Bring Her Back

Plot

Following the death of his father, 17 year old Andy and his younger step sister Piper are taken in by a foster mother, Laura.

She has recently lost her own daughter Cathy in a backyard drowning accident.

Laura comes across loving and loyal – to Piper, but colder, and almost condescending to Andy. Could it be because of his past when he was younger? Or is there something more sinister at play, especially when it comes to the mute other foster child Ollie??

Direction

Directed by the Australia brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, and is their follow up to Talk to Me, which I have just reviewed.

The film has an almost psychological thriller element to it for the most parts, with its realistic approach to the elements (the constant rain), and the surrounding neighbourhood. The ritualistic horror elements almost come second place. But when they do occur, the practical effects are damn near perfect. Especially when it comes to teeth!!!!

Cast/Characters

Two time academy award nominee Sally Hawkins plays Laura. The native Brit does a flawless Australian accent. Her gas-lighting approach to Andy from the get go makes you aware she isn’t as nice and she is believed to be.

Fellow Brit Billy Barratt also provides a flawless Australian accent (so much so I wasn’t aware until I was told by Ant during our movie chats episode – see link below).

Sora Wong makes her acting debut as Piper, and gets the MVP for the film.

Breakdown

Another movie filmed in Adelaide Australia (my home city), it was interesting seeing places I actually know and have been to before.

There is no real main character, all three actors get shared screen time.

Laura’s story about the recent loss of her only daughter Cathy, and how she discovered a VHS tape that shows a demon entity has the ability to bring those departed back to life.

It is a very small portion of the film and if you’re not paying close enough attention to these images (and they are quite graphic) – you may miss the ‘ritualistic’ element of the film.

The way Laura “parents” Piper and Andy is like chalk and cheese. She dotes on Piper (even disturbingly so, giving her Cathy’s practically untouched room). It is clear from the get go, that she is ‘grooming’ Piper to bet the one to ‘inherit’ Cathy’s spirit.

She is cold and distant to Andy, first by calling him the wrong name, then by giving him a small room without a real bed, and starting off by not acknowledging his feelings (Hawkins is so good at the gaslighting element here), being aggressive to his ‘body language’. This carries on for days – with her ordering him to kiss his father at the funeral.

However, the writers were able to make her a truly sympathetic character at times too. After the funeral, her story of loss and heartbreak at the loss of her daughter Cathy, is actually quite heartbreaking. Her arc is all about wanting to get her daughter back.

She manages to turn Piper away from Andy, by way of manipulation (attacking Piper while wearing Andy’s cologne while Piper sleeps). This was probably the most unrealistic part of the movie (even though it’s about a demon living inside a small child).

I wish we got more about the demon that lived inside Ollie, and it wasn’t so much of a tertiary part of the film.

Like Talk to Me, the film blends “real life” with “non reality horror” so well. At no point through the movie did I think we were in a movie. It felt real, and it felt like it could actually be reality!

The practical effects are flawless, especially in two scenes with ‘demon Ollie’. One when he chews on a knife, and the other is when he chews on a bench edge. I had to look away at these – as teeth is one thing I can’t handle. Bravo to the directors for achieving this.

Similar to Talk to Me, the ending is rather bleak (Spoilers are in my Podcast episode on this one), and you leave the film quite broken because of it.

Overall

Not quite as good as their debut film, this is still a very good horror film. I just wished we had more about the ritualistic mythology (why the rings around the house, how did the demon get into Ollie). A very solid film!!!

Great performances from all the cast. Plus pretty cool that this is a film made in my hometown of Adelaide!

4/5

Please check out our Podcast through YouTube where we discuss this movie