They Came Back
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''They Came Back'' (french: Les Revenants), known in the UK as ''The Returned'', is a 2004 French horror
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film directed by
Robin Campillo Robin Campillo (; born 16 August 1962) is a Moroccan-born French screenwriter, editor and film director. He is known for his work on films such as '' The Class'' (2008), ''Heading South'' (2005), the French zombie film '' They Came Back'' (2004) ...
in his directorial debut. The film was screened at the Hamburg Fantasy Filmfest in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Unlike the typical zombie film, in which the physically deformed undead compulsively feed on or otherwise harm the human population, the physically normal undead in ''They Came Back'' seek only to reintegrate themselves into the everyday life of the small French town where they formerly lived, or so it seems.


Plot

The recently deceased of an anonymous French town suddenly return to life, calmly streaming forth from a cemetery in a silent procession. The town council, led by the mayor (Victor Garrivier), makes plans to house the returned and help reintroduce them to society. The mayor informs the council that the event has lasted for roughly two hours throughout France, returning an estimated 70 million people to life nationwide, with more than 13,000 in their town alone, all of whom had died within the previous 10 years. However, the reintegration poses challenges. The returned suffer from effects similar to those that may be seen after severe
concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
, such as disorientation, sleep disturbance, and wandering. Former professionals among the returned are moved to menial jobs when it becomes clear that, although they can perform rote tasks, they can no longer engage in spontaneous problem solving or planning, and that even their apparent consciousness may be an illusion. This behaviour adds to the growing sentiment that the returned are different from their former selves. However, while the returned generally function sluggishly during the day, a doctor named Gardet (
Frédéric Pierrot Frédéric Pierrot (born 17 September 1960) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 120 films and television shows since 1986. He starred in the film ''Tell Me I'm Dreaming'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1 ...
) has become suspicious of the returned after observing some of them clandestinely attending animated meetings, conducted in the middle of the night, during which their symptoms seem to disappear. Nonetheless, the returned reunite with their former loved ones: the mayor's wife, Martha ( Catherine Samie), with the mayor; a 6-year-old boy, Sylvain (Saady Delas), with his parents, Isham (Djemel Barek) and Véronique (Marie Matheron); a young man, Mathieu ( Jonathan Zaccaï), with his wife, Rachel (
Géraldine Pailhas Géraldine Pailhas (born 8 January 1971) is a French people, French actress. She had her first international success in 1995 as ''Doña Anna'', the unfulfilled love of Johnny Depp in the comedy ''Don Juan DeMarco''. She is married to actor Christ ...
). Rachel is initially reluctant to see Mathieu, until one day he follows her home, acting as though he never left. Rachel eventually accepts him, and the two make love. In addition to the nocturnal meetings of the returned, Gardet also observes the gradual reunion of Rachel and Mathieu with growing concern, but when he tries to warn her of possible danger, Rachel rebuffs him. One evening a series of explosions tears through the town, apparently detonated by the returned in an act of mass sabotage but without inflicting any casualties. In the chaos, the returned head for a network of tunnels. The mayor attempts to stop his wife from leaving with the rest but begins to feel ill and, after Martha urges him to "give in", apparently dies, only to appear later in the tunnels among the returned. The military responds by gassing the returned with a chemical that induces a permanent coma. After guiding some of the returned to the tunnels, Mathieu makes his way back to Rachel, and recounts to her the events leading to his fatal car accident. He reveals that he crashed the car while looking for her after the two had fought. Rachel follows him into the tunnels, tearfully kissing him before he disappears into the darkness. She returns to the surface and observes the military carting away the comatose bodies. The bodies are laid atop their graves in the cemetery and slowly vanish.


Cast

*
Géraldine Pailhas Géraldine Pailhas (born 8 January 1971) is a French people, French actress. She had her first international success in 1995 as ''Doña Anna'', the unfulfilled love of Johnny Depp in the comedy ''Don Juan DeMarco''. She is married to actor Christ ...
as Rachel * Jonathan Zaccaï as Mathieu *
Frédéric Pierrot Frédéric Pierrot (born 17 September 1960) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 120 films and television shows since 1986. He starred in the film ''Tell Me I'm Dreaming'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1 ...
as Gardet * Victor Garrivier as The mayor * Catherine Samie as Martha * Djemel Barek as Isham * Marie Matheron as Véronique * Saady Delas as Sylvain


Critical response

Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported an approval rating of 78%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. In one of the more negative reviews, ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' remarked that "''They Came Back'' suffers from long-winded earnestness and, despite some poetic conceits, its allegory ultimately doesn't parse."


Spin-offs

*''
Les Revenants (TV series) ''The Returned'' (french: Les Revenants) is a French supernatural drama television series created by Fabrice Gobert, based on the 2004 French film '' They Came Back'' (''Les Revenants''), directed by Robin Campillo. The series debuted on 26 Nov ...
'', a French television series adaptation of the film ** ''The Returned'' (U.S. TV series), an American remake of the French TV series


References


External links

* * {{Robin Campillo 2004 horror films 2004 films French zombie films 2000s horror thriller films Films directed by Robin Campillo Films scored by Jocelyn Pook French horror drama films French horror thriller films 2004 drama films 2000s French films