The Return Parent Guide

It has been twenty years since Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) left Ithaca behind to wage war against Troy, and times have been hard both on the battlefield and the home front. Absent the king, his wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) has tried to raise their son, Telemachus (Charlie Plummer) and maintain the kingdom – but she finds herself fighting a quiet war on her own. With Ithaca on offer, Penelope is soon besieged, almost literally, by aggressive suitors who want the throne of Odysseus. And now, the blood-dimmed tide has spat Odysseus himself back onto the shores of Ithaca. Who can tell which has changed more in the decades since he left – Odysseus or his home?

The Odyssey is one of the oldest stories we still share, and it’s remarkable how relevant and tragic the Ancient Greek tale still feels. The film does a wonderful job with its source material. The choice to adapt what is really the end of the story is fascinating, and it gives the film a wealth of rich backstory for its characters to explore. Even more impressive, for a historical epic, is the sub-two-hour runtime. I’m not sure what everyone else’s excuse is now, since The Return had more meaningful character moments and better writing than any of the two-and-a-half-hour-plus “epics” I’ve sat through in the last six years.

This movie is not unlike a stage play, and more than most films, lives and dies on performances. Ralph Fiennes is a phenomenal actor, and turns in a staggering performance as Odysseus, with Juliette Binoche giving him plenty of competition in their shared scenes. Equally impressive is the cinematography, which truly makes the film feel like you’ve stepped into a Renaissance painting. It’s gorgeous.

It’s also, sadly, unsuitable for family viewing. Greek epics being what they are, there’s a fair amount of nudity, some sex, and a good deal of bloody violence. This is perhaps the least glorified violence I’ve seen on screen, and the choreography reflects it. The Return feels more like Shakespeare than John Wick, and all violence is treated as tragic. Odysseus has never recovered from war, and constantly speaks against it.

This is easily one of the strongest films I’ve seen all year. For adults with an interest in literary adaptations and a high tolerance for negative content, it’s worth seeing on a big screen if you can, both for the stunning visuals and because, sometimes, a big performance needs a big screen. Even if you’ve never read The Odyssey, this is a phenomenal movie. Heck, it’s even got me using nice words. I haven’t so much as though the words “dumpster fire” in hours now.