Danny and Micheal Philippou came on the scene pretty hard with their horror film Talk To Me a couple of years ago. These two upstart Australian filmmakers took the horror and film community by storm with their no-nonsense take on demon possession and teen angst. They’re back with their followers up. Bring Her Back. They double down on the demonic possession and add in a lot of violence and blood and gore just for the fun of it. They seem to revel in the fact that they are going to make viewers uncomfortable.  That’s definitely what this film did to me, and it wasn’t a fun experience, to say the least.

Piper (Sora Wong) and Andy (Billy Barrett) are brother and sister who have just gone through a very tragic experience in their lives. Needless to say, they have to be sent to a foster home. When they get there, they meet a very eccentric woman, Laura (Sally Hawkins), who seems to be focused on one of the pair of siblings and not the other. This causes issues that, in turn, start to unravel a mystery about who this woman truly is and why she wanted one of the children in the first place. It’s not because she loves having kids around.  She has an alternative motive that isn’t, let’s say, on the up and up.

The imagery in Talk To Me was quite graphic and very disturbing at times. The Philippou brothers double that in their follow-up film. There are scenes of bloody mutilation, car crashes, and child violence in this movie that went a little too far. I’m not opposed to a good horror film with all kinds of different elements of gruesome-ness or crazy things going on, but I draw the line at child abuse and mutilation.  There is a line I don’t think directors should cross in terms of what should and shouldn’t be allowed on screen and I think these guys went too far with the brutal nature of this film and its story. I can only abide so much. 

There are good performances in this film despite my thoughts on the story and its gruesome/disturbing nature. Wong plays a character that is blind and can only see colors and shapes. She has to differentiate what’s real and not real in the context of the story. For a newcomer, she did a great job. Barrett, on the other hand, has been more of a prolific actor in his career. He handles the big brother role and suspicious nature of the stepmother nicely. Having a suspicious nature while also trying to hide his back story was a pretty good feat of acting. The pair work opposite each other very nicely and fit into this twisted family dynamic the best they can given the crazy situation they find themselves in.

Hawkins is a well-known actress in Europe and Australia. She’s been in all kinds of films, from comedies to family dramas and now horror films. She has been nominated for Oscars and everything in between. This character might be the most disturbing role she’s ever taken on. She brings a motherly nature to the character, but then has to show her true side when it comes to the real reason she wanted one of the children specifically.  She has a nasty side to her despite still having a sweetness to her demeanor.  It’s just the kind of actress she is. You can’t truly hate her because she’s so nice as a person. That part of who Hawkins is shows through in the role. She won’t be getting any Oscar noms for this role, but she is quite over the top in her betrayal of this grieving stepmother.

The filmmaking style of the Philippou brothers is a bit jarring at times. They infuse some jumpscares with scenes of genuine drama and dialogue. They are able to use the dialogue to move the plot along. The story is one I’m sure some would relate to , but it’s one I’ve seen before.That is Midsummar from director Ari Aster.  He had a distinct story, and this mirrors that quite similarly.  From the tragedy at the beginning to the two siblings entering into a new environment. The brothers seem to have liked that film quite a bit. The situation is a bit different,  but it’s pretty similar in tone and nature to that movie.  As the saying goes “imitation is the greatest form of flattery”. Aster should be happy he has fans of his work who can turn in their own film of this caliber. 

Bring Her Back is an unsettling film that isn’t going to be for everybody. Die hard horror effficiendos will surely love all the blood, gore, and violence. Others like myself weren’t as enthralled by all the child abuse and mutilation. I think horror films need to stay away from certain imagery regarding how children are used in them. I don’t need to see kids being taken off by demonic entities to get the picture of what the filmmakers are going for. Certain story beats and aspects of the film were unnecessary.  I know kids have been used in horror films for years now, going back to Linda Blair in the original Exorcist.  By today’s standards, that’s pretty lame, but back then, people ran screaming out of the theater because of how disturbing it was to them. There is a line that should be drawn about certain kinds of things in horror films. I think this movie crossed that line for me personally. 

2 stars

Dan Skip Allen