Return

Name: Return
Director: Liza Johnson
Released: 2011

Liza Johnson

2011

Synopsis

Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.

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Recommendations

83
The A.V. Club
Return is unusually attuned to its protagonist's alienation, which is especially painful because its source isn't some horrendous event she witnessed, but the hundreds of annoying aspects of everyday life.
80
Time Out
Return is almost too underdramatized to seem like a piece of today's zoomy entertainment, but its anxieties-the bare cupboards, the vague sense of purposelessness-are at the heart of the American experience for many. It's what indie filmmaking ought to be.
75
Christian Science Monitor
Shannon chalks up another line on his rapidly growing résumé of memorable performances. But it's mostly Cardellini's show – she's in every scene. Her portrayal may at first seem opaque, as though she isn't quite sure who Kelli is. But that is, of course, the point. Kelli isn't quite sure who Kelli is.
70
The New York Times
In this stratum of Middle American society during wartime and hardship, the movie suggests, life is tough and challenging. You admire these characters for their considerable resilience while understanding that even the best-intentioned people can break under the stress.
70
Los Angeles Times
With its modest scale and sharp observations, writer-director Liza Johnson's first feature has the quiet impact of a short story.
63
Slant Magazine
As director Liza Johnson understands, simply being over there changes someone, no matter if anything unusually traumatic happened to the person.
60
New York Daily News
Johnson's feel for the rhythms of reconnection are steady, and she and her fine actors make Return one of only a handful of films to honestly address what to many is heartbreaking reality.
50
Village Voice
Firmly in the unassuming indie vein, Return treads lightly and leaves little imprint.