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“It's quite different,” said Kapadia of The Return in an interview with IGN before its release. “The audience I'd say is in for quite a ride because, as one follows the film, they're really not quite so sure as to where things are going to go.” If anything, the ride is a bit like stepping into a BMW only to have the casing lifted away to reveal that you’re actually on a tricycle.

It turns out that Joanna’s visions are of a murder that took place about 15 years ago. She doesn’t so much find the killer, but more accidentally stumbles upon him when buying snacks (I am not making this up). While Gellar is certainly capable of playing the vulnerable Joanna, it is both interesting and odd seeing the former vampire slayer in a role where she’s running away from danger. She seems ill-suited to such a character when we know that she’s often been seen on screen playing strong women. Also, do her fans really want to see her in a film where she’s self-harming herself?

Gellar said of her director, “Asif found it all so magical; that rubbed off on everybody else. He brought European flair to this American story.” One could argue that maybe he brought too much, since The Return comes across as an independent drama masquerading as a horror for mainstream audiences. The poster (likely a reworked design on the poster for The Skeleton Key) and the trailer do a good job of making the film look a lot scarier than it actually is. However, maybe it would have worked out better if it were marketed more as a drama and less a horror. It’s really not very scary at all.

Also, The Grudge 2 had opened the month before. While it was a moderate hit, it didn’t earn as much as the previous film, suggesting that maybe audiences were no longer in the mood for the supernatural. Even though The Return is an entirely different film, from its poster, trailer, the involvement of Sarah Michelle Gellar, and opening fairly close to The Grudge sequel, it might have been enough for some audiences to mistake it as more of the same.

From talking to the BBC eight months after it was released, Kapadia described making the film as “a very political experience,” suggesting that his hand was being forced by those higher up the ladder. “It's like if someone else above you wants something else, whether it's right or wrong, they will get their way,” he said. “To be brutally honest, it was a very difficult experience and, for me, not the way I want to make films.”

It’s certainly possible that maybe there was a better film on the page, only for Kapadia to be told by “someone else” while shooting to make some changes. Adding to this theory is the trailer itself, which includes a few scenes that didn’t make it in the final film. The DVD release has ten minutes worth of deleted scenes (including an alternate ending), though given how slow moving the film is during its 90-minute runtime, maybe it was for the best that they were cut. Also, during the final act, The Return decides to turn into a slasher film with flashbacks, with the killer chasing Joanna. Its inclusion was probably added by “someone else” to make the film more horror-like. We also don’t really know much about this crazy killer, only that he seemed to be so infatuated with a woman that he decided to kill her.

The Return is a film that would have been more suited going straight to DVD (it might have even worked better as a TV drama), but it just so happened to get a theatrical release given the involvement of the lead actress. The biggest offense is marketing it as a horror film when it fails to provide any decent thrills or scares. Audiences likely heeded the reviews and stayed away. However, anyone that did watch it probably learned that it’s not a good idea to have visions while you’re driving.

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