Movies
[TV Review] Supernatural Drama “The Returned” Offers Thick Atmosphere and Mystery
How would you react if, years after they’re dead and buried, a loved one showed up on your doorstep? No rotting flesh or maggot-ridden eye-sockets either, just looking as dapper as they always did. Would you welcome them in for a sandwich or flee in terror? The eight-part French supernatural series The Returned poses these questions. In the press release its called a “zombie” show, but judging by the first episode, “Camille,” it’s basically the anti-Walking Dead.
Years after a tragic school bus accident took the lives of over 30 students, a small mountainside town is still reeling from the loss. Then one day, a handful of them return home just as they were on the day they died. The story focuses on Camille, a young girl who believes it’s still the day of the accident, while also introducing many other characters. Some of them are welcomed home despite the parents’ disbelief, while others are refused entry by family members haunted by grief.
One older gentleman reacts to his daughter’s return in an especially psychotic manner. His actions are proof that The Returned isn’t going to be all grief counseling and family hugs. The show explores some dark psychological territory. Coinciding with the resurrection is a grisly murder that may be connected to all these reborn dead kids. Then there’s the mystery of Victor, a young boy who wasn’t on the bus, but may be the catalyst for all this madness.
The blending of supernatural and grounded drama makes for interesting television, and these elements are elevated by writer/director Gregory Crewdson’s sparse approach to the material. Visually and tonallyThe Returned resembles Let the Right One In – so if you enjoyed that film’s dreary ambiance you’ll settle nicely into this show’s similar atmosphere. There are lingering shots of isolating landscapes that border on tedious for my taste, but they do help lend the show an other-worldly flavor.
Crewdson understands the value of silence as well. The reserved dialogue in The Returned matches the dreary landscapes. One scene in particular, in which Camille greets her sister after returning, uses a series of knocks rather than dumb-downed exposition to express the shock and confusion of her older sister. It’s really engaging, intelligent horror.
People sick of zombies shouldn’t be turned off by the concept of The Returned. This isn’t about mowing down the undead and graphic displays of flesh-eating. This is about the vast bummers of grief and the mystery of one creepy little boy. Since it’s such a short run (eight episodes) you can be sure every minute is going to matter, so pay attention, pal, and you will be rewarded. Really soak in the amazing opening credits sequence too – I have a feeling it contains some clues.
The Returned premieres on Halloween on the Sundance Channel at 9pm ET.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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