Bring Her Back (Danny and Michael Philippou, 2025)
A fearless, suspenseful, and outright horrific follow up to Talk To Me
The sophomore offering from the Philippou brothers is perhaps not quite so original as their first film, Talk To Me, but it does feels remarkably more accomplished in terms of craftsmanship and sheer confidence.
Bring Her Back is a polished and professional horror movie that takes some big swings, is unconventional in what information is laid bare early (or not), and does a great job of mining terror and suspense from its set up.
Half-siblings Andy and Piper find themselves shipped off to a foster home following the sudden death of their father. Andy is almost 18 and plans to seek guardianship of the legally blind Piper once he is legally of age.
Despite their conventional brother-sister ribbing of each other, it’s clear that the two of them share a very special bond and would do anything for the other. They even share a special code word, “grapefruit,” that compels the other to be completely honest. It is both a sweet and authentic-feeling portrait of an unusual yet highly specific familial relationship.
Enter the wedge that will seek to drive them apart: their kooky new foster mother, Laura.
Almost immediately, Laura sets about doting on Piper while keeping Andy at arm’s length. It’s not just the fact that Andy’s very nearly an adult man while Piper’s a young girl. It’s also because Laura’s own recently deceased daughter, Cathy, like Piper, was visually impaired.
It is a role that allows Sally Hawkins to both play with the limits of the whimsical archetype she previously perfected in such films as Happy-Go-Lucky and Paddington and go vehemently against type as something altogether sinister in a thoroughly unsettling performance of the caliber you’d hope would garner some sort of awards recognition.
Hers is a very strange household indeed — case in point: she has preserved her former pet dog via taxidermy; this is a woman who struggles to let go after death — and that’s even before we even get to the household’s fourth inhabitant: the mute young orphan boy named Oliver whose presence oozes maleficent mystery in every scene.
As for the plot, well, the title itself should have given you a fairly good idea of what’s going on… Laura has been unable to get over the death of Cathy and now, somehow, has evil plans for Piper. But what, exactly, isn’t entirely clear.
Horror movie aficionados will of course note the numerous clues that are present as the table is laid: the opening scene depicting some shady occult ritual, a line of white (salt? paint?) that encircles Laura’s house, the barely contained feral personality of little Oliver… (There’s more than a touch of prime M. Night Shyamalan about this one.)
Something bad is destined to happen here — and it’s only a matter of time until the shit hits the fan.
So we know, vaguely, Laura’s goal. What we don’t know is what, precisely, her plan is — or what she’s capable of. Is she simply deranged, or is there a more tangible threat hanging over these kids’ heads? And just what the hell exactly is up with Oliver?
As with Talk To Me, the Philippous employ troubled teen characters who understand the dangers that lurk in their world, but precisely because they are categorized as both “troubled” and “children,” they struggle to convince anyone to believe them — setting up an enormously tense situation where they themselves are powerless to stop the inevitable.
Bring Her Back is a fantastic, fearless, and wonderfully realized horror film that leaves a lasting impression and lingers in your mind for days afterwards. Affecting, suspenseful, and outright horrific, I guarantee that Bring Her Back will compel you to look away from the screen on at least two occasions.
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