The Returned movie comes from Argentina. This Spanish-language film formed part of the lineup for the 2021 Final Girls Berlin Film Festival. A horror and thriller movie set in 1919, in the deep of South America. A landowner and his wife run a property and they keep servants.
The servants are indigenous to the lands. From time to time privileged white men sit around and smoke and insult the servants who stand in the room ready for their next order. Comparatively, we learn that Julia has been trying unsuccessfully to have another baby. At the same time, she nurses crippling fears of her son vanishing. Julia’s personal helper, Kerana has grown up in servitude.
As a result, the bond between the two women glues the story together. Beyond Julia’s husband’s cruelty, their relationship edges the story towards something special. Their bond dissolves attention from the brutality. Nothing in the story is straightforward. The three chapters are laid out in a nonlinear fashion. Yet, the story is easy to piece together despite this. In addition, it’s easy to keep up with precisely what is happening, and The Returned’s three episodes are sequenced into the characters they concern.
The Returned is a Spanish Horror Film
The Returned’s writer and the director tell a story that encompasses a collection of crimes in the film. The Indigenous are treated as though disposable. Adding fuel to the darkness, the sound of a shotgun is often heard ringing into the night every once in a while. To this end, other enslaved person has outlived their usefulness. The mistreatment of the people in the surrounding lands trickled into the narrative rather than forced into the foreground.
The spiritual nature of their people slowly emerges as the dead are possessed by something otherwordly. Of course, this only happens after Julia calls upon one of the Gods to save her stillborn child. This God grants her wish and returns her child to a full-bodied and crying baby. However, everything surrounding this answered prayer has now changed.
Can Julia Save Her Child?
Overall, The Returned movie will undoubtedly capture your attention especially if you like stories of this nature. Regardless of the fact, this type of narrative has been told many times over in much the same way. Pieced together with a dreamlike atmosphere, the dark and sinuous nature creates riveting viewing.
For another review of this unknown indie gem read ReadSteadyCut.com
I give The Returned
3 Be careful what you wish for out of 5
Episode 1 – Julias Nightmare + Episode 2 Kerana’s Secret + Episode 3 – The Returners
- Directed and written by Laura Casabe,
- Additional writing by Lisandro Colaberardino and Paulo Soria,
- Starring: Alberto Ajaka, Edgardo Castro, Javier Drolas, Lali Gonzalez and María Soldi,
- Distribution by Reel Suspects and produced by Ajimolido Films
- Country: Argentina,
- Language: Spanish | Guarani.
- The Returned was acquired as a screener. Mother of Movies was part of the press for The Final Girls Berlin Film Festival, 2021.
