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DIGITAL

Opening Date

17 Jul 2025

Rating

R21 Violence and Gore

Runtime

104 mins

Language

English with English & Chinese subtitles

Genre

Horror

Director

Danny and Michael Philippou

Cast

Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, Stephen Phillips, Mischa Heywood, Sally Hawkins

Synopsis

BRING HER BACK follows two step-siblings who find themselves orphaned and placed in the middle of an occult ritual by their new foster mother.

Reviews

By Riin 14 Jul 2025

A simple, but effective treat for horror fans craving a new benchmark classic for the genre.

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Bring Her Back follows a 17 year old brother, Andy (Billy Barratt), and his half-blind stepsister, Piper (Sora Wong), as they end up in a foster home after their dad is found dead in the shower. Their new foster mom, Laura (Sally Hawkins), has quirks that raise alarm bells for Andy, who has to put aside his own concerns for the sake of his younger sister.

Still, things seem amiss with the presence of Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips), another foster child who keeps hurting their housecat, and Andy’s boundaries constantly being pushed. In a whiplash of events, the kids are forced into a disturbing ritual by Laura, who will do anything to bring back her dead daughter’s soul, even if it involves a little cannibalism and possession.

Filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou's sophomore feature is nothing groundbreaking, there've been other films that dealt with grief as its core theme, and scarier movies out there willing to break their characters even further. But I found myself transfixed all throughout. Mainly due to the likeability of its cast. I cared about Andy and Piper. I didn’t expect the two main leads to be so funny, or honest, have such real chemistry as siblings. Nothing is more refreshing than having a brother and sister rag on each other, and coming across as not forced, but genuinely funny.

The film does not immediately thrust you into straight horror. What it does is more cruel, by allowing you to experience the warmth and humour between the siblings and showing Andy’s struggle with readjusting to their new home. It makes you care. Something a lot of modern films in the genre have forgotten to do, but the sense of risk is only as deep as a movie’s love for the characters.

The cinematography is gorgeous, and tightly focused on sensations, like the twinkle of Piper’s new door chimes, the brutal squish of a jaw closing around glass. It makes you get right inside their head, watching scenes unfold like you’re trapped, unable to look away.

What I loved most was how Bring Her Back ends with the image of a mother wrapping her arms around her dead daughter, in a literal pool of her own grief. It sits with you, just as Laura has to sit with the grief that her daughter is gone, and no amount of sacrifice and negotiating with ‘angels’ or death can bring her back. A beautiful, haunting, and quiet image. After such a whirlwind of trauma and gore, it feels like a remarkably caring note to end on.
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