By George & Josh Bate
Talk to Me was one of the most talked about horror movies of the past few years (excuse the pun). The horror film from Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou gripped audiences with its unsettling practical effects, jarring visual jolts, and captivating characters, eventually going on to become A24’s highest grossing horror film of all the time. Now, the brothers (known together on YouTube as RackaRacka) return to theaters with Bring Her Back, an unsettling yet ultimately disappointing follow-up.
Bring Her Back stars young Australian actors Billy Barratt and Sora Wong as siblings Andy and Piper. When their father suddenly dies, Andy and Piper are brought in by a foster mother named Laura (played by Sally Hawkins), who harbors a horrifying secret as she tries to overcome the loss of her daughter.
Bring Her Back is far from the first horror film to revolve around grief. Hereditary, The Babadook, Don’t Look Now, Midsommar, and The Changeling are just a sample of movies that attempt to convey, through the medium of horror, the depths of despair that result from losing a loved one. The fact that this is such familiar territory for horror movies places an additional burden on subsequent genre efforts to stand out and have something substantive and unique to say above and beyond previous films. Unfortunately, despite bolstering exceptional performances and technically excellent filmmaking in all departments, Bring Her Back fails to achieve this feat.
The Philippous’ film starts on deeply unsettling footing, with grimy, poor quality VHS footage previewing horrors dissimilar to much the genre has offered to date. After overcoming this unsettling few moments though, the film proceeds and eventually concludes with a startling lack of terror. Much like Talk to Me, Bring Her Back features jolting, extreme violence involving children, which certainly has one cringe in disgust and fright. Unlike Talk to Me, however, the violence in Bring Her Back is not couched in a compelling and terrifying tale, but, rather, a predictable and ultimately unoriginal one seen countless times before. Despite the violence producing some disturbing visuals that may last in the memory for a while, the lack of narrative substance surrounding the violence creates a film that otherwise leaves little impact.
Like most horror films, Bring Her Back begins with a point of disturbance (in this case, the death of the lead characters’ father) and then transitions into a period of relative normalcy before things start to go awry. Reflecting a weakness in pacing, the film disappointingly transitions from normalcy to insanity far too quickly, squandering the opportunity to patiently build dread. There is no subtly applied to Sally Hawkins’ foster mother character as it is all too quickly evident that something is seriously off about her.
Lack of novelty and terror aside, Bring Her Back is an admittedly excellently made film in every technical regard. The Philippou brothers, with the assistance of cinematographer Aaron McLisky, shoot the film with beautifully, with crisp visuals and a great use of space. The practical effects that bring the film’s violent moments to life are nothing short of spectacular, ensuring that scenes intended to play for scares never come across as unintentionally funny or silly. The sound design similarly impresses in amplifying the film’s more extreme moments and adding quite tension to a variety of scenes.
However, the most outstanding filmmaking element of Bring Her Back are its performances, all of which superb. Sally Hawkins shows a completely different side of her acting range than she’s ever displayed before in delivering a performance that nears Toni Collette’s achievement with Hereditary. As layers of Hawkins’ character unfold, the accomplished actress only grows in how strongly she captivates the screen as a complex and deeply disturbed character derailed by grief.
The two younger actors at the heart of the film – Billy Barratt and Sora Wong – match Hawkins every step of the way. Barratt and Wong possess an incredibly organic chemistry that makes their sibling relationship feel so genuine. Side-by-side with an acting heavyweight like Hawkins for much of the film, Barratt is ultimately the standout of the film. Barratt’s Andy is a character trapped between childhood and adulthood, having to take on a more parental and protective role with his little sister while still navigating the challenges of adolescence and complicated grief. Even as the plot proceeds in predictable fashion, the trio of top-notch performances from Hawkins, Barratt, and Wong manage to earn investment in the story.
VERDICT: 6/10
Although exceptionally well made from a technical, filmmaking standpoint, Bring Her Back disappoints as Danny and Michael Philippou’s follow-up to the excellent Talk to Me. Far from the first horror film to explore grief, the new A24 release is hampered by predictability every step of the way and adds little of substance to a tried-and-tested horror subgenre. An unsettling beginning aside, the Philippous craft a film with jolting, graphic violence yet surprisingly little terror. Carrying the film through much of its mundanity and unoriginality are a trio of stellar performances, in particular young Billy Barratt, who captivates as a vulnerable character couched in between childhood and adulthood struggling with the challenges of adolescence and complicated grief. Across their first two films, the Philippou brothers have proven they are exceptionally talented filmmakers with a penchant for uncomfortable imagery and themes. Unfortunatley, their impressive filmmaking prowess is let down by a story seen far too many times before.