My quick rating – 7.5/10. If you thought the Philippou brothers might ease off the gas after Talk to Me, think again. With Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou prove they’re determined to keep Australian horror on the global map, and keep your nerves thoroughly shredded in the process.
Following the death of their father, a brother (Billy Barratt) and sister (newcomer Sora Wong) are taken in by their foster mother, only to meet their new “sibling,” who harbors a secret that quickly spins their grieving household into a waking nightmare. What starts as an unsettling family drama morphs into a disturbing exploration of grief, trauma, and how far a mother will go to heal her own broken world, or shatter someone else’s.
Make no mistake, this movie is NOT your typical jump-scare carnival ride. The horror here runs deeper, gnawing at you with a sinister, slow burn. When it does decide to get graphic, it doesn’t hold back; there are several moments that had me recoiling, muttering “WTF” under my breath as I watched, thoroughly entertained.
Jonah Wren Phillips delivers one hell of a performance as Ollie (Oliver), the newly introduced sibling whose unsettling presence ramps up the dread with every hungry glance. He’s pure nightmare fuel, and watching his appetite, both literal and metaphorical, evolve is enough to keep your skin crawling long after the credits roll.
But if there’s a breakout story here, it’s Sora Wong. Shockingly, this was her first role ever, and you wouldn’t know it for a second. She anchors the film with an authentic portrayal of Piper, the sister caught between mourning her father and navigating a household that’s growing more sinister by the day. Her performance is vital to the film’s emotional weight, and she pulls it off with impressive nuance.
Sally Hawkins also shines as the foster mother, effortlessly flipping between maternal warmth and something far darker. She embodies that unnerving duality, the comforting caregiver and the person who might be willing to cross horrifying lines for love.
What really sets Bring Her Back apart is its fresh spin on the possession subgenre. It’s not just about spirits hopping into bodies for shock value; there’s an actual terrifying logic behind it, a twisted goal that gives the story real stakes. The script also taps deeply into themes of grief and the desperate, irrational choices people make to escape pain—themes that feel even more gut-wrenching because they’re all too relatable. The film’s occult elements are described as being evocative of ancient practices, particularly those associated with Eastern folklore, according to the Philippou brothers.
Unlike something like Thunderbolts* (which tackled mental health with a far lighter hand), this film grabs those same themes and drags them down into the abyss, showing just how monstrous human desperation can become.
In the end, Bring Her Back is one of those horror movies you really ought to watch blind. It’s disturbing, gripping, and at times shockingly grotesque, but always with purpose. The Philippou brothers continue to prove they’re more than capable of delivering horror that doesn’t just make you jump, it makes you think, and maybe lose a little sleep too.
Amazon, along with a few other streamers, has this for theater pricing (07.04.25)