Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

They Came Back

Play trailer Poster for They Came Back 2004 1h 45m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Dead people emerge from their graves and reunite with loved ones in a provincial city.

Critics Reviews

View More
Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine 03/11/2005
3/4
A triumph of internal horror. Go to Full Review
Henry Northmore The List 07/16/2013
4/5
A contemplative off-beat drama taking a very original look at how society copes with death. Go to Full Review
Rob Humanick Projection Booth 10/19/2007
B
[Director Robin Campillo's] camera seems to deliberately circle around death, examining it from every angle. Go to Full Review
Jason Gorber Film Scouts 06/21/2007
C-
Leave it to the French to take all the fun out of a Zombie flick, overly intellectualizing even the most base of cinema forms. Go to Full Review
Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews 07/02/2006
B-
It's an original in a genre done to death (pun intended). Go to Full Review
Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews 07/02/2006
B-
...this film's engagingly original premise allows for some probing social exploration but ultimately fails to draw any real conclusions. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
colin m 07/08/2022 "The Returned" ("Les Revenants") [In French with subtitles] Slow lethargic film with not enough explained. See more dave s 01/07/2022 Yeah, it's a movie about the living dead, but anyone going into They Came Back expecting something along the lines of Night of the Living Dead or Shaun of the Dead is going to be bitterly disappointed. When the recently deceased inexplicably return to life, those among the living are unsure how to react to their dearly departed. Understandably, there is trepidation, fear, love and a variety of other emotions as the dead try to reintegrate into society. This is not a horror film by any stretch of the imagination. It is a meticulous and slowly paced film with themes that will depend on the individual viewer. Assimilation? The always changing dynamics of relationships? Our reactions to death? Could it be a metaphor for refugee immigration? Those who go into it with an open mind will find it rewarding. Anyone with preconceived notions will probably turn it off after fifteen minutes. See more 05/01/2014 Kind of like the French TV series, but a lot less dramatic, and has a dryer tone too it, but still worth checking out if you like the original TV show, and would like to see some of the source material the ABC show Resurrection is based off of. See more 03/23/2014 Not nearly as good as the TV adaptation that came later, but still entertaining. See more 03/13/2014 This was even worse than the later "The Returned" TV series. While the theme of the TV series is that of the "existential crisis," They Came Back is an allegory for immigration. Yet, at the same time, the producers attempt to show how the "real world" would handle such an event as the reappearance of the dead, and how such people would be reintegrated into society. However, like the TV series, the producers seem to forget that the most realistic, obvious course of action would be to excavate a grave or two in order to check the veracity of somebody's claim that they are who they say they are. It's such an obvious miss on the part of the writers/producers that it is unforgivable. (Seriously, wouldn't that be the VERY first thing that would come to mind? It was for me . . .) So, unless you like slow, brooding material that bangs you over the head over and over again with its theme, while simultaneously botching the surface story, then look elsewhere for entertainment. Let's hope that ABC's new "Resurrection" fares better. See more 11/30/2013 Interesting premise but nowhere near as coherent and punchy as the television show, which was a real masterpiece. See more Read all reviews
They Came Back

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Movie Info

Synopsis Dead people emerge from their graves and reunite with loved ones in a provincial city.
Director
Robin Campillo
Producer
Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo
Screenwriter
Robin Campillo, Brigitte Tijou
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 9, 2016
Runtime
1h 45m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo