They Came Back

aka: Les Revenants
France 2004, 102 minutes
Dir. Robin Campillo
Rating: [M]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Horror, Drama / Walking Dead

Feat. Géraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccai, Frédéric Pierrot, Victor Garrivier

Aroview: This disquieting, unconventional ‘zombie’ movie concerns a global phenomenon of returning dead, and their subsequent integration back into living society, posing a myriad of complex moral and ethical quandaries.

Executed with clinical precision, this highly original genre-hybrid has a commitment to realism over fantasy, replacing traditional body horror with the daunting prospects faced by local government authorities. However the limited canvas of a feature film proves too small to sufficiently develop its provocations, and one is ultimately left a little unsatiated. One hopes for it to be developed as a mini-series, a la THE KINGDOM, though an American remake is perhaps more likely.