In 2022, Danny and Michael Philippou immediately became horror directors to watch with Talk to Me, a haunting film about grief that ended up becoming the highest-grossing horror film in A24’s history. With Talk to Me, the feature-length debut of the Philippou brothers, the duo found a striking combination of unshakeable imagery and jarring moments, all while telling a story of loss and mourning. It was scary for sure, but what really got under the viewer’s skin was the way the film handled the trauma of losing someone so integral to yourself that there was no limit to what one would do to get them back, even if for just a few fleeting minutes.
With their long-anticipated second film, Bring Her Back, the Philippou brothers once again tackle this conflict head-on. However, while Talk to Me centered this feeling in a world of teen basement parties and playful antics, Bring Her Back doesn’t allow for such levity. Instead, the pain of loss becomes the core of their sophomore film, letting that tragedy seep into every frame, from the opening moments of unsettling, grainy home video footage to the edge-of-your-seat conclusion. Both films are working in the same sandbox, but Bring Her Back takes a more stark approach, one that revels in the darkness even more than Talk to Me. Together, these two films create a fascinating mixture of sorrow and terror that manages to be unnerving and tragic in equal measure.
What Is ‘Bring Her Back’ About?

Andy (Billy Barratt) and his sister Piper (Sora Wong) come home from school one day to find that their single father has died in the shower. In three months, Andy will be old enough to become Piper’s legal guardian, but until then, the two of them are sent to live with a new foster mother, Laura (Sally Hawkins), and her unusual son, Oliver (Johan Wren Phillips). Laura seems eccentric, still grieving the death of her daughter, but she takes to Piper immediately, as she has visual impairments just like her daughter did.
But Andy finds their new home odd, to say the least. Laura has some strange thoughts on death, and she often retreats to her room and watches disturbing video footage of some terrifying ritual. Oliver is also alarming, creeping around or left locked in his room by Laura for hours on end, never talking and seemingly never eating. While Piper settles into their new arrangement, Andy knows that something weird is going on, or could this be his trauma over the loss of his father making him see things that aren’t there?
Danny and Michael Philippou Know How to Unsettle Effectively

Image via A24

In just two films, Danny and Michael Philippou have proven that they excel at tone, as well as keeping certain details hidden from the audience to maximize the terror. For example, with Talk to Me, we only get glimpses of the dead people who are being spoken to, but it’s that hiding of how things are unfolding, what exactly they’re seeing, and who they’re speaking to that makes the film so nightmarish. Similarly, with Bring Her Back, we’re left to put the pieces together as to what exactly Laura is doing. We’re shown bits and pieces of blurry VHS tapes showing monstrous things we can barely make out. Because of the way Laura is studying these, we know that she is inspired by what she’s seeing, but it’s left to the audience to put the pieces together of what this “ceremony” entails. By not getting the answers, Bring Her Back finds its way to burrow deeper under your skin.
But while grief and tragedy were a motivating factor in Talk to Me, it’s at the heart of Bring Her Back, and it finds a smart and often heartbreaking way to meld these ideas with sheer horror. Laura, Andy, and Piper are all bonded by their loss, and it impacts who they are in their everyday lives. The weight of Laura losing her daughter is a constant struggle, as it’s clear she’s never let go, and Andy is doing his best to be better to Piper than his father was to him. Through their stories, the Philippou brothers are telling a story about how we deal with loss; whether we move forward, learn from and appreciate what those before us left behind, and try to improve upon what they gave us, or get stuck in the past, pining for those we can never get back.

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Amongst all of this, Bring Her Back is legitimately spine-chilling, full of startling moments that will stick with you. The Philippou brothers are excellent at shocking with scenes that take wild turns or go in unexpectedly dark directions. Also haunting is the way they give the audience the bare minimum of information they need to make their own assumptions about what’s really happening. At times, it can feel a bit conventional alongside the likes of other films that blend horror and tragedy, even compared to something like Talk to Her, but it always finds ways to subvert expectations whenever it falls into those modes. Bring Her Back contains some of the most startling moments you’ll see in a film this year, but it’s the general feeling of discomfort throughout and the Philippou brothers’ ability to let our minds run wild with what is actually happening that makes Bring Her Back truly distressing.
The Excellent Performances in ‘Bring Her Back’ Make This Tragedy Work

Image via A24

In saying all that, it really is the performances in Bring Her Back that make this story as powerful as it is. Sally Hawkins is fantastic as the new foster mother, Laura, who is seemingly stuck in time, from the clothes she wears, the videotapes she watches when she’s in her private moments, and her general inability to move on from her daughter’s death. Hawkins plays Laura with an understandable level of sadness, a woman who will do anything she can to once again see the person she loves most. While Hawkins does some truly horrifying things in the film, it’s all borne out of a level of tragedy that we understand she hasn’t been able to shake. Her life has been ruined, and she’s desperate to go back to when she was happy. We never quite see her as a monster, but rather, a person living with a deep pain. It’s the type of performance that only a two-time Oscar nominee like Hawkins could portray, and she excellently balances everything that Laura has to be. Even when her actions are wild, Hawkins never plays Laura as over the top.
Bring Her Back also features one of the best child horror performances in years from Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver. In what is a mostly silent role, Phillips makes Oliver a haunting presence in Laura’s house, listlessly looming around, a strange child who is shrouded in mystery. Some of the most gruesome moments here come from Oliver, as it’s clear that something extremely sinister is going on with this odd kid. But like Laura, we’re aware that bigger things are at play with Oliver, and even though he’s almost always menacing, he’s never quite villainized in the same way we’d come to expect from a creepy child performance. He’s ominous, but we know it’s likely not his fault. Phillips goes for it and crafts quite an impressive character without being able to say much at all.
Within all of this, Billy Barratt’s Andy and Sora Wong’s Piper are given the more straightforward roles, which understandably aren’t as flashy as Laura or Oliver, but they’re the heart of this twisted story, and we care about their journey. The screenplay by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman makes us actively hope they survive this struggle so they can start a new life away from their painful pasts, and together, they’re a lovely pair that we root for to get past whatever the hell is going on in Laura’s house. Barratt and Wong’s roles are much more restrained, but they’re the core that makes Bring Her Back work.
Horror movies about tragedy and loss are a dime a dozen at this point, but Danny and Michael Philippou make the two work hand-in-hand in a way that doesn’t make this combination feel tired. Bring Her Back isn’t necessarily saying anything that hasn’t already been said about grief, yet it’s the way that the Philippou brothers combine horror and grief in equal measure that makes this quite often a gripping and effective exploration of that pain through a frightening lens. Bring Her Back captures the darkness and fear of losing someone, all while making one of the year’s best horror films. It’s that mixture, like with Talk to Me, that makes Danny and Michael Philippou two of the most exciting filmmakers in the genre.

Bring Her Back

Like Talk to Me, the Philippou brothers have once again made a film that expertly blends loss and horror to great impact, and gives us a fantastic performance by Sally Hawkins.

Release Date

May 29, 2025

Runtime

99 minutes

Director

Michael Philippou

Writers

Bill Hinzman

Pros & Cons

The Philippou brothers mix tragedy and fear to make a truly effective horror films.
Both Sally Hawkins and Johan Wren Phillips give standout performances.
There are plenty of moments that will get under your skin and stay there.

The film occasionally feels more conventional than one would expect.