Someone on Letterboxd complained that this film uses an overused trope of people not recognising someone they’ve known for years, even someone to whom they’ve been married. A. Penelope (Juliette Binoche) not recognising Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) is directly from Homer’s Odyssey and B. If you can’t see that Binoche plays Penelope as recognising Odysseus straight away but being unable or unwilling to allow him back into the palace without proving himself despite the conflicted yearning she feels for him to return, then you need to watch the film again. THE RETURN is a creative and artistic exercise of adaptation, reconfiguring Odysseus’ triumphant return to Ithaca as a tragedy and recolouring every character with that emotional resonance.