text: Critical response As of 20 September 2020, The Return has an approval rating of 96% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 89 reviews, and an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A suspenseful but perplexing thriller". It also has a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
  In a 2016 BBC critics' poll, The Return was ranked the 80th-greatest film of the 21st century. In 2023 The Hollywood Reporter critics' poll, The Return was ranked the 32nd-greatest of the 21st century.
  Awards and nominations
  International
  BBC Four World Cinema Awards 2005
  Winner, BBC Four World Cinema Award
  European Film Awards
  Winner, European Discovery of the Year (Fassbinder Award)
  Golden Globe Awards
  Nominee, Best Foreign Language Film Russia
  Palm Springs International Film Festival
  Winner, Best Foreign Film
  Venice Film Festival
  Winner, Golden Lion
  Winner, Best First Film
  Guldbagge Awards
  Winner, Best Foreign Film
  César Awards
  Nominee, Best Foreign Film
  Russian
  Russian Guild of Film Critics
  Winner, Best Film
  Winner, Best Director of Photography (Mikhail Krichman)
  Winner, Best Debut
  Nika Award
  Winner, Best Film
  Winner, Best Director of Photography (Mikhail Krichman)
  Golden Eagle Award
  Winner, Best Film
  Winner, Best Director of Photography (Mikhail Krichman)
  Winner, Best Sound (Andrei Khudyakov)