The Return (15)

★★★✭ Uberto Pasolini’s minimalist adaptation of the gory closing chapters of Homer’s epic poem eschews witches, monsters and goddesses in favour of PTSD. There are no frills. ~ Irish Times.

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After 20 years away, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable.

The King has returned from the Trojan War, but much has changed in his kingdom. His beloved wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) is a prisoner in her own home, hounded by suitors vying to be king.

Their son Telemachus faces death at the hands of these suitors, who see him as merely an obstacle to their pursuit of the kingdom. Odysseus has also changed—scarred by his experience of the Trojan war, he is no longer the mighty warrior from years past— but he must rediscover his strength in order to win back all he has lost.

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★★★★ Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes bring fierce class to this elemental Odyssey adaptation. Uberto Pasolini’s raw and urgent drama, from a draft by Edward Bond, sees a traumatised Odysseus face the shameful aftermath of war. ~ The Guardian.