She coincidentally meets a woman studying past-life regression; one of her subjects is Day Whittaker, a young man who seems to be possessed by the spirit of Diana's deceased grandfather.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times found Return to be a "technically competent but completely witless mystery movie about possession and reincarnation."

"[1] Boston Globe reviewer Michael Blowen wrote "Fans of Shirley MacLaine's New Age fascination with past lives should find Return, a locally produced feature film, entertaining ...

[6] The film received a cool reception at eFilmCritic; Charles Tatum described it as generating "a complete feeling of indifference", spending too little time on either "character development or suspense."

[7] Eleanor Mannikka (Rovi/AllMovie) wrote that "the theme veers from possession to suspense thriller, slowing up in the process...", giving the film two stars (of five).