Directed By Danny and Michael Philippou

Starring – Billy Barratt, Sally Hawkins, Sora Wong

The Plot – Andy (Barratt) and his blind sister, Piper (Wong) uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother (Hawkins).

Rated R for strong disturbing bloody violent content, some grisly images, graphic nudity, underage drinking and adult language.

Bring Her Back | Official Trailer HD | A24

take it, not only with complex dynamics in the relationships between present and past, which creatively articulate so much unresolved trauma between the siblings left behind, but also the dimensions and depth within the characters themselves, helping them to evade the conventionalism of preconceived roles expected from these characters, all in ways that are every bit creatively innovative as they are refreshingly human. What I truly love about this script is that it’s tackling such supernatural executions to themes that are very grounded in reality, particularly in the idea of resurrecting someone from the dead, as the title alludes to, and while all of the pieces are given to us nearly from the opening ten minutes of the movie, it’s really how the script cleverly assembles them towards making easily one of the most unrelenting body horror films of this century, taking audiences on a gripping ride throughout a slow-burn consistency to storytelling that somehow somberly stings during its closing moments, despite appalling us with gnarly visual horror that tests your mental limitations just as much as it does the strength of your stomach. This is all because of the film’s immaculate special effects schemes, established entirely with the kind of highly detailed practicality that bring with them such grotesquely gruesome gore that felt like they continuously pushed the envelope towards attaining such a squeamish engagement. While the effects themselves naturally emulate heft and circumstances to the bodily anatomy that continuously sneak up on you in the most abruptly impactful kind of ways, they’re all the more detectably immersive because of the intricacies with the production’s marvelous sound design, which constantly feels like high definition microphones are evocatively picking up all of the crunches and contortions to illustrate every gut-wrenching blow unloaded on these characters, with some of the best carnage candy in visuals that somehow made a horror hound like me blush, despite experiencing so much with the genre during a lifetime of films too brutally abrasive to ever be shown on television. The production also delivers such a spellbinding presentation that artistically adds to the constant discomfort that it’s opting to elicit towards its audience, particularly the winding, bending camera motions floating seamlessly throughout the movie’s photography, as well innovatively immersive transitions between scenes and sequences that artistically pit you in the shoes of the younger sister, in order to experience things quite literally the ways she sees them. While the plot does describe her as being blind, it’s established in the beginning of the film that she is able to see light and fragments of people, and through the uncertainty of not knowing what we’re seeing until the photography clears up a couple of seconds later, it not only helps to drive the suspenseful factor in the fear of the undefined, but also radiates such a gloomy enveloping to an overall atmosphere that feels like it continuously haunts these characters, drawing them together in the relatability of lost love, before dividing them respectively in the ways that each of them choose to respond to such adversity. What’s also unique about the Phillipou’s as directors is their fearless desire to imbed palpable humor to so much tenderly vulnerable situations, and in lesser hands this would completely eviscerate the kind of tension needed to grow these scenes effectively, but here help to correlate that grief isn’t always defined by one emotion, and sometimes those caught in life’s crosshairs desperately seek out levity, in order to feel socially normalized once more. The gags themselves are very effective, primarily during one clever song choice that lyrically inscribes double meaning in the parallels to what we’re being shown on screen, but even with something far more sentimental, such as the term “Grapefruit” to these siblings, it begins as something trivially silly before evolving into a connective link as sorts between two characters who feel so alone in the world, in turn cementing the brotherly duo as filmmakers who capably and entertainingly combine the worlds of horror and humor to naturally coincide with one another. Finally, I would be doing a grave disservice if I didn’t talk about the cast, beginning with some of the career-best work from Sally Hawkins. Considering Hawkins is known as the sweetly sincere leading lady, her turn as an invasively enthralling antagonist here is quite remarkable to say the least, with Hawkins reveling in the depravity of her character’s mental design, but without truly sacrificing the hearty remorse as a mother battling her own devastating losses, who now clings to witchcraft in order to hold onto any semblance of the life she once had, all with Hawkins effortlessly eliciting a mental instability that makes the character such a compelling anomaly of unpredictability that I couldn’t take my eyes off of. Likewise, the child performances aplenty are also gripping and believable with lived-in nuances that never detect an air of inexperience among their respective talents. This is especially the case for Sora Wong, who physically unearths so much vulnerability and overwhelming fear that tremble at the first touch, and Jonah Wren Phillips, who with very little dialogue at his disposal, commands empathy by the self-illustrated strain taking shape on his body, helping to ease the monster that he’s become, and instead utilizing the tragedy of a child stuck in this body that now continuously fails him.

NEGATIVES

Very little with “Bring Her Back” is worth emphatically griping over, however I will say that the very same methodically built tension that the brothers built to perfection, nearly comes to be its undoing, as the third act not only dramatically rushes through plot points and character revelations at exhilarating speeds, but also opts for the subliminally stimulating side to its resolution that won’t exactly win over every audience, in terms of satisfying resolutions. Admittedly, the third act of the movie is the most entertaining section of the film, but the big unraveling promised throughout tidbit-teased VHS videotapes, spontaneous character capabilities, and the unresolved ambiguity surrounding Hawkins’ daughter’s death, are a bit frustrating to say the least, and while I think her character is given everything that’s coming to her, even if not in the ways audiences are expecting, it still feels like something inexplainable is missing during the movie’s closing shot, concluding matters on its highest emotional level, even if the tension and suspense are long gone by that point. In addition, my only other issue with the film pertains to a bit of a focus imbalance between Hawkins Laura and the siblings, in ways that feels like the former completely hijacks the latter’s story by the movie’s midway point, and while I understand that this is a story about corresponding grief, and how differing people choose different methods to resolve that grief, it feels like Piper, essentially the most important character to this movie, disappears quite abruptly from the proceedings, only to be brought back to be weaved back into the climax, and it’s ultimately her arc that I felt a bit shortchanged on, in comparison to Laura and Andy’s, making me wish that this film was maybe 10-15 minutes longer, in order for her to come to terms with the realities of not only her current devastatingly disparaging situation with her new foster parent, but also the overlooked realities of her own home life, which the script simply isn’t as interested in as the psychological thriller and body horror that we find ourselves eventually consumed by.

OVERALL
“Bring Her Back” might dip its creative toes into supernatural waters, but it’s ultimately the grippingly tender and disturbing horror haunt on account of its thorough dissection into the universal language of grief, with shapeshifting realities eliciting the monsters of those left behind. With immaculate performances from Sally Hawkins and her child ensemble alike, chilling atmosphere, and a complete masterclass in filmmaking, this feels like the natural successor to the Phillipou’s dazzling 2023 debut, with an overall not for the faint at heart kind of execution that spreads like wildfire from the word of mouth from horror hounds that will openly embrace stomach-churning gore that thrives on sensitivities.

My Grade: 8.7 or A-