After finding their father dead in the shower, Andy (Billy Barratt), a guilt-ridden seventeen-year-old, and Piper (Sora Wong), Andy’s visually impaired sister, are forced into foster care together with Laura (Sally Hawkins), a mother still grieving after the accidental drowning of her own visually impaired daughter. They are joined there by Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips), a strange, mute boy whose behaviour becomes increasingly erratic. 

Directors Michael and Danny Philippou burst onto the scene in 2023 with Talk to Me, a fresh horror that genuinely felt like something we hadn’t seen before; a film that played with the ideas of horrors that had come before and twisted them in a way that, when mixed with their distinct visual style, birthed what felt like a new voice in horror cinema. Bring Her Back cements this as a certifiable fact. The future of 2020s horror should be moulded around these brothers because their style of filmmaking is outstanding, and every idea they have feels fresh and innovative. 

Bring Her Back is a film about how grief can eat away inside of you, and your brain cannot fathom the lengths to which people will go to bring back the ones they love. Laura, once a normal, kind counsellor, has been morphed into this desperate and cruel woman because she believes there’s a way of getting her dead daughter back. The sign of a great horror villain is one where you can understand the reasons why they are acting this way; yes, her methods are extreme, but she’s desperate. On the other side, we have Piper and Andy, both dealing with the trauma of losing their father in their own ways. It’s a brilliantly written screenplay, and the characters are well-developed. It leaves a lot of room for some jumpy scares, but a lot of the scariness derives from the fantastic practical effects they have that make you squirm throughout the entire runtime. 

Hawkins’ performance is up there with some of her best work in Shape of Water or Happy Go Lucky, but it’s a different kind of performance than the one we’re used to seeing from her. Paddington’s mum is not meant to be this manipulative monster; we’re so accustomed to seeing her giving a hug to a crying child, not smacking a blind child in the face. The rest of the cast are outstanding as well. Jonah Wren Phillips has a fantastic look in this film; he’s probably one of the creepiest designed characters I’ve seen in a long time. 

Cinematography is effective and stunning; the editing is snappy and suspenseful; and the entire third act is phenomenal. These brothers must continue making original films, as they may be some of the best we’ve had in a long, long time.