"Bring Her Back" - Review

      Bring Her Back is the follow up effort on Danny and Michael Philippou's debut feature film, 2023's Talk to Me. 

I watched Talk to Me without having known the two are Youtube stars, so I went into their filmography completely blind. Lemme tell ya, it was intense. It was a twisted little film that exceeded my expectations with how visceral and it felt fresh to me. There was a certain intensity to it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The concept of kids getting high off demonic possession was unique and well done. The script was fairly tight and stuck the ending that made me smile devilishly. 

Needless to say, I was anticipating their second film, Bring Her Back. You notice that their first two films are commanding? Talk to me! Bring her back! Do the hustle! So demanding. Sheesh. Kind of like it though. It’s a way to make an bold entrance and to be noticed. Thought that was interesting. 

Bring Her Back is certainly bold. This is a mean, mean, near hostile film. It’s more of a psychological thriller with a dash of possession thrown in. The Philippou brothers are exploring a different flavor of horror than they did with Talk to Me. Here it’s more of a character study on two siblings who’ve lost their father and a mother who has lost her daughter and how we handle grief. The plot then follows this mother, played by Sally Hawkins, attempting to kill these two siblings to bring her deceased daughter back to life through an occult ritual. All the while there’s a freaky boy involved in all this. Hope nothing bad happens to him! 

I thought this movie was going to be too much for me, having lost my mom, but I managed. It’s healthy to talk about or exploring ideas on grief without upsetting yourself. Be kind to yourself if you’re going through the same thing, I just sucked it up because I thought the story and craft to the film was great. What IS upsetting though is the cringe-inducing trauma to the body in this movie. Like, what the hell? I was squirming in my seat. It was wonderful (in the most sick way sort of speak!) 

When I say cringe, I don’t mean that this film is bad or I was embarrassed at the choices of the filmmakers or actors, I mean cringing as in that pain you feel when imaging a cheese grater combing down your back, or someone pulling a tooth from their mouth. Pure wincing in an empathy of someone else suffering a great amount of pain. There is so many instances of that in Bring Her Back. I know the one scene most talked about is the one involving a melon. If you know, you know.  

Sally Hawkins is fucking terrifying in this movie. Goddamn, from the get go she’s unsettling and not someone to be trusted. Her performance here is fascinating. Sure, she’s doing terrible things in the name of grief and to alleviate that pain to bring a deceased loved one back to life, but there’s more to it. She’s quite the manipulator. She’s a counselor and knows psychology well enough to use it as a weapon to divide these siblings apart so she may take the sister as a sacrifice. All to get what she wants. She also has this boiling anger beneath the surface as well as the remnants of what was once a good person. She didn’t have to go hard for us, but she did. Bless you, Sally Hawkins! 

Jonah Wren Phillips as Ollie is freaky as hell. I cannot imagine how difficult it is to work with children on a film, much less writing a demanding role like Ollie and praying some kid can pull this off. And Jonah did. Holy hell, what a near miracle 

I think the film is great, but I actually do have one glaring problem with it. I would dive into spoilers so that you can enjoy the movie with fresh eyes, so I’ll be vague. The climax of the film I think didn’t work. I agree with the plot point and story and emotional intent, but to me came out of nowhere that I was legitimately confused and felt myself deflating in seat. It didn’t break the film by any means but the execution of the film by that point did not indicate to me that that choice would be an option. It felt unearned and really wished it played out better. Like there was some missing ingredient. But if it had played out the way to seemed to be going, than this film would’ve been an extreme bummer. Think I want a bummer ending? No, man! Life’s a bummer as is.

Now do I recommend this? That’s a tricky question. 

I think it was made with a high degree of artistry, and it’s incredible how two new filmmakers can make films this good. Talk to Me reminded me of a modern episode of something say like The Twilight Zone, an interesting concept with a nice twist to bookend yet… another movie about grief and wanting to bring someone back… Huh… Anyway, Bring Her Back is more brooding, contemplative on the character study of people who are processing their suffering in various levels of unhealthiness. Bring Her Back is definitely upsetting. For a casual consumer? I’d probably look like some sick fuck if I recommended this. If you’re a horror connoisseur, then watchitwatchitwatch because it’s great.