Quartile rating: 4/10 · 1 rating
"Behind every strong man is a strong woman!", Mumine shouts as her husband is arrested. She has 4 children, she's in her mid-30s, and she's the wife of a Crimean Tatar political prisoner. Muslim Crimean Tatars have been oppressed for a long time. They were deported under Stalin, allowed to return under Gorbachev, and since the occupation of Crimea in 2014 under Putin, they are being persecuted again. "Return" is a portrait of Mumine and Maye, two strong women struggling with the consequences of oppression. Their traditional understanding of their role as women does not stand in the way of their dedication. They possess strength, beauty and dignity. Only in their most intimate moments, they are overwhelmed by desperate helplessness.
Return (2023) is a quietly affecting documentary portrait of two Crimean Tatar women navigating oppression and family separation with dignity. The subject matter—the ongoing persecution of Crimean Tatars under Russian occupation—is underreported and genuinely compelling, giving the film a meaningful purpose. The cinematography is competent and intimate without being particularly distinctive. The film's structure follows a familiar observational documentary mode, and while the subjects themselves are compelling, the filmmaking approach doesn't break new ground. The ending, reflecting the unresolved, ongoing nature of the political situation, feels appropriately honest but somewhat inconclusive, leaving viewers without a strong sense of closure or narrative payoff.