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Film Review: Fera “The Return” (2019) by Bashar Georgis

Having lost his way in both his faith and sense of community, a young man makes the decision to embrace extreme ideologies to deal with his frustrations. However, after a meeting with a family in ruins because of an act of terror, as well as nightmares of how his family will cope, the young man begins to rethink his views.

On a technical level, the production is well executed throughout, creating interesting visuals through good location work and understanding of complimentary angels for each sequence. The film's score, which does not necessarily reflect the narrative, is more geared towards creating atmosphere, adding some creative flair. Overall, director shows a keen eye for visuals within his productions, particularly in punctuating key moments of his narratives.

The film's narrative all seems heavily focused towards creating a profound realization from the protagonist. When the film goes for the emotional sting, all the build up to that moment does come with some more levity. However, the story is a bit awkward to start, and although redeemable, the use of too many characters and confused relationships can't really be overlooked, regardless of the strength of the conclusion. In order to reach the climax, the audience is asked to fill in a lot of background to understand why our protagonist has chosen radicalism to deal with his problems. Unfortunately, the real reason why it's subject chose a radical belief system in the first place is not deeply explored. This feels like a missed opportunity to better understand the situation, resulting in an emotional plea over an informative explanation.

With a cast that feels a bit bloated within a fifteen minute run-time, it is difficult to connect with anyone except the protagonist, and even this connection is rather threadbare. However, the strength of the production lies much more in scripting then performances.

Having previously reviewed Bashar Georgis's short film “Face to Face“, it was difficult to review this film as a single project, given both films dealt with the theme of radical belief systems, with a similar structure and build. Looking at both production together, the plea for those to abandon radicalism becomes more poignant and impactful. However, as in the previous production the lack of backstory in favor of capturing a profound realization of its character, is bound to create a disconnect with some audiences. Overall, Director Bashir Gerorgis films radiate passion for both positive change, and visual storytelling.

About the author

Adam Symchuk

Hello, my name is Adam Symchuk and I am from Canada. My primary role here at AMP is covering manga, manhwa and light novels. Thanks for taking the time to check out my writing!

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