With so many films being sequels, remakes, spinoffs, and reboots right now, going to the movie theater regularly can feel like the film industry is creatively anemic. Originality seems farther away and less important than it used to. So when a new film is released with an original screenplay, not adapted from an established intellectual property, it easily gets my attention.
Australian brothers Danny and Michael Philippou had a lightning bolt hit with the 2022 horror film, "Talk to Me." Their second film is "Bring Her Back" another supernatural horror film about death, trauma, and grief. After their father dies mysteriously in the shower, a teenage brother and sister are sent to live with an eccentric foster mother who has a taxidermy dog and a mute child of her own. As the strange behaviors start happening, one of the teenagers realizes some plans are in place for a murder.....or a possession.
With consistent spiritual motifs of water and repeating circles as signs of doom, "Bring Her Back" doesn't feel like a supernatural horror film, because the performances of the brother and sister are so emotional and so believably sad trying to navigate their grief in silence. Instead, this film feels more like a psychological thriller of unsuspecting children being abused and victimized by a duplicitous adult. One of these foster children has severely limited vision (played by the captivating Sora Wong who has never acted on film before), making the abuse even more heightened and sneaky.
With the determined and unhinged performance of Sally Hawkins ("The Shape of Water," 2017) as the nefarious foster mother, "Bring Her Back" is partly inspired by the psycho-biddy horror subgenre which became popular in the 1960s featuring middle-aged women descending into madness and violence to maintain a grip on happier times from the past.
This film reminds me of such psycho-biddy films as "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964) with Bette Davis, "Strait-Jacket" (1964) with Joan Crawford, and "What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?" (1969) with Geraldine Page. It's also reminiscent of the 1971 horror film, "See No Evil" when Mia Farrow plays a blind woman surrounded by dead bodies.
But consider yourself warned. This film is very brutal and bloody (with a 9-year-old boy's teeth doing much of the damage). Old videotapes played over and over, bleeding gashes on the arm, and a triangular swimming pool all add an almost tangible sense of dread from the very beginning.
In an interview for this film, co-director Danny Philippou said, "Death is really unfair and it's really sudden. People don't get a resolution." I was hypnotized by this film completely. It totally transported me and will be an unforgettable experience for all who watch it. Do you believe in the power of resurrection? This film might change your mind.
