A24 has become a staple of quality horror, and their latest theatrical release Bring Her Back is no exception. Written by Danny Philippou, and co-directed by Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou who both also helmed Talk to Me, Bring Her Back is a horror film that touches on themes surrounding loss of a loved one, and what happens when your obsession with that loss consumes your entire life, and the consequences of trying to alter the natural course of death.
Set in an Australian suburb that feels bleak in just about every way imaginable, the story follows Laura (Sally Hawkins), a reclusive foster mother who takes in two orphaned siblings, Piper (Sora Wong) and Andy (Billy Barratt), into her home. But what seems like just a normal woman who is dealing with her own tragic loss just as Piper and Andy are as they had just recently become foster children after finding their father dead in the bathroom, as they spend more time in their new foster home, a much darker cultist scenario and mystery unfolds.
Hawkins’ performance is haunting. She plays the part of Laura perfectly. The grief, the madness, and the obsession with her lost daughter couldn’t have been portrayed better. The emotion and unstable nature of the character really shine here. Billy Barratt and Sora Wong also ground the film with excellent performances, and their own grief and fear in the situation they find themselves in feels real, especially as Laura’s house feels darker and darker and her intentions becoming more grim each day that passes. There were a couple of times where characters were written to do something that didn’t seem to make sense, which is typical when it comes to horror in general, and is even sometimes necessary to add to the overall picture, but for the most part everything just clicked.
Where Bring Her Back truly excels is in its atmosphere. This film is about what haunts people, and what they’ll sacrifice to feel whole again. The score pulls the atmosphere together and keeps you on the edge of your seat at times. The drab, but precise cinematography emphasizes the bleakness of the situation and the setting. There is an incredible tension in Bring Her Back that doesn’t rely on jump scares or gore, but there is a perfect amount of both used in a very calculated manner. The atmosphere is thick throughout most of the film, and was carefully crafted.
Bring Her Back falls right in line with some of A24's other notable titles like Midsommar, The VVitch, Hereditary, The Lighthouse, and Talk to Me. It definitely ranks up there if you are a fan of any of the aforementioned films. It’s definitely one of A24’s more emotionally-driven horror entries to date, and we would absolutely recommend it to any horror fans out there.
