'Bring Her Back' Review: A Viscerally Heartbreaking Slice of Horror

Danny and Michael Philippou's sophomore feature continues to showcase their gritty blend of the grotesque and the gratifying

There’s nothing quite like a mother’s love. I’m not a mother, but I have a fierce one who I couldn’t help but think intensely about the entire time while watching Danny and Michael Philippou’s sophomore feature Bring Her Back. The power of maternal devotion and care is something that has been harnessed in many a film regardless of genre, but there is something so dirty, bold, and true about the way that instinct is explored in this grimey, gruesome, and downright heartbreaking horror film. This is a movie with an emotional core on fire, ready to bring you down to the depths of its terrifying sorrow at any and every turn.

The story follows a blind teenage girl named Piper (Sora Wong) and her step-brother Andy (Billy Barratt), forced into foster care after the tragic death of their father. Their new foster mother is an eccentric and somewhat unpredictable woman named Laura (Sally Hawkins), who, unbeknownst to them, has a plan for the siblings that stems back to a trusted demonic ritual and the death of her own child.  

This film would be nothing without its performances because of the emotional depth of the story, but Bring Her Back’s most important performance is Hawkins. She’s always been good at weird and wild characters but her true strength is the empathy she elicits. She is firing on all cylinders, free to use all of her strengths in a role that’s full of depth, weight and raw humanity. She is so good at striking a balance between creepy and deeply sympathetic, and it allows the audience to stew in their internal conflict as they watch. It feels like the role Hawkins was born to play in all its messy, twisted maternal glory. 

The young cast is just as strong, meeting Hawkins toe to toe at every turn. Wong’s turn as Piper is something of a revelation—the Philippou brothers revealed at the first look screening Q&A in NYC that she’s never acted before—and her innate naturalism in front of the camera is refreshing to watch, especially someone so young. She is adept at nailing a sense of hardened teen independence that slips in the right moments to give way to adolescent naivety and fear. Barratt’s Andy is a sweet and well-meaning counterpart who packs real emotional punches throughout, and they both have a distinct and believable bond on screen. It feels as though they actually are siblings, which is crucial to making the entire story work.

Jonah Wren Phillips, who plays Olivier, also gives a revelatory performance that showcases impeccable physical acting. His eyes are so soulful that it’s hard not to see the buried terror within them. His malleability in the role is key to Hawkins’ character’s overall goals, as well as her menace. These are killer performances that must be perfect in order for the film to hit as hard as it does.

The movie manages to feel like an established Danny and Michael Philippou film, a pretty big feat for a directing duo on their second project. Bring Her Back has a similarly muted color palette to their debut feature Talk To Me, but what gives their work a uniform style is bleakness. Bleakness is the writer-director team’s calling card. Both films share an undeniably bleak thread and, depending who you ask, some might say Bring Her Back is even bleaker than Talk to Me. The brothers are so good at focusing on the grit and grime, the moments or things in life that are messy, and bringing them to their most gruesome conclusions. That impulse bleeds distinctly into the general aesthetic of their style. It makes it feel like there is a strong horror oeuvre taking shape here. 

The practical effects of Bring Her Back are astounding and not only impress on the technical and realism levels, but also from a sheer sense of horror. It feels like an onslaught but because the Philippous are so good at it we want more. The effects work feels like they’re getting better in this arena. Anyone who knows their background knows they’ve been messing with effects and stunts for a long, long time on YouTube and it’s clear that all of that knowledge is paying off in a big way in the transition to big budget projects. 

The story is what anyone and everyone will stay and they applaud this film for even. Why? Because it’s full of undeniable heart despite its ugliness. Love is innately ugly, as it will always be tied to one of life’s rawest feelings: grief. Danny and co-writer Bill Hinzman craft a story and script that feels deeply truthful and wholly other-worldly, and that does a beautiful job of highlighting the horror and the distorted, corrupted love that lives inside it. It is a deeply relatable film, one that anyone who has ever lost someone can lose themselves in that much more. A truly special film that will make you want to cry as much as it makes you want to scream, Bring Her Back is, at its core, a terrifying and truthful blaze that burns bright in the name of love. 

Bring Her Back hits theaters May 30.