2025 ‧ Horror/Drama‧ 104m
The Phillippou twins follow up their sleeper hit Talk to Me, with a story of two foster children moving in with a new mother. She is hiding something sinister.
After their father dies in a horrific accident, 17-year-old Andy and his visually impaired younger sister Piper are going to be put in the foster system. Initially they are to be separated, but after some convincing they are taken in by Laura, played by Sally Hawkins. Laura is a counselor that used to work in the foster office and is still grieving from the death of her own daughter Cathy. Cathy was also visually impaired, so Laura’s house is already equipped for Piper. When they arrive, Laura is quite welcoming. There is another child at the house, Oliver. He has selective mutism and displays some unusual behavior. Life with Laura seems okay at first, but soon things start getting strange for Andy. Making him think that Laura has some other motive behind bringing them to her home. Bring Her Back is a horror film, so Andy is not wrong. Without spoiling too much, Laura has a plan to bring back her deceased daughter. Hence the title. That plan involves Piper and Oliver, and Andy is going to be in the way.
The Philippous know how to create a terrifying atmosphere and how to showcase truly unpleasant visuals. It is not the most extreme when it comes to gore, but it will certainly push it for some. There is a lot of violence toward children, and that can be a lot. It goes places many films will not. Sally Hawkins’ performance is quite good as Laura, but it is pretty easy to not trust her the moment we meet her. The younger actors also hold their own quite well. Sora Wong, who plays Piper, is visually-impaired in real life. Another stand-out performance is Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver. Admittedly Oliver mostly lurks around menacingly, but Phillips has a presence most scary kids in horror films lack.
The major fault of the film is the uninspired screenplay. It is not exactly cliché but the grief and trauma tropes, similar to The Babadook and Hereditary, feel more tiresome than interesting. In the spectrum of grief horror, this is closer to The Other Side of the Door. The occult aspect of the story does not completely work. The Philippous do however allow the audience to fill in the holes themselves, which is appreciated. Execution is great, but ideas are lacking.
As a follow-up to the success of Talk to Me, Bring Her Back is a little disappointing. Still, the Philippous know what they are doing and can craft a great atmosphere and chills.
Grade: C
~Andrew