The Return is an American short film, which incorporates the theme of forgiveness and how one split second can ruin somebodies life.

 Firstly, we see the opening credits, which have black background with green luminous writing and white writing which stands out to the audience automatically. Eerie music begins to play, and there is long shot a teenager around the age of 19 walking towards the camera in slow motion. The location is the side of a road. The weather looks extremely grey and gloomy which could have been used to foreshadow the later events of the short film. At the same time, there is non -diegetic noises, which helps to emphasis the man’s disconnection from the world as he is disconnected from the noises. The camera zooms in on his shoes, showing the director has used to mise en scene to help represent the man’s social class. As he is wearing true religion shoes, we can make the assumption that he is from a youth demographic as well as not being in an economically bad situation as true religion shoes are expensive.

 The man begins to have a flashback in which we see him as a younger boy driving his car. The scene keeps switching back from present time to see the characters emotions in the present day. There is also an alternative flashback which shows a young boy who is about 7. He is accompanied by his mother and their driving home. During the man’s flashback, it shows him driving his car and then dropping his phone .There is a low angle shot in which we see him reaching down to the floor trying to get his phone while he  struggling to keep his eyes on the road. Automatically, this indicates danger as he is unable to properly control the car. A link between both flashbacks and the present is made; they all show the same location. This location link is significant as it gives an indication as to how all the footage which is cross cutted together is linked.

Eventually the two flashbacks merge together and reveal what happened. The man had run over the women who was on the pavement and killed her. The mid shot allows us to see the man’s emotions and high angle shots allow us to see that she is dead.  Diegetic sound is then used for dialogue between the man and the young boy. At this moment in the short film, the man films very guilty which is highlighted through the blurring out of the house. This use of editing is effective as it gives a disorientated effect. The man asks the younger boy for forgiveness, however the younger boy declines his forgiveness showing how not all accidents can be forgiven straight away as a lot of accidents have great consequences.

The use of location in the short film is key to merging the three piece of footage as it is the location which finally makes you realise the link in the end. In total, the location is very significant as the film actually revolves around an incident that occurred in that specific location; the car accident.

The film switches back to present day and the older boy is shown going up to a house door where the accident had occurred .There is an over the shoulder shot over the man, showing the young boy who mother was killed. The use of the over the shoulder shot is effective as we are able to see the surprised look on the young boys face. There is an exchange words with the older boy asking the younger boy for forgiveness again. There is then an over the shoulder shot over the young boy shoulder. This is extremely effective as it allows us to see the man’s emotions, which are full of guilt and regret. The feelings of guilt and regret are highlighted through the man’s body language and facial expressions. The use of over the shoulder shots help to emphasis the emotions of both characters as the audience are able to see how the situation has affected both of them in different ways. For the young boy he has lost the most important person his life, while the man knows and feels responsible for killing the boy’s mother. In the present the younger boy forgives the man, whih in time will eventually help both of them move on from the terrible situation that occurred to them to them both.

The Return is a powerful name as it could have been used to represent various things. It could have been chosen to demonstrate how returning to places may be a good way to try and forget your past and look to the future which means leaving your wrong doings behind you. It