Bring Her Back review by Bobby Blakey
Directors Danny and Michael Philippou burst onto the scene with their horror film Talk To Me and despite mixed reviews it did well enough for them to develop a sequel. Before they return to that universe, they have delivered a different kind of horror film in Bring Her Back starring Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, and Jonah Wren Phillips. Could their latest film offer something that cement them as new horror directors’ worth watching out for or will it fail to bring audiences back for more?
​
Bring Her Back follows stepsiblings Andy and Piper who find themselves hastily placed into the foster care system following a tragic home accident. After all, Andy is not yet of legal age to apply for guardianship; he must wait three long months before they move into their new place. Until then, the troubled youth must behave himself as Laura, an empathetic foster mum coping with silent grief, offers to adopt them both into her secluded home in the woods. However, there is something off about the artificially benevolent guardian. Without a doubt, Laura wants something so bad she can taste it. The problem is, she must never bend the rules or break the circle.
​
Other than knowing this movie existed I had zero knowledge of it going in as I had not watched any of the trailers. I am glad I didn’t as it was allowed to just unfold and smack me right in the senses with a barrage of realism, supernatural and often disturbing moments making for a great horror flick experience. There are elements that I would have preferred maybe went another way, but as a whole I still really dug the insanity and uncomfortable nature of some of it.
​
​
Right out the gate we are introduced to an element that I thought was setting up something completely different and more disturbing but when I was wrong you might think that it is tamed down, but thanks to other elements it still goes all in. At the same time, I think I expected a lot more gore moments than we got, but there are still plenty to be had. The film leans more into the mystery and disturbing nature of what is unfolding that is grounded in dealing with grief, loss and undealt with issues with every character involved.
​
There are some beautifully violent visuals here and moments that will likely make you cringe depending on what gets you, but it all lends itself to the effectiveness of the story direction. There are a couple of elements that I wish had been fleshed out a bit more, but it’s a minor complaint to a film that I ended up really digging. Some of the true to life elements that are the grounded nature of it all might hit to close to home for some which is kind of the point in the message of unresolved loss that underlines this disturbing tale.
​
The ending to the film won’t work for everyone and was apparently meant to be much more disturbing, but due to personal issues they opted a different route in honor f other circumstance. I was fine with it but would be lying if I said I had my own hopes for it that weren’t fully fulfilled. Either way it is a great entry into the genre with a stellar performance from Sally Hawkins like I have never seen before and makes for a film I hope more people give a shot.
Decide for yourself and check out Bring Her Back available now on Blu-ray from A24.