivan's anger so real for a child who needs proof of love. No remorse. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Russian angst at its peak Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Occasionally, the journey might be too long and meandering, but the destination shakes you to the core. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member José Mourinho returns to his kid's lives after a few years away. A drama but also a study of why boys need a father figure. Decent watch. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Andrey Zvyagintsev Director Ivan Dobronravov Ivan Vladimir Garin Andrey Konstantin Lavronenko Father Natalya Vdovina Mother Galina Petrova Grandmother

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The Return

The Return (2003)

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Synopsis Andrey (Vladimir Garin) and Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) are brothers who have been raised alone by their mother. When their father (Konstantin Lavronenko) suddenly returns home after vanishing some 12 years earlier, they are both extremely happy to see him back in their lives. Ivan, however, quickly grows suspicious of his father, and determines to find out where exactly his father vanished to all those years ago, and why he suddenly decided to come back into their lives now.

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Producer: Dmitri Lesnevsky
Screenwriter: Vladimir Moiseyenko, Aleksandr Novototskiy-Vlasov
Distributor: Kino Pictures
Production Co: Ren Film, United King Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 6, 2004, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA): $502.0K
Runtime: 1h 50m