Return to Sender

Return to Sender, a thriller directed by Fouad Mikati, was released in 2015. The film entails a nurse, Miranda, (Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl), who is brutally assaulted by a mysterious man, William, (Shiloh Fernandez). While trying to recover and move on from the attack, Miranda reaches out to her attacker, who has been convicted, and begins to visit him in prison.


Mikati successfully keeps the audience guessing as to what the relationship between Miranda and William is. It is unclear whether Miranda’s visits are purely for rehabilitation purposes or whether there is a salacious undertone. Soon, William is released and begins assisting Miranda in repairing her home and regularly visits. Still, the nature of their relationship is intentionally ambiguous. Towards the end of the movie, however William feels ill and asks to lies down. Upon him awaking, it becomes evident that Miranda has drugged him and she has now become the aggressor of the film. It is clear now that the film is a rape-revenge one, and the relationship between victim and attacker was an aim to lull William into a false sense of security so Miranda could exact her revenge.

While this turn of events had potential to create an exciting plot twist, the marketing of the film itself disallowed this to happen. The trailer and even the poster of the movie give Miranda an aura of vengefulness and slight insanity, leaving the audience unsurprised when she torments William. To someone who was a complete stranger to the movie, it could have been an unforeseen, stimulating occurrence. Furthermore, Mikati seems to be unsure as to whether he wants to create a manipulative vengeance fantasy or a psychological thriller, disallowing the film to reach full potential. Overall, Return to Sender is a worthy film with strong performances from Pike and Fernandez, however imprudent marketing and Mikati’s confused direction inhibits its ability to be considered great.