Bring Her Back
Following the worldwide acclaim of their ferocious debut chiller Talk to Me, it comes as no surprise that YouTube stars-turned-genre filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou are two for two with their latest foray into supernatural horror, Bring Her Back. A standalone feature, though supposedly set in the same universe as Talk to Me, it trumps its predecessor, the twin brothers proving yet again that they have an extraordinary flair for grim, grotesque storytelling bound to their native South Australia.
The slow burner is, at its core, a tragic tale of cold, unrelenting grief, though imbued with a sense of earnest resolve, drawing from the Philippou brothers’ own experiences. After the death of their father, 17-year-old Andy (Billy Barratt) and his partially sighted younger stepsister Piper (Sora Wong) move in with a new foster family, but all is not what it seems. Now in the care of grieving mother Laura (Sally Hawkins), who also houses a selectively mute boy named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), what surfaces is a power struggle involving disturbing moments of possession and consumption, literally speaking.
Profound and deeply upsetting, Bring Her Back is bleak horror to the nth degree, a spiritual return to late 2010s trendsetters as poignant as Ari Aster’s Hereditary – though this comparison may be to its detriment, as it does not make up for the relatively convoluted mythology. Open-ended questions are left unanswered, a deliberate approach that leaves a lot to the imagination.
The cyclic significance of this nightmarish world, the Philippou brothers have encircled with hidden meaning, certainly warrants a rewatch. Mother Nature takes centre stage, consuming every facet of Laura’s cluttered home from the terracotta tiles on her walls to the muted plant patterns on her curtains. It is a cool-toned feast for the eyes during rainstorm scenes. Water is a recurring motif, and there is a great deal to be deciphered.
There is no shortage of violence against children, now a signature of the Phillipou cinematic universe, though Phillips captivates in heightened instances of heinous bodily brutality. Barratt and Wong convey plenty of heart amid a fraught sibling dynamic, but it is the coaxing of Hawkins that stands above the rest, her unpredictable performance as the mysterious Laura invoking sympathy even at her most volatile.
By “elevated” way of distinctive production design, an outré ensemble cast, and even a couple of sardonic needle drops, in true A24 fashion, Bring Her Back delivers all the gut-wrenching desirables for a gnarly horror flick and then some: proceed with caution.
Douglas Jardim
Bring Her Back is released nationwide on 26th July 2025.
Watch the trailer for Bring Her Back here:
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