The returned (Los Que Vuelven)

The great strength of this virtual edition of the British Frighfest festival is to highlight independent genre cinema, be it science fiction, horror thrillers, fantasy films. In this case, this festival allows us to discover an Argentine director, Laura Casabé who signs with The returned (Los Que Vuelven) her third film after El hada buena - Una fábula peronista (2010) and La valija de Benavídez (2016).

When discovering The returned (Los Que Vuelven), one will think strongly of Stephen King Simetierre's novel Pet Cemetary (1983), which has been adapted for the cinema. By portraying a family stricken by the death of their child, these films showed how healthy people could use supernatural forces to bring a young dead child back to life. Unfortunately, this rebirth was not going to go smoothly and would result in the loss of this family. The screenwriters Laura Casabe, Lisandro Colaberardino, Paulo Soria seem to have started from the same concept and moved it in 1919 in the middle of South America but always in an isolated place in the middle of the forest. Behind this period drama that uses fantasy and deals with demonic forces that transform humans into supernatural creatures, director Laura Casabe delivers a film that is as bewitching as it is surprising.

Certainly, The returned (Los Que Vuelven) suffers from a too slow pace and an insufficient budget to deliver a story that could have remained engraved in our memories for a long time. Yet it benefits from a remarkable interpretation by the young actress Lali Gonzalez. In the role of a mother confronted with supernatural events, she shows a great presence that gives The returned (Los Que Vuelven) an undeniable added value. The staging as well as the photography are also meticulous and make that we can only immerse ourselves in this horrific drama whose very successful ending deserves to be discovered in this film.

The Returned
Directed by Laura Casabé
Produced by Yamila Barnasthpol
Written by Laura Casabe, Lisandro Colaberardino, Paulo Soria
Starring Alberto Ajaka, Edgardo Castro, Javier Drolas, Lali Gonzalez
Music by Leonardo Martinelli
Cinematography: Leonardo Hermo
Edited by Daniel Casabe, Luz Lopez Mañe
Release date: November 11,2019 (Argentina), October 23, 2020 (UK)
Running time: 92 minutes

Viewed on October 21 (press screener)

Mulder's Mark: