I finally got around to watching Bring Her Back (2025) a very very disturbing movie tbh, the second movie from the Philippou brothers after their breakout hit Talk to Me (2022) and let me tell you this thing is a completely different beast than what I was expecting, they really put the bar higher. Going into this one I was pretty pumped because Talk to Me was such a fun movie to watch and not just scary, it had all these creepy moments but still felt like something you could enjoy without been tense all the time, you know what I mean. But Bring Her Back takes a much more serious approach to horror, its like the brothers decided to show us they could do more than just spooky fun times, they wanted to prove they could make something that would stick with you long after you watch the movie and terrorize your mindthe kind of movies that gives you a hard time to sleep. The movie follows these two step siblings Andy and Piper who end up in foster care after their dad dies in this really messed up shower accident and they get placed with this woman Laura who seems nice enough at first but obviously has some serious issues going on, she is the scare one right from the start, gave me that vibe you just cant trust her. What starts as a slow character study turns into this really disturbing psychological horror that deals with grief, loss and how far someone will go to bring back what they have lost, the title pretty much gives that away but the execution is what makes it work. The first half hour is all about building these relationships and getting to know these characters, which some people might find slow but I think its necessary for what comes later because when this movie decides to get nasty it really goes for it.
Rottentomatoes Rating
The thing that really impressed me about this movie is how the Philippou brothers managed to create something that feels completely different from Talk to Me while still maintaining their signature style. Sally Hawkins plays Laura the foster mother and she is absolutist incredible in this role, she manages to be sympathetic and terrifying at the same time which is not easy, you can see the desperation in her eyes when she talks about her dead daughter Kathy who drowned in the backyard pool and since then have been dry to the bone. The way she manipulates these kids is so subtle at first, like when she lies about little things or excludes Andy from family photos but it builds into this really sinister campaign to get rid of him so she can keep Piper for her twisted ritual. Billy Barrett who plays Andy does a great job as the protective older brother who is dealing with his own trauma from an abusive father and Sora Wong as Piper brings this vulnerability to the role that makes you really care about what happens to her. The performances across the board are solid, even the kid playing Oliver who doesn't speak for most of the movie manages to be creepy as hell just through his physicality and those dead eyes. What really works about the character development is how everyone is dealing with grief in their own way, Andy is trying to protect his sister from more pain, Piper is adjusting to a new life without her dad and Laura is so consumed by losing her daughter that she's willing to do anything to get her back. The movie takes its time establishing these relationships because it needs you to care about these people before it starts putting them through absolute hell, and trust me when I say this movie puts its characters through some serious shit.
When Bring Her Back finally decides to show its true colors, it becomes this really disturbing exploration of how grief can turn someone into a monster. The whole ritual aspect involves this creepy Russian video that Laura found somewhere and without spoiling too much lets just say it involves possession, reanimation and some really gross practical effects that will make you twist a bit and close an eye while watching in your seat. The kid playing Oliver starts eating everything in sight including some things that will make you want to look away and the prosthetics work is so good that it looks painfully real. Danny and Michael Philippou know how to make you uncomfortable, they let the camera focus on these disturbing images just long enough to really get under your skin, its not just shock value though because everything lift up the story about how far Laura will go to hear her daughter call her mom again. The gore effects are very good, way more brutal than anything in Talk to Me, not tryning to compare them because this movie is something more serious, they use practical effects that look so convincing you will feel pain watching some of these scenes. There is this whole mythology around the ritual that involves circles and specific death conditions, Laura has to recreate how her daughter died and the possessed Oliver has to consume the corpse and then transfer the soul into the new body. Its fucked up but it makes "sense" within the world they have created and the fact that Laura is following this like a YouTube tutorial adds this dark ish comic element to the whole ritual, its ridiculous to think now days how the word "tutorial" has basically been coin by YouTube or become a synomym of YouTube Video. The visual effects team deserves major props because some of the stuff they show is genuinely hard to watch, especially when Oliver starts chewing on knives and breaking his teeth, that scene alone will make you cringe so hard you will feel it in your own mouth.
After the first half of the movie is where things really go off the rails and I mean that in the best possible way because this movie earns its brutal ending through everything that happens before, the climax involves a car accident that comes out of nowhere that remind me a lot of Talk To Me ending like if they Philippou brothers wanted to add a trade mark, literally and then we get this really intense chase sequence where Piper has to go through this house while being hunted by Laura. The fact that Piper is vision impaired adds this extra layer of tension because she can't see the horrible things happening around her, she is walking through this nightmare completely unaware of how bad things have gotten. When Andy gets killed its devastating because we have spent the whole movie watching him try to protect his sister and then suddenly he is gone and Piper on her own. The ending is very emotional for a horror movie, when Piper calls Laura mom it breaks something in her and she finally realizes what she has become, its this moment of clarity that comes too late to save anyone but at least provides some kind of resolution, really fucked up. The final scene with Laura holding her daughter's corpse in the pool is disturbing, its like she finally gets to say goodbye properly even though she is dying in the process, I know some people might find the ending too cheese but I think it fits the tone of the movie perfectly, this isn't a story about good triumphing over evil, its about how grief can destroy everything in its path including the person experiencing it, every other mayor character on the movie was going through their own levels of trauma.
I had been sitting on this movie for a few days and this was the second attempt to watch it because the first time it really freak me out, its not scary its just Laura and Oliver, her smile, his dead eyes, I think the Philippou brothers have created something really special here, its not going to be for everyone because its so mess up and emotionally heavy but if you're looking for horror that actually has some meaning and not just cheap scares and possessions then this movie is worth watching, just sit tight and hold on. The movie works on multiple levels, its a effective psychological thriller, a family drama about loss and protection, and a really gnarly body horror movie all rolled into one package. Sally Hawkins gives what might be the best performance in a horror movie this year but sadly this is not a so much popular movie, she makes Laura sympathetic even when she's doing terrible things and that is not easy to pull off. The practical effects are some of the best I have seen recently, they are gross and disturbing but they add to the story instead of just being there for shock value. My only real complaint is that there was not much context about how Andy and Piper became brothers, why their dad died, probably if they have added more context to it, it takes a while to get going and some of the character development feels a little slow but once it finds its rhythm it never lets up its like when you think the movie got creepy enough it finds ways to get even more creepy. I really enjoy how even on dark scenes the lighting was awesome and lets you watch exactly whats happening even when its showing you horrible things, and the sound is very clear too especially considering how important audio is for Piper's character. This is definitely a movie that will give you troubles to sleep after you are done watching it, its the kind of horror that stays with you. If you loved Talk to Me then you should definitely check this out, just be prepared for something much darker and more serious than what you might be expecting, I give Bring Her Back a solid 8/10, its not perfect but its a really strong follow up that proves the Philippou brothers are the real deal when it comes to horror movies.
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