The Return: After 20 years of epic battles and mythical monsters, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) finally returns to Ithica—an island that seems more like a foreign land than his home. Time hasn’t been kind to our hero, and he’s got a mountain to climb to reclaim his place. Meanwhile, his devoted wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) clings to hope, even as suitors swarm like wolves to sheep, eager to force her into an unwanted marriage. She faces a grim ultimatum: choose a new husband, or they’ll choose for her—and her son’s life hangs in the balance.

This film is a masterclass in staying true to the source material, with a fresh twist: Odysseus, the weary warrior, must navigate the perils of explaining his prolonged absence and wrestling with a hometransformed by time and neglect.

While the movie may not be packed with non-stop action, it more than compensates with stellar direction from Paolini and powerful performances from Fiennes and Binoche. One medium sized gripe: Fiennes’s tendency for soap operish dramatic pauses, which he also used in excess in “Conclave,” often exceeds the patience of viewers. When William Shatner’s dramatic word chop fades from memory Fiennes Alzheimer pause memes will pick up from that point forward.

Genre: Drama–Great Books–Suspense

Directed by: Uberto Pasolini

Screenplay by: John Coilee, Edward Bond, Uberto Pasolini

Music by: Rachel Portman

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche

Film Location: Greece and Italy

ElsBob: 7.0/10

IMDb: 6.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 77%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 76%

Metacritic Metascore: 67%

Metacritic User Score: 6.2/10

Theaters: 6 December 2024

Runtime: 116 minutes

Budget: $

Box Office: $899,575

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: The Return Poster and Trailer, copyright Bleecker Street.