Best movie of this year hands down!

Very disappointing...

One of my all time favorites.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

During the first zombie outbreak that we don't get to see, over 100 million people died. A drug was found to control the disease. There is a catch. The drug must be injected every 36 hours or the person reverts. There is a short supply of the drug as it is derived from the spinal column of dead zombies. Kate (Emily Hampshire) is a doctor who treats "the Returned" and has a boyfriend Alex ( Kris Holden-Ried) who is a music teacher and one of them.Kate buys treatments under the table. She has to battle against the societal prejudice against "zombies" which has become a politically incorrect word. It takes about 40 minutes to develop the plot and character.The film has parallels to homophobia and various prejudices, after all who wants their sister to marry a zombie? There are anti-return groups and killings.The main problem is when the movie picks up it still moves slow. I kept waiting for something to catch and hold my interest. The ending was a yawn in spite of the attempt at being a dramatic twist. Not exactly a zombie film.Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity

This shares a title with the acclaimed French film/television series 'The Returned', but other than that, these projects are not connected.This picture works on many levels: it is about the lengths people will go to to protect themselves, about fear, stigma, about hopelessness – and about dead eyed zombies eating people. In a climate where Living Dead films have flooded the market, it is to be applauded when a project attempts to try something different with the genre.In a post-zombie environment, a serum 'The Return Protein' has been developed which – if administered in time – will allow any infected person to live a normal existence, provided they inject the drug daily for the rest of their lives. This, of course, costs a great deal of money, which causes resentment and protest among 'normal people'. Thus, with this film, being bitten could be a metaphor for many present day prejudices, and works very well with that in mind.Kate (Emily Hampshire) and Alex (Kris Holden-Reid) are living with the disease, as Alex is 'a returned'. As such, he faces stigma and hatred on a daily basis. As supplies of the protein become scarce, his life is also the subject of much envy from others. Even his best friend Jacob (an excellent tortured performance from Shawn Doyle) is so afraid of losing his partner Amber (Claudia Bassols), he is driven to take measures that not only betray his friend, but also prove to be utterly futile.The desperation of human kind, and the control money has over peoples' lives are the real monsters here. Actual zombies are featured so infrequently, there are times when 'The Returned' seems to dissolve into a series of endless, intense conversations. But the viewer is advised to stay with this, because the build-up to the finale is edge-of-the-seat stuff. Although the ending appears to provide closure of sorts, the very human desire for revenge means that the story is far from over even as the credits role.

Just why?....why is a movie like this even made....The plot is so predictable, the characters are one dimensional, why.....oh why. THe only good things about this movie are the soundtrack and the cinematography. These aspects are done very well. So if this is a movie made to showcase someone's camera work and musicianship then it is a success. But clearly, we all know that isn't the case. No.....some human, actually wrote this screenplay and got behind the camera to direct this movie. I don't want to know who this person/people is/are. But whom ever they are....they should choose another career, because they are not good at it. This movie and others like it get made all the time....most likely by people who inherited large sums of money and fancy themselves arteeests....BUt no....no they are not. Just another example of the proliferation of humans, we need a zombie apocalypse to weed out these redundant minds, please zombies awake.

For the record, I will start out by saying I LOVE zombie shows, movies, etc. so I didn't have much hope for this film since it only received a 5.8 on IMDb. HOWEVER...I was pleasantly surprised as it is as dramatic as it is suspenseful and the leads are both quite good. It is a new twist on the zombie premise but a fascinating one. It really makes you think about how far YOU would go to help a loved one in a dire situation despite the laws and professional ethics. That really put a new element of emotion in this film. I'll be honest...I prefer a zombie show like The Walking Dead but I still enjoyed this effort and the really great cast also. It was filmed in beautiful Canada which added richness and beauty to the outdoor scenes which was also delightful. In conclusion, I watched it on Netflix and think you might like it, too. Give it a chance and you may very well be pleasantly surprised, too.