Return to Sender *** (2015, Rosamund Pike, Shiloh Fernandez, Nick Nolte, Illeana Douglas, Rumer Willis, Scout Taylor-Compton) – Movie Review

Rosamund Pike is back in Gone Girl mode in director Fouad Mikati’s intriguing thriller, as a nurse American small town who is brutally raped by a boy (Shiloh Fernandez) who turns up at her home just before she’s expecting a blind date. She lets him in thinking it’s the date arrived early, but then he won’t leave when she asks him to come back later.

She ends up in hospital and the cops soon catch the rapist. Time goes by and she later seems to forgive the convicted kid, and visits him regularly in jail. When he gets out, she invites him round to the house…

The set-up and performances are really good in a thriller with a smart first act, a decent middle act, and a slightly disappointing third act. The main problem is that Pike’s character seems nutty from the start, so there are no surprises in where it eventually goes. This, however, doesn’t stop it being entertaining, it only reduces its impact and effectiveness.

On commanding form again, Pike is convincingly nutty and Fernandez is convincingly sleazy, with Nick Nolte also doing well as Pike’s concerned dear old dad, though Illeana Douglas is totally wasted.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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