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Reviewing “Return to Sender” What the movie lacks in surprise and suspense, Rosamund Pike makes up for with a nuanced performance

Reviewing “Return to Sender” What the movie lacks in surprise and suspense, Rosamund Pike makes up for with a nuanced performance

August 14, 2015 By Jackie Zwirn 6 Comments

Before I begin my review, this movie has serious trigger warnings. So, be prepared.

Now, I don’t usually read other reviews before seeing a film, unless it’s been out a while and I want to see if it’s worth my time. However, when I Googled the movie to check a couple of names from the cast, I saw that many reviewers didn’t much care for this film, giving it 2 out of 5 stars. I kind of understand why.

As a suspense thriller, Return to Sender isn’t very suspenseful. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the watch, or that it wasn’t a decent film. I find it more like homage to women who have been sexually assaulted. I find that most of the reviewers who panned it, were male. (Sorry to get gender political, but I do think men and women may have different views on this movie).

I will agree that it lacked surprise. The trailer and description of the film kind of give away what’s going to happen. It’s a revenge story. One that I think any woman, who has been on the receiving end of unwarranted sexual attention of any kind, might enjoy.

You have a homespun and dedicated nurse, Miranda Wells (played by Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike) living in a small town, wanting to advance her career from intensive care unit nurse to a surgical nurse. One of her nurse friends (played by Rumor Willis) sets her up on a blind date with a really great guy, Kevin, who worked with her husband.

Return to Sender
(L-R): Rosamund Pike as Miranda Wells and Camryn Manheim as Nancy in the thriller “RETURN TO SENDER” an RLJE/Image Entertainment release. (Photo credit: Patti Perret)

The man we assume is Kevin (played by Shiloh Fernandez) shows up to Miranda’s house for the date rather early. He’s also not dressed as a guy who would be going on a first date, but she trusts that her friend wouldn’t steer her wrong and lets him in. While she changes for the date, he checks out the apartment, notices that she appears to be all packed up and ready to move, and they make stilted small talk. When he says he doesn’t remember what time their original date was, Miranda gets very uncomfortable and asks him to leave. He goes to the door… and locks it. And then he rapes her.

This was NOT the man her friend set her up with, but rather a guy named William Finn, who’d been stalking her. He gets caught, and sent to prison.

What makes this tale interesting is how Miranda decides to deal with what happened to her. She does report it, that’s how he gets caught. She goes to therapy.

She seems to suck it up. She even starts writing letters to her William in prison. We don’t know what she writes him, but she writes diligently. Every letter comes back Return To Sender.

Return To Sender
Shiloh Fernandez as William Finn in the thriller “RETURN TO SENDER” an RLJE/Image Entertainment release. (Photo credit: Patti Perret)

She finally gets to talk to her rapist and he apologizes, wishes he could change things, etc. They seem to become friends. She visits him in prison religiously. But you know she’s planning something.

During this time, her father, (played by Nick Nolte) has a dog, Benny, who seems to dislike Miranda for no apparent reason. He attacks her and rips her dress. He doesn’t hurt her, but he growls and barks as her every time he sees her. She starts to feed the dog treats and they become friends. Suddenly, the dog dies.

William gets out on parole. He comes to help Miranda fix up her house. He is never let inside. He becomes ill while they’re working on the porch, and she reluctantly lets him come in to use the bathroom.

William wakes up in Miranda’s basement strapped to a bed. She had been poisoning him with anti-freeze, just like she did Benny the dog. Under anesthetic, she amputates his hand. She confesses that she didn’t help her mother when she got an asthma attack and died. She admits she killed her dad’s dog. She then makes William look down at his own body and he screams. It can be assumed that she also amputated his penis.

It was predictable, but still enjoyable to see William get what was coming to him. What I found entertaining was seeing that Miranda was actually a bit of a sociopath! Her behavior is very subtle. She has a germ phobia. She won’t touch things other people have touched, like phones or pens. She’s neat to a fault. She orders a specific kind of pen. She meticulously decorates cakes. She becomes obsessed with the tremor in her hand that started after her rape. This all indicated to me that there was more to her that met the eye. And Pike plays this exceptionally well.

It’s Pike’s performance that takes this from a predictable, non-suspenseful thriller, to a more fascinating psychological lesson. Between that and seeing a rapist get his comeuppance, I found the film kind of fun!


SYNOPSIS: Miranda (Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl) is a dedicated nurse, an exquisite cake maker and an impeccable friend. But when she agrees to a blind date and the wrong man comes to her door…her perfect world is shattered by a brutal assault. Even after her attacker, William (Shiloh Fernandez, Evil Dead), is convicted and locked away for the crime, Miranda can’t overcome the fear and trauma enough to put her orderly life back together. Desperate for closure, she reaches out to William – first through letters, then prison visits – and slowly builds a relationship with him. But when William is paroled and comes looking for her, Miranda seizes the opportunity to exact revenge.

DIRECTED BY: Fouad Mikati
WRITTEN BY: Patricia Beauchamp and Joe Gossett
CAST: Rosamund Pike, Shiloh Fernandez, Nick Nolte, Camryn Manheim, Rumer Willis, Illeana Douglas
GENRE: Thriller
RATING: R
RUNTIME: 95 Minutes

Return to Sender
3

Summary

As a suspense thriller, Return to Sender isn’t very suspenseful. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the watch, or that it wasn’t a decent film. I find it more like homage to women who have been sexually assaulted. I find that most of the reviewers who panned it, were male. It’s a revenge story. One that I think any woman, who has been on the receiving end of unwarranted sexual attention of any kind, might enjoy.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews

About Jackie Zwirn

Jackie writes for nerd blogs and publications all over the internet. An avid reader, she’s written reviews for What A Nerd Girl Says, a site dedicated to nerdy fiction. She’s also written for Krypton Radio and her own nerdy site, Seeking Bazinga. She writes stories for The Los Angeles Dumbledore’s Army’s publications of the Squibbler and The DA Prophet, copies of which have been sent to JK Rowling herself!

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Comments

  1. Angelina says

    May 29, 2016 at 10:44 am

    I really enjoyed this movie, Rosamund Pike gives a stunning performance playing the character of “Miranda” and Nick Nolte playing the role of her father was also excellent in this movie.
    A must see, if you want to see revenge on monster rapist!!!!

    Reply
  2. Tiffany says

    September 11, 2016 at 6:03 pm

    The actors are great in this movie but its to up and down for me. It starts out really slow then speeds up just a little then the rest of the film is really slow with dramatic music. I really really hate she killed her dad’s dog. I liked that she wanted revenge on her rapist. I like that she flirts with him. Don’t really like how she had him around fixing things at the same house where the rape happened. I guess she had to make him think she forgave him in some way to let his guard down. When she poisoned him it still didn’t pick up the pace. I don’t consider this a thriller movie.

    Reply
  3. Tiffany says

    September 11, 2016 at 6:08 pm

    I meant I don’t liked that she was flirting with him. It appears she is enjoying him being around. They are both they are both crazy match made in hell. Do not recommend this movie

    Reply
  4. Lana says

    March 19, 2021 at 6:58 pm

    This movie was amazing! I love the way Miranda’s character was portrayed. Rosamund Pike did I great job! I highly recommend this movie and I’d give it 5 stars.

    Reply
  5. Virginia Maples says

    September 10, 2022 at 8:06 pm

    Good movie, other than her killing her dad’s dog and not saving her mom

    Reply
  6. Bb says

    January 17, 2023 at 3:36 pm

    I HATED she killed Bennie the dog. Bennie recognized that Miranda is off kilter. Both Miranda and Finn are serious sociopaths. They found each other. Men won’t like this but women have always been brutalized and depicted likewise in media, so serious role switching here.
    Rosalind Pike is amazing as usual.

    If you want to see how a women deals with her rapist and torturer in a powerful but just way, watch “DEATH AND THE MAIDEN” with the brilliant Sigourney Weaver. and Ben Kingsley.

    Reply

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