Hey Na, Hey Na, They Came Back

Not to bum you out or anything, but you are going to die. One day, whenever, it will happen because unless you’re Tuck Everlasting or Vanna White, the only certainty you can bank on in this wild and wonderful world is the simple fact that death is universal.

It’s somewhat natural to know our own mortality, but accepting this when it happens to someone you love is a different story entirely. It’s not fair that our friends and family and heck, pets can just not be there one day, and the act of eventually coming to accept this is easily one of the most difficult and trying experiences most of us will ever have. 

They Came Back is a French arthouse horror film of sorts from 2008 and one that, among other things, asks what happens when mourning is annulled. It can tentatively be classified in the zombie genre simply because its basic premise hinges on the dead returning to life, but much like the similarly not-zombie-zombie film Deadgirl, it’s far more focused on exploring certain aspects of man and his world than giving us gore.

Quick Plot: On a sunny summer day in the suburbs of Paris, 70 million men and women who passed away in the last ten years or so wander back into town. They’re not hungry for brains or decomposing en route; they’re just there, all a little bit off and quiet, a look of distance in their eyes. They certainly seem disconnected with those around them but also, healthy and...you know...alive.

They Came Back is an ensemble story, though it does extract a few main characters from its city council. There’s the elderly mayor widower who now has to balance reorganizing pensions with reconnecting with his previously deceased wife. A couple welcomes back their young son, a boy whose sudden lack of social skills spell a whole different future for his family. The father’s possible former lover, Rachel (it’s hinted at rather subtly), is initially hesitant to even see her late partner, though slowly, she finds herself falling back in love with him or whatever it is that he has become. Along the way, we watch the city officials organize public shelters and hold conferences on what exactly millions of returned healthy corpses means for the budget.

It’s not easy to discuss They Came Back, in part because it defies any easy categorization. Dubbing it horror is dangerous, since it can easily affect your anticipation as you wonder where this eerie atmosphere and setup will lead. I was unsettled throughout the film, much in that same pseudo-horror manner left by the unique and powerful Lake Mungo. Where that film brilliantly focused so closely on a single family’s grieving process, They Came Back lightly tiptoes on a range of issues that surround the broader issue of death. It doesn’t force bureaucracy on us, but there are some effective town hall meetings and multi-sided discussions wherein we see the cold and detached treatment of a new race of people in an already crowded world. There are no easy answers, but They Came Back poses plenty of fascinating questions.

High Points

Setting the film during summer is an unusual and effective choice, as it somehow lends a sense of physical freedom to the world

Low Points

Mild spoiler: There are no answers or explanations in They Came Back, something that feels so very, very French. Maybe that’s for the best and when I finally revisit this film down the line, I’ll probably have a better feeling on where I stand in that regard. In the immediate aftermath of viewing, it’s ultimately frustrating

Random Comparison

There’s a lot about They Came Back that made me think of Jose Saramago’s brilliant novel (and not so brilliant film) Blindness. Both capture a seemingly isolated society plagued with a bizarre spell of sorts (in Blindness, the entire population loses their eyesight) and have a certain cold humanism about their approaches to following a large society dealing with a disaster. I guess what I’m saying is that if you like Blindness, check out They Came Back, and no matter who you are, read Blindness.

Rent/Bury/Buy

I definitely endorse a rental of They Came Back, although I make no promises that you will not find it snail-paced or teasing. Or maybe it will touch you in a haunting manner you find fresh and new. Jah no say pa. Either way, it’s an unusual film that certainly warrants a chance from the curious-minded cinemaniac looking for something genuinely different.