(L to R) Sally Hawkins and Jonah Wren Phillips in ‘Bring Her Back’. Photo: A24.
‘Bring Her Back’ receives 9 out of 10 stars.
Opening in theaters May 30 is ‘Bring Her Back,’ directed by Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Sally-Anne Upton and Jonah Wren Phillips.
Related Article: A24 has Ordered a Sequel to Successful, Spirit-Contacting Horror Movie ‘Talk to Me’
Initial Thoughts
Jonah Wren Phillips in ‘Bring Her Back’. Photo: A24.
Australian brothers Danny and Michael Philippou made their directing debut in 2022 with ‘Talk to Me,’ a teen-centric horror tale about a group of bored suburban youths who unleash an ancient horror through the use of a relic that can communicate with the dead. It was a striking debut that, while relying on the manic energy of teens getting themselves into trouble via partying and forbidden behavior, also tapped into some surprisingly deep emotional wells as it examined themes of grief and responsibility.
Now the Philippous, working again with co-writer Bill Hinzman (who co-wrote ‘Talk to Me’ as well), have leaped forward in terms of their evolution as filmmakers with the frightening, powerful, and emotionally blistering ‘Bring Her Back,’ which addresses many of the same themes as their first feature yet in a different scenario with more complex characters and textures. They’ve also made a film that’s also more horrific and unsettling than their debut, but the plentiful blood, gore, and violence are more resonant because of the nerve this film strikes. No sophomore slump here.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Jonah Wren Phillips and Sally Hawkins in ‘Bring Her Back’. Photo: A24.
‘Bring Her Back’ gets the viewer off-balance from the start with a harrowing glimpse of the worst home movie you’ve ever seen: a grainy, spasmodic account of a terrifying ritual that almost defies description. The details of that rite are spelled out to some extent later on, but the Philippous are also keenly aware that the best horror stories leave a lot either unexplained or up to the viewer to connect the dots.
We then meet teenager Andy (Billy Barratt) and his vision-impaired younger stepsister Piper (Sora Wong), who have lost their mother not long ago and now face the trauma of their father’s sudden passing as well. With Andy not quite 18 years old, the pair must stay in foster care for several months, so social services places them in the care of Laura (Sally Hawkins), a psychologist who is already caring for a little boy named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips) who is non-verbal and given to extreme behavioral swings, while Laura herself is still grieving the death of her daughter, who like Piper was also vision-impaired.
Andy is naturally protective of Piper and suspicious of people who even seemingly want to help them, while Piper herself wants to experience the world and not let her impairment get in the way. Laura takes an uncomfortably motherly attachment to Piper while being almost deliberately cold to Andy, a coldness that curdles quickly into outright cruelty. And not just cruelty; Laura slyly manipulates both children, both to lure them into her web of deceit and slowly turn them against each other, while she takes steps to enact the hidden, utterly grotesque agenda she’s had in mind all along.
What that agenda is – and how the mental and physical deterioration of Oliver plays into it – is best left discovered by the viewer. As we said earlier, the Philippous are not interested in spelling out every “why and how” for the audience, but the picture gradually comes into focus if one is paying attention. Some aspects of the plot are left enigmatic, which only adds to the feeling of dislocation that the directors establish right from the start.
They’re also superb at keeping the film intimate yet decidedly uneasy (two non-horror scenes, one in which Laura insists that Andy kiss his dead father on the lips at his wake, and another in which she and the children get drunk, are among its most unpleasant), letting it burn relatively slowly at first as we get to know the players, and then unleashing one horror after another as the tension between Andy and Laura escalates into a full-blown nightmare. But then the filmmakers pull the rug out from under the characters and the viewer again, as more secrets come to light and the vast reservoirs of pain and grief that all the characters carry come fully to the surface – much in the way that the empty swimming pool in Laura’s yard is finally filled up.
And if you thought that the ritual glimpsed in that grainy videotape was bad, there are scenes here down the stretch that will send you crawling under your seat – including a sequence in the kitchen that is almost impossible to watch.
Cast and Performances
Sally Hawkins in ‘Bring Her Back’. Photo: A24.
There is a force of nature in this movie and her name is Sally Hawkins. Usually cast as earnest, compassionate, or at least amiable protagonists, Hawkins hasn’t often been given the opportunity to play a character like Laura and she digs into it with verve, complexity, and an aura of true menace. Laura is cagey, manipulative, emotionally abusive, and corrupted down to her soul by the evil she’s manifested to enact her awful plan. Yet as portrayed by this inimitable actor, she is also deeply wounded by grief, tormented by loss, and even – to the degree it’s possible – empathetic despite the horrors she inflicts.
Hawkins pivots through Laura’s many psychological states sometimes within a single scene, and the effect keeps the children – and the audience – constantly off-balance. The character, as written, is another sign of the Philippou brothers’ evolution, as the adult figures in ‘Talk to Me’ were largely one-dimensional. But this woman goes to a different level altogether and is fleshed out bracingly by Hawkins’ incredible work.
And speaking of the children, there are three of them in this film and all are equally sensational. Billy Barratt is impressive as Andy, a teenager forced to take on adult responsibilities before he should, yet willing to take on those duties when it comes to his stepsister. Their relationship is sweet and believable, which makes what happens even more horrific. And Andy finds himself no match for Laura, with the boy fighting to keep his composure and sanity in a world that doesn’t want to hear him.
Sora Wong is just as sympathetic as Piper, Andy’s visually impaired younger step-sibling, who has a grace and wisdom beyond her years and a genuine desire to be part of the world that she can only glimpse in shadows. As with Barratt, the Philippous coax a tremendously warm and authentic performance from this young actor, who makes her screen debut here. And then there is Jonah Wren Phillips as the mysterious Oliver: the less we say about what he goes through, the more shocking it will be for the viewer, but this littlest of the three kids in the movies delivers stunning physical and psychological work as the living avatar of the grief and madness that possess Laura and drive her to unspeakable actions.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Sora Wong and Billy Barratt in ‘Bring Her Back’. Photo: A24.
While ‘Talk to Me’ had a certain youthful hip factor and manic energy to it that perhaps lessened the impact of its weighty themes to some degree, ‘Bring Her Back’ dispenses with that for a darker, more menacing, and more emotionally devastating tale with deeper characterizations and an even more bleak, despairing outlook on how we handle grief and what lengths loss and heartbreak can drive us to.
On the other hand, ‘Bring Her Back’ also amps up the sheer terror that the Philippous are capable of delivering onscreen. ‘Talk to Me’ had its share of genuine scares and unpleasant gore, but ‘Bring Her Back’ doles out both in even more intense fashion, thanks especially to the unnerving work of Sally Hawkins and Jonah Wren Phillips. There is a palpable sense of unease throughout the entire movie that’s punctuated by some of the most frightening sequences we’ve seen so far this year. Not only are the Philippous maturing in their dramatic sensibilities, but they’re also quickly becoming breakout horror auteurs who know how to make the genre work for them. We look forward to what they bring next time around.
“Evil comes full circle.”
Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are introduced to their new sibling by their foster mother, only to learn that she has a terrifying secret. Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘Bring Her Back’?
Reeling from the loss of both parents, a teenage boy and his younger sister find themselves in the care of an eccentric foster mother who has a sinister agenda of her own.
Who is in the cast of ‘Bring Her Back’?
- Sally Hawkins as Laura
- Billy Barratt as Andy
- Sora Wong as Piper
- Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver
- Sally-Anne Upton as Wendy
Jonah Wren Phillips in ‘Bring Her Back’. Photo: A24.
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