Bring Her Back ★★★½
ONE of the best recent Australian horror films was Talk to Me, released in 2022.
It was the debut feature from twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou and made an impact world-wide with its interesting premise, strong tension and legitimate scares.
The brothers are back in 2025 with Bring Her Back which is even better.
The script, by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, is again built on a good premise and the technical aspects on display in the shooting and editing are again excellent.
The other main factor that elevates Bring Her Back is the across-the-board quality of the acting performances, led terrifically by Brit Sally Hawkins and featuring some gifted newcomers.
An eerie prelude cleverly hints at the nature of horrors to come.
We are introduced to teenager Andy and his younger, visually impaired stepsister Piper who find their father dead in the shower in horrific but natural circumstances.
The siblings are very close, to the extent they wrongly assume that Andy can officially become Piper’s guardian and they can live together.
With Andy still three months short of the legal age limit they are forced to enter a foster home run by Laura who makes it very clear from the outset that she would prefer to only have Piper.
Laura is already looking after one young foster child, the troubled and almost catatonic Oliver, following the death of her own daughter at a young age.
Cathy, also visually impaired, drowned in the backyard pool and Oliver has been selectively mute since her death.
The tension within this volatile environment slowly ramps up as Laura tries to paint Andy as a troubled and even dangerous teen while Oliver’s behaviour becomes more and more bizarre.
The pacing of the film is excellent and the brothers have exceled with creating moments of horrific confrontation, one of which you definitely won’t forget in a hurry.
Hawkins’ nuanced performance as Laura is the central pivot upon which the entire film rests but also very good are the trio of Billy Barratt as Andy and newcomers Sora Wong as Piper and in particular Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver.
I hope young Jonah doesn’t have nightmares from one of his scenes because some of you might.
Watched at the cinema.