Return Home

Ben Mendelsohn plays a headstrong mechanic in this astutely observed snapshot of suburban Australia, starring opposite Dennis Coard (Predestination, MIFF 2014) and Frankie J Holden – the restored print of which world premieres at MIFF. 

When divorce beckons for Noel McKenzie, so does a change of scenery. Unable to face his high-powered life as a Melbourne insurance executive, he returns to Adelaide, his childhood memories and his garage-owning brother Steve. It’s the promise of comfort, familiarity and stability that draws Noel in – that, and the visions of his carefree youth he sees in apprentice Gary. But as shopping centres and discount service stations destabilise the community, his old stomping ground also faces a different future.

Acclaimed Melbourne filmmaker Ray Argall (Midnight Oil: 1984) won the Australian Film Institute Award for best director – and five stars each from David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz – for Return Home, his feature helming debut after cutting his teeth in music videos and as a cinematographer (including on MIFF 2017’s Tender Hooks).

“A joyous, unaffected but also melancholy portrait of masculinity, suburban life, everyday social change and the tireless pull of memory and family.” – Senses of Cinema