4 out of 5

Directed by: Danny and Michael Philippou

We made it past the “elevated” horror trend and – if that was considered some type of artistic highpoint by some – have emerged into the next iteration of the genre, which brings back some of the ick. Flicks like The Substance and the Smile movies have started to “go there” in a way that the elevated stuff was, y’know, too stuffy to do; setting aside one’s take on the actual movies – and whether or not they are effective at “going there” – it’s part of an interesting / enjoyable / what-the-hell’s-wrong-with-us loop that horror takes, back towards visual depravity. Deeper dives tie that into what’s going on in the world at large at the time; but however deep you want to go with it, I’m flagging Danny and Michael Philippou’s second flick, Bring Her Back, as a brutal turning point in this next iteration, either ushering in some very emotionally weighty and bloody brutal stuff, or perhaps proving to be the apex (or nadir?) of that approach.

Which isn’t to say that I think the gross stuff in the movie is wholly justified, or that it’s the smartest horror flick in town, or that it even does anything new overall. However: this strong-stomached viewer had to turn away a couple of times, very much because everyone was in on making certain scenes excruciating – editors, sound designers, cinematographers, the actors, and so on. And in the same movie, I found myself incredibly compelled by the characters. The story is a vehicle for their experiences; the genre – and the ickiness – allows that stuff to be blown out to extremes. And unlike the elevated era, it’s not just that a movie like BHB is exploring / exploiting past traumas, as I’d say the traumas are front and center and not held up as reveals; rather, trauma is, again, part of the characters, and informs how deeply we’re able to connect with them. So I turned away; I also teared up at a couple of choice scenes; two responses I have very much not had with movies in a long time.

There are thematic threads connecting the directors prior work, Talk to Me, with this film: there is a focus on children; and a desire / inability to communicate and connect – with peers, or across generational divides. While I think Talk to Me struggled to move outside of being cyclical jump scares, Bring Her Back’s expression of this theme is endemic: we have brother and sister Andy and Piper (Billy Barratt, Sora Wong) of separate mothers who are living with their single father. He passes early on in the movie, and child services places them with Laura (Sally Hawkins), who has lost her own child at some point in the past. Piper is partially blind, and Andy is often her tether to what’s happening: describing (and sometimes positively embellishing) the reactions of others, or what they look like. Beyond this, there is an unspoken bond between the two that’s so realistically and gently portrayed as to be immediately believed – immediately immersing us in the stakes of keeping these two together. So when Laura starts manipulating things to push them apart, we get our hackles up; blend this with a supernatural edge – as Laura is also housing a seemingly feral child, Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips), and is maybe trying to reenact some kind of torturous ritual she keeps watching on a staticy VHS tape – and there’s a recipe for maximum tension, which the Philippous wholly exploit.

A repeated criticism I’ve seen of Bring Her Back is that it’s not very “surprising.” There are some structural elements to the film that are a little frustrating – that tension exploitation gets humorously macabre at points, which is likely purposeful, but is also a tonal tightrope I can’t say always worked – but I don’t think that the lack of mystery is necessarily a problem. The movie cold opens on that staticy VHS tape, and when we’re introduced to Ollie, he looks like one of the people in the tape, so it’s clear enough that Laura’s odd behaviors are going to be linked to that, and her doting on Piper while attempting to incite Andy’s anger is similarly easy enough to trace to her drive. I think it’s more understanding the extent to which her plans go which forms the building terror, especially when the Philippous unleash some extreme body horror in ways that are generally film no-nos.

To which, as a side note, I’d add: while I found these moments hard to watch, and I stated above that I can’t say they were fully necessary, I do think they were committed with purpose. Meaning that their unflinching nature is the point, and while we linger on some things, I don’t feel we were lingering in “ooh, cool” territory, but moreso to show: this is what that thing looks like; it’s horrible. You could do this differently, or somehow make the violence a bit more… hm, logical (thinking about it from afar, its suddenness is kind of silly), but in order to keep the focus on the characters, sacrifices were made to present it this way. It’s undeniably effective at being attention grabbing (even if only to turn away).

Which brings me to the movie’s greatest praise: the acting, which should then also be extended to our directors. It’s very clear they know how to cast, and they know how to direct a young cast. In both Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, I’ve never seen such a collective of “giving” youth actors, who are able to be real people without having to play too much into the genre, and deliver on the emotional / story beats we need. Extending that to Sally Hawkins, this is an incredibly thankless role that would’ve been just kind of rotely villainous for many, but she gives Laura dimension, even if most of what we see of her is bad.

All this said: man, I can’t even tell you I’d recommend this movie. It’s a hard watch; the kind of flick you don’t need to rewatch. Though that’s either already a recommendation for you, or I can add that I’m glad I did watch it, and that I’m eager to see what shape the next Philippou project takes.