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Almost a Return to Gone Girl

Fresh off her much talked about turn in "Gone Girl", Rosamund Pike is back, and once again things aren't always what they appear to be. This time she is Miranda, an ER nurse who is very good at her job, but who may or may not be a bit off. Our first tip is that she is a germophobe, certainly an odd flaw for a nurse. Then again, perhaps this assessment isn't accurate, because no one else in "Return to Sender" displays any evidence that they think she is anything short of great.

Miranda gets set up on a blind date, something she is not exceptionally enthusiastic about, but she goes through with anyway. When her date shows up a bit early, she isn't quite ready, but offers him the requisite something to drink while she gets ready. He turns her down and begins to act strangely. Soon he is raping her and running out of the house, leaving her in a heap on the floor. It wasn't her blind date. It was another man who was stalking her.

The rest of "Return to Sender" is an examination of Miranda's reaction to her rape and how she moves forward. This is not a very unique scenario, but co-writers Patricia Beauchamp and Joe Gossett and director Fouad Mikati take it in a different direction than the expected.

As part of a self-imposed therapy for getting over her ordeal, she decides to confront William (Shiloh Fernandez), her attacker, who is now serving time in prison for his crime. Their chat with glass between them is appropriately uncomfortable and what she is after from this confrontation is murky. As it unfolds, it heads in a particularly odd direction. Her father, Mitchell (Nick Nolte), isn't pleased about the direction of his daughter's life, but is powerless to do anything about it.

The strongest point of "Return to Sender" is Ms. Pike's performance. She manages to keep us guessing as to what she is up to and the story helps her to keep the audience off-balance. I could compare it to a couple of other films, but that would betray the whole story. Leave it at that it's full of twists that mostly work, despite its incredibly unlikely plot progression. It is definitely good enough to not necessitate a return to its creators.