Fresh off the success of their directorial debut with Talk to Me, Danny and Michael Philippou strike the irons while it’s hot with another entry in horror with Bring Her Back. The Australian twins deliver a movie that even tears through the resistance of horror film enthusiasts with an unnerving feeling. Bring Her Back is a phenomenal achievement in blending horrors the average person could relate to, such as gaslighting and manipulation, with the supernatural, resulting in a horror film that feels realistic.
Personal trauma is the main theme of Bring Her Back, and we’re presented with characters who choose vastly different approaches to handle and processing their own guilt and loss, which sets the fate of their respective characters. Almost immediately after presenting the mystery of the movie, it’s quite easy and obvious for the viewers to piece together the horror that awaits and to sit helplessly like the characters in the movie for the inevitable outcome.
Of course, the success of a movie also hinges on the performance of the cast and, in the case of Bring Her Back, the cast put everything into selling the gruesome experience. Retaining her experiences from movies such as Paddington Franchise, Happy-Go-Lucky, and The Shape of Water, Sally Hawkins retains her quirky, awkward personality that works tremendously in her portrayal as the foster parent taking in orphaned children, while hiding her true cold and manipulative intentions underneath the facade.
Besides Hawkins, the movie also spotlights the grieving siblings played by Billy Barratt and Sora Wong. Barratt, at the age of 18, is no stranger to the field as the youngest winner of the International Emmy Award for Best Actor at just 13 years old. In contrast to Barratt, Wong, who had zero experience of acting and decided to give it a shot after her mother came across a casting call for the role on Facebook. Wong may have had zero experience prior to Bring Her Back but still managed to stand on equal footing with Hawkins and Barratt.
With a screen time of just an hour and 44 minutes, the movie is consistently paced between the trauma dumping through the characters, and does not shy away from using gruesome and gory scenes in an effective manner, effectively rendering the audiences to remain uncomfortable in their viewing experience. The filming direction aims to keep viewers constantly on edge and have an extremely uncomfortable time watching this movie. Bring Her Back is a must-watch for horror enthusiasts as the latest entry in indie horror that exceeds expectations.
