They Came Back (2004)

They Came Back (French: Les Revenants), released in the UK as The Returned, is a French zombie film, originally released in 2004. The film was screened at the Hamburg Fantasy Filmfest in Hamburg, Germany, the Venice Film Festival in Italy, and the Toronto Film Festival in Canada.

Unlike modern zombie films, in which the undead characters wish to digest or otherwise harm the human characters, the 70 million people who return from the dead in They Came Back are cognitively conscious and healthy, having not suffered any biological damage. They want simply to re-integrate themselves into society. In the French village where the film takes place, the town's population must cope with the social and emotional ramifications of the dead coming back to life.

Synopsis

Without warning the dead begin to return to life, appearing near their burial sites alive and healthy, and heading en masse toward their home towns. The event lasts for roughly two hours, returning an estimated 70 million people to life, all having died within the previous 10 years; more than 13,000 return in the film's unnamed city alone. Taking cues from the rest of the country and the U.N., the city's council and mayor (Victor Garrivier) make plans to house the returned and gradually help reintroduce them to their lives.

Actors