Sarah Cullen fosters strong opinions on the Philippou Brothers’ Bring Her Back.
When trying to gather my thoughts on the Philippou Brothers’ sophomoric paranormal horror, I suspect my criticisms will sound rather nit-picky. Perhaps that’s because I had just watched their debut, Talk to Me, right beforehand. For a first feature, this is such an excellent horror movie, combining a mix of concepts into something fresh and even thought-provoking. While there’s nothing overtly wrong with Bring Her Back, it ends up cowering in the shadows of Talk to Me, and is unfortunately an underwhelming watch as a result.
Bring Her Back follows step-siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong). After their own father dies suddenly, they are left in a foster home under the watch of a former care worker, Laura (Sally Hawkins). There, in the isolated rural house, things quickly turn creepy, and it becomes clear that Laura is only interested in having a daughter. She starts making life difficult for Andy, who intends to file for custody of Piper in three months’ time when he turns 18. Laura also has another foster son, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), whose refusal to speak to anyone is the least strange thing about him. Heavy falling water – both in the form of rain and showers – becomes a dominant motif of both the film’s visuals and soundscape. This serves as a constant reminder of the deaths by drowning that haunt our young protagonists, giving the feature a memorable and disturbing sense of foreboding.
Taking on a paranormal bent involving spirits and the occult as Laura’s disturbing and desperate plan unfurls, Bring Her Back certainly feels like it could be taking place in the same universe as Talk to Me. However, where Talk to Me revelled in ambiguity, Bring Her Back's narrative is merely muddled. Many disparate plot elements that at first seem connected start to fall away under scrutiny.
Despite this, Bring Her Back does boast a lively and engaging script, particularly when it comes to writing for the younger voices (the jibes at millennials make us older viewers uncomfortable, as well they should). This, teamed with strong chemistry brought by both major and minor cast members, ensures the characters and their interactions immediately feel familiar. It’s great to see that the Philippou Brothers, along with their screenwriter Bill Hinzman, are able to bring a lot of intimacy and charm into this new world before it, er, gets ripped away rather violently.
And violently it certainly is. There are some squeam-inducing moments of gore throughout Bring Her Back: all credit to the art department, who make moments of flesh tearing and gouging look altogether too real. I must admit, it’s somewhat disconcerting to realise that, two movies in, the Philippou Brothers have somehow already established a running theme of young male characters being subjected to levels of body horror that really strain the bounds of what I’d want to see in a film. A vestige of their interest in professional wrestling, perhaps? You can take that as a recommendation or a warning as you see fit.
Sally Hawkins plays Laura with aplomb and undoubtedly deserves any accolades she may get. When it comes to Laura as a character, however, while one could certainly be surprised at her level of audacity, she doesn’t really do much that treads new or unexpected ground. In this regard, Bring Her Back is reminiscent of Ari Aster’s Hereditary, maybe even a better version – but that’s not saying a lot, as I’m not a fan of Hereditary (I apologise for nothing. Fight me - or actually, please don’t. Sorry if that hurts your feelings. Don’t hurt me.)
The curse of the sophomoric effort is very real, and the Philippou Brothers’ second feature is no exception Still, a lot of people will most likely enjoy it. And regardless of whether one loves, hates or is indifferent to Bring Her Back, it’s undeniable that the Philippou Brothers have quickly, and with panache, established their own distinctive voice in the horror arena. I look forward to seeing what creature they'll unleash next.
Bring Her Back is in cinemas 1st August 2025.
