Movie · 2024 · History, Drama, Adventure · 1h 56m · R · English
Curator score: 3.0/10 (43.9K ratings)
Some legends are more than myths.
Overview
After twenty years away, Odysseus washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The king has finally returned home, but much has changed in his kingdom since he left to fight in the Trojan war.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.0/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.08/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 66
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Uberto Pasolini
Production
Picomedia, RAI Cinema, Redwave Films, Heretic, Kabo Films, Marvelous Productions
Cast
Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer, Marwan Kenzari, Claudio Santamaria, Ángela Molina, Nikitas Tsakiroglou, Tom Rhys Harries, Jamie Andrew Cutler, Moe Bar-El, Amir Wilson, Jaz Hutchins, Hugh Quarshie, Chris Corrigan, Aaron Cobham, Amesh Edireweera, Ayman Al Aboud, Nicolas Exequiel Retrivi Mora, Giorgio Antonini, Matthew T. Reynolds
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium
Curator Review
Verdict
A restrained, actor-driven take on Odysseus’ homecoming that favors grief, aging, and political tension over spectacle. It’s strongest as a mood piece and a showcase for Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, but the sparse scale and deliberate pacing will leave some viewers cold.
Best for
viewers who like intimate, literary historical dramas
fans of performance-first films with minimal spectacle
people interested in myth retellings stripped down to human conflict
audiences who appreciate slow-burn, stage-like cinema
Skip if
you want big mythic action or monster set pieces
you need brisk pacing and constant plot movement
you prefer lush, expensive-looking historical epics
you’re not in the mood for a severe, melancholy tone
Overview
The Return treats Homer less like a source of adventure than a blueprint for exhaustion, shame, and recognition. Uberto Pasolini keeps the scale tight and the mood austere, turning Odysseus’ arrival in Ithaca into a bruised domestic drama about what war does to a man and what time does to a kingdom.
Worth noting
The film’s biggest asset is its cast. Ralph Fiennes gives the role a weathered physicality that makes the character feel both heroic and deeply damaged, while Juliette Binoche brings quiet force and emotional intelligence to Penelope. Their scenes give the movie its pulse, and they help compensate for the production’s limited scope.
Bottom line
Still, the film can feel intentionally stripped to the point of thinness. The pacing is patient, sometimes punishingly so, and the minimalism may read as either disciplined or underpowered depending on your tolerance for austerity. For viewers who like their classics reimagined as somber chamber pieces, it lands; for everyone else, it may feel like a noble but subdued return.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kellen Gallagher (2.5★) · 1107 likes
This would have gone hard in 8th grade history class after a slice of square pizza for lunch.
Jeff (4.5★) · 557 likes
Not lore-accurate. Odysseus wouldn't have been circumcised.
liv (3.5★) · 509 likes
I deserve some kind of award for keeping composure while seeing Voldemort’s peepee in a room full of cinephiles
Josh Lewis (3★) · 434 likes
The slow, arty, depressed sequel to Troy that similarly strips Homer's poem of its mythology and instead focuses on the human melodrama of ancient post-war regret. Despite the limitation of this clearly just looking like a bunch of shirtless dudes in robes hanging out on an Italian island together recreating dialogue scenes from HBO's Rome or something, I was taken by just how ugly and punishing a rendition of Odysseus' return to Ithaca and slaying of the suiters this is.… more The slow, arty, depressed sequel to Troy that similarly strips Homer's poem of its mythology and instead focuses on the human melodrama of ancient post-war regret. Despite the limitation of this clearly just looking like a bunch of shirtless dudes in robes hanging out on an Italian island together recreating dialogue scenes from HBO's Rome or something, I was taken by just how ugly and punishing a rendition of Odysseus' return to Ithaca and slaying of the suiters this is.… more
Paul Schrader · 310 likes
THE RETURN. Ralph Fiennes’ turn as an aging, muscle-bound, prosthetically enhaced Odysseus is a revellation. Just when you suspect those who say TV offers nothing to thinking adults, something like this turns up.
2021 · History, Drama, Action · 2h 33m · R · Curator 6.4/10 (550.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Hulu, fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
A serious historical drama about honor, violence, and the costs of male ego, with a similarly grim adult tone.