They Came Back (2004)

Credits / Details

58%
Overall Rating

Ranked #6,645
...out of 20,725 movies

Genres: Drama Family Drama Zombie Film

Connections: They Came Back

The lives of the residents of a small French town are changed when thousands of the recently dead inexplicably come back to life and try to integrate themselves into society that has changed for them. --IMDb

Review by Chad
Added: July 19, 2005

In this French zombie-drama, we find that a large percentage of the dead have returned to life. Now, the dead haven't returned to life to feast on human flesh or to kill anyone... no, they simply want their old lives back. They want to get back with their loved ones, they want their old jobs back, and they just want to carry on with their lives as though they had never died. Obviously, this causes a bit of a stir in the small French town... what do you do when thirteen-thousand people, mostly senior citizens in perfect health, return from the grave and want back into society? I suppose that it's worth noting that these people / zombies aren't exactly in perfect health... they suffer from aphasia, which basically clouds their vision and makes their minds a blur. They can easily recall things that happened before they died, but comprehending what's going on around them in the present is a challenge.

The movie is about the sudden population increase, of course, but it mainly focuses on two families in particular and how they deal with their loved ones returning. The first family is Isham (Djemel Barek) and Véronique (Marie Matheron), who are a bit nervous when their son Sylvain (Saady Delas) returns to their household. The other storyline focuses on Rachel (Géraldine Pailhas) and how she responds to her husband Mathieu's (Jonathan Zaccaï) return. I'm not going to go into detail about the reactions of either family, as this would spoil the movie far too much. However, I will say that the dead start to get a clue as to the tension that they're causing in the town, and they start to have secret nightly meetings amongst themselves to figure out what to do next.

The idea behind this movie is great. Anyone who has visited this site a few times can probably guess that I enjoy zombie movies, so seeing one that incorporates zombies in a completely new way is A-OK with me even if it is completely outside of the horror genre. There are a few eerie moments, but make no mistake... this is a drama film from nearly beginning to end. I knew this before picking up a copy of the movie, and I had no expectations of horror or gut-munching. Therefore, I was prepared for this revelation and sort of knew what to expect. The first hour and change of the movie is extremely interesting and it really flies by; discoveries are made about the condition of the dead, sub-plots begin to pop up, and we really start to care about the characters themselves. Then, everything starts to fall apart.

By this point in the film, a number of questions remain unanswered. We've seen the different families react in their own ways and we've seen a number of plot-lines come up. Instead of answering these questions and furthering these sub-plots, the movie simply reinforces the things that it has already made abundantly clear. The best way I can put this without spoiling it is to give a small example. Take the family with the kid - they react in a certain way towards his return, and a number of questions come up as a result. Now, the movie simply spends the next twenty minutes telling us "Hey! The family is reacting as such! Get it? No? Ok... Hey! The family is reacting as such!" Repeat that scenario for both the other couple and for a number of sub-plots which arise, and you're left with about thirty minutes of film that really should have wound up on the cutting-room floor.

Finally, we have the ending of the movie. Once again, this was a huge disappointment. A major, completely unexpected twist occurs, which is soon followed by another twist. You think that the second twist will explain why the first twist happened; after all, the first twist was completely unexpected and makes no sense. The second twist makes no sense either, so you're just waiting for the moment when all is revealed, the two twists connect, and we understand what's going on with the movie. Instead, we're treated to the credits.

I really don't want to spoil the movie, so I'm not going to explain what happened. However, I do want to show just what type of a clusterfuck of an ending that this movie featured. To do this, I'll give another example. Imagine, if you will, that you're watching a slasher film in which a group of fresh-faced teens are murdered off one by one. The killer is revealed to be a mutual friend of each of the victims. At this point, you're shocked and awaiting the explanation. Instead, the credits roll and leave you guessing as to why this person would murder their friends. There's no murders or back-stabbing (literally or figuratively) in "They Came Back", but the lack of an explanation at the end will leave you just as angry at the people who put together this movie.

The movie looks beautiful. The director has an uncanny eye for how to show a scene, the angles are awesome, and the usage of color is some of the best that I've seen. For the first hour or so, the storyline is riveting and will leave you eagerly anticipating what will happen next. Then, it seems as though they didn't know where to go with the film and everything falls apart. With a better ending and less padding, this movie would have gotten my highest recommendations... instead, it's merely a "pick it up on two-for-one night if you want something decent... but don't expect much." 5/10.

#1: Christopher - added December 26, 2005 at 9:41am
Best plot for a movie ever. So much could have been done with it, but it was too focused on the one couple. The ending(s) were filled with holes as well. Nice to keep the audience guessing, but it was just laziness on the filmmakers part.

#2: Kari Byron's Sex Cyborg - added January 20, 2007 at 2:10am
This really does have such an awesome plot, hence why I just had to see it for myself and determine whether it actually turns into a cheap implosion or possibly contains some redeeming factor of goodness I might find pleasant. I prayed for there to be a large difference of opinion, but alas, the review and previous comment are dead-on.
5/10

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