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Poster for Return to Paradise

Return to Paradise

1998 · 109 min

A slow, wrenching moral pressure-cooker that weighs friendship against self-preservation, leaving a lingering ache.

Directed by
Joseph Ruben
Genres
Drama, Thriller, Romance
Starring
Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Joaquin Phoenix
Tagline
Give up three years of their lives or give up the life of their friend. They have eight days to decide.
Overview
Lewis, Sheriff and Tony are three friends vacationing in Malaysia. Sheriff and Tony eventually leave to pursue careers in New York, but Lewis stays behind to work with orangutans. Two years later, Sheriff and Tony learn that, because of their past actions, Lewis has been arrested for drug possession. With Lewis facing a death sentence, the friends are left with a difficult decision: return to Malaysia and split Lewis' sentence, or let him die.

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Rent or buy in the UK
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
Joseph Ruben
Genres
Drama, Thriller, Romance
Starring
Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Joaquin Phoenix
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 3 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • friendship
  • justice
  • guilt
  • death
  • betrayal
Places
  • big city
  • prison
  • sea
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • single location
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror1
Humour2
Realism8
Romance3
Tension7
Darkness7
Complexity5
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
  • YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, thriller, romance
Directed by
Joseph Ruben
Written by
Bruce Robinson, Wesley Strick
Starring
Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Joaquin Phoenix, David Conrad, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vera Farmiga, Nick Sandow, Elizabeth Rodriguez
Music
Mark Mancina
Cinematography
Reynaldo Villalobos
Runtime
109 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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