Bring Her Back

In the heart of the 2023 summer movie season, A24 released the small indie horror film Talk To Me to stellar critical and audience reviews and quickly became a sleeper hit, grossing over $90 million worldwide. The film showcased a rising talent in directors Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou, a slick and clever metaphor for grief and addiction while still providing enough startling shocks to become a new sleepover favorite. And while we may have just gotten the crowd-pleasing thrill ride Final Destination: Bloodlines, the Phillippou’s latest represents the bleakest of studio horror. The second feature film from the Australian Youtubers-turned-directors is far from a sophomore slump, but the flaws are greater here than in their debut film, despite continuing to showcase their nasty edge.

Courtesy A24

After the traumatic death of their father, protective brother Andy (Billy Barratt) and his vision-impaired stepsister, Piper (Sora Wong) are relocated to a foster home as Andy is still three months away from turning 18. Their new home belongs to Laura (Sally Hawkins), an eccentric woman who lost her own vision-impaired daughter years prior. Living with Laura is Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips), a mute boy with scars on his face and body, whose presence casts an eerie shadow around Laura as she does not allow him to leave the house, or his own room without supervision. Laura initially seems nice, but intensely so, increasingly prying into Piper and Andy’s personal lives, going through Andy’s texts on his phone and making herself front-and-center at their deceased father’s funeral. Seemingly small microaggressions towards Andy and Ollie begin to mount as Andy suspects something is wrong with his new foster mother. Determined to protect his young sister at any cost, Andy starts to investigate Laura’s personal life, revealing many dark secrets that she has in store for her foster children; which might have something to do with the ritualistic circles painted around her property.

Directed by Danny & Michael Philippou, Bring Her Back is immediately striking with its pervasive sense of doom, coated in thickening dread and somber, downright bleak tonal passages. From the start, this is a much slower film from the Philippou brothers, one that selectively uses the brothers’ signature kinetic camera work to heighten its emotions. Like their debut feature, Bring Her Back is centered on the fear of confronting trauma. However, Talk To Me was able to spin these themes into something deeper, more rooted in modern day anxieties such as social media and addiction. The brothers’ latest is indeed a film about trauma in big, blinking lights. More specifically, the duo explores the bargaining stage of grief; along with the ensuing anguish that guides Laura’s horrific decisions.

Fronted by a tremendously unsettling turn from Sally Hawkins, who allows her pure-hearted screen presence to be weaponized in terrifying fashion, Hawkins gives a raw and emotionally feral performance. What makes this character so frightening is the empathy the filmmakers instill in her. Your heart breaks for her, even as she commits heinous acts of violence in the name of love. One of the great consistent strengths of the Philippou brothers is their ability to allow their characters and relationships to feel natural, making the downright nihilistic story to hit that much harder on an emotional level. Another strength is their impeccable ability to get top-notch performances from young actors. Jonah Wren Phillips gives one of the more astonishing child performances in recent years, having to convey so much pain, terror and menace with almost no dialogue. His mute Ollie is responsible for many of the film’s most shocking and distressing moments, which may lead you to say to yourself “it’s just a movie”. Billy Barratt and Sora Wong have an effortless rapport with one another, allowing the audience to invest in their journey from the start. These young actors are put through some uncomfortable and challenging predicaments and their performances never waver.

Courtesy A24

For directors with such a visceral approach to storytelling, it’s a bit odd that Bring Her Back narratively stalls for large sections. The “grief as horror” subgenre that has dominated the past decade of horror, thanks in large part to The Babadook and Hereditary, feels increasingly played out and the Philippou brothers are unable to fully transcend these trappings. Talk To Me felt new and original, whereas Bring Her Back tends to rely on tropes for many of its themes. The narrative strength of their previous film is also lacking, as the middle act stumbles through a number of generic and tired domestic horror cliches.

Whether it’s the time-old plot thread of a child who knows something is afoot with their untrustworthy foster parent and is gaslit into looking and sounding crazy, or easy script conveniences that shortcut some potentially new directions the story could’ve gone down. Also lacking is the rich subtext and narrative propulsion of Talk To Me. Despite proving to be a bit scattered and uneven in its riveting horror, the filmmaking duo certainly retains their bold ideas and visual conceptions. The brothers excel in crafting images that frighten as much as they disturb. The ways in which the brothers use water as an insidious metaphorical force is rather inspired and their strong usage of color and subtle details in the costuming and art direction further solidify their artistic vision. Even concluding on an impeccable, heart-wrenching final shot that drives the film’s message home with panache and sophistication.

Courtesy A24

Bring Her Back is a deeply unsettling and visceral exploration of grief and trauma, yet it is yet another modern horror film about trauma. Directors Danny & Michael Philippou have crafted another enormously distressing and unflinching vision of horror, centered around a sublime performance from Oscar-nominee Sally Hawkins. Despite its fair share of flaws, there is enough heavy imagery here that’ll have you leaving the theater feeling rather fucked up.

Bring Her Back is now playing in theaters.