Les Revenants (2004)

Les Revenants is a French science-fiction film first released in 2004, directed by Robin Campillo.  The film stars Géraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccaï, Frédéric Pierrot, Victor Garrivier and Catherine Samie.  It has also been released under the title: They Came Back.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


The dead have returned.  All over the world, millions of men, women and children who died within the last ten years have risen from their graves.  They wander, dazed and silent, into public places, as the world watches on in amazement.  Then, suddenly, the dead stop coming.  The problem now is what to do with all these newly resurrected people.  How will their friends and families cope with being reunited with someone they thought they had lost forever?  Will it be possible to re-integrate them back into society?  Mankind faces one of its biggest challenges – learning how to live with the dead...

One of the most talked about French films of 2004 was this latter-day zombie film which is less a conventional horror film and more a subtle allegory on how society responds to a sudden influx of outsiders (e.g. immigrants).   It was the first film to be directed by Robin Campillo, who had previously distinguished himself as an editor on such films as Laurent Cantet’s Ressources humaines (1999) and L’Emploi du temps (2001).

Whilst its subject is pure fantasy, Les Revenants is an original and thoughtful piece of cinema which provides a sobering reflection on the nature of grief and how a fearful society treats minority groups and outsiders.  The film has some strengths – an intense brooding atmosphere and some haunting cinematography – but its impact is weakened by its lethargic pacing and the fact that virtually every single character – normal human and zombie – is played in the same dull, inexpressive manner.   The kind of reactions you would naturally expect when a bereaved relative is confronted with his or her loved one are painfully absent, and this lack of emotional realism merely accentuates the artificiality and brazen absurdity of the narrative.  Despite its obvious flaws, this film has its own dark poetry and is strangely compelling...

© James Travers 2008

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