Bring Her Back is the sophomore effort from Danny and Michael Philippou, after the critically and commercially successful release of their first film Talk To Me. Danny and Michael are twin brothers from Australia who you may know from their successful YouTube Channel RackaRacka.

Bring Her Back stars Billy Barratt, Sora Wong and Sally Hawkins. 

You know we like to avoid spoilers here at SLA, and luckily the synopsis for this movie gives you just the right amount of setup:

“A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.”

So is Bring Her Back a welcome addition to the family, or one you’ll want to disown?

My Thoughts

First, I think it makes the most sense to start with my feelings about Talk to Me because overall I feel pretty similar about both movies. 

I was a little less excited by it than most people were. I was definitely impressed by how solid the movie was considering it was their first crack at a feature film, but when the movie ended I was just left feeling like something was missing. 

Unfortunately, I felt something similar with Bring Her Back. However, I still think overall that I liked this one more! 

One of the best parts about it for me was Sally Hawkins. Without getting into details, she was perfectly casted as someone that has such a sweet and innocent look to them, but also was believable when she’s doing much darker things too. Genuinely, this was perfect casting. 

Billy and Sora play Andy and Piper, the brother and sister duo and our main characters. They were both solid in their roles. Jonah Wren Phillips, who plays Oliver, a child that is living with Sally Hawkins’ character Laura, probably has a tougher assignment here given the oddities of that character, but he’s also very solid. 

Outside the characters though, the movie shines brightest when it starts playing more with some of these horror elements. Particularly the sound design. It’s been a few days now since I saw the movie, and one moment in particular hasn’t left my head and it makes me shudder when I think about it. 

But for my money, I didn’t feel like there was enough of these moments. Because they’re so effective and well done, it become noticeable when a bunch of time would pass and nothing too creepy or unsettling would happen. 

At the same time though, I didn’t feel the movie was too heavy about its themes either, specifically as it relates to grief and losing family members. They’re definitely there and prominent enough, but I don’t feel like we were focusing on too many moments to reaffirm these themes at the expense of these more tense and gnarly horror moments. 

And really, this is where my feelings about the movie leave me a little stumped. I was enjoying this ride but ultimately, when we get to the ending, I couldn’t help but shake this feeling that something was missing. I think the biggest issue with both of these movies is that they don’t wrap up in a way that feels totally satisfying. 

I really like when a movie fades to black for the end credits and I feel stuck in my head. Either I’m blown away by what I just saw, or I’m left speechless contemplating the feelings the movie has elicited from me. But this movie just left me feeling a bit more hollow. 

Verdict

Even with my lack of feelings as the credits rolled, I still had a good time and I think many of you will, too. The journey hits harder than the destination, packed with enough sharp horror beats to make even a genre veteran like me wince and squirm with the rest of the crowd.

Writing this, I kept thinking about something Brandon and I discussed on Talkies about how Final Destination movies (to me at least) are just attempts at forgettable fun built on a great hook. Bring Her Back could’ve landed in that same category, but there’s real talent behind the camera here. It might not leave a lasting mark, but I’ve seen plenty of movies with much bigger budgets and none of the guts, skill, or sharp edges this movie brings.