Bring Her Back

Sibling Bonds and Lingering Spirits Anchor the Philippous’ Sophomore Horror

Since the 1970s, horror has become fertile ground for some of today’s most acclaimed directors to get their start. Few may remember that the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Jackson, and Kathryn Bigelow began their careers in the horror genre. Over the past decade, it has delivered some of the most exciting filmmakers working today, including Ari Aster, Robert Eggers, and Jennifer Kent. The sibling duo Danny and Michael Philippou joined those ranks with their breakout hit Talk to Me (2022). Now, they return with their anticipated sophomore effort, Bring Her Back (2025).

Bring Her Back follows an orphaned pair of siblings: the protective teenager Andy (Billy Barratt) and his partially blind tween sister, Piper (Sora Wong). After the death of their father (Stephen Phillips), they are taken in by foster mom Laura (Sally Hawkins), a sprightly and eccentric woman who becomes particularly obsessed with Piper. She also harbors another foster child, the shaven-headed and eerily mute Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips). During their stay with Laura, Andy begins to uncover a sinister undercurrent beneath the vibrant façade of their new life.

Bring Her Back bears strong thematic similarities to Talk to Me, especially in its exploration of trauma and grief. Once again, we follow a group of characters unable to let go of the death of a loved one—pushed to toxic extremes. But while Talk to Me focused on a mother-daughter relationship, Bring Her Back shifts its emotional core to the sweeter, more tender bond between siblings. This emotional pivot is more effective. Unlike in Talk to Me, where the deceased parent remained unseen, here the audience is given more time to connect with Andy and Piper, allowing their characters to develop with greater depth and emotional weight.

These themes of family also extend to Laura, portrayed by Hawkins in an acting masterclass. A role that could have easily veered into the territory of a hysterical horror trope is instead infused with empathy and vulnerability. Hawkins brings humanity to Laura’s emotional wounds, enriching the story with nuance. This complexity elevates Bring Her Back above the traditional horror binary of good vs. evil—turning the film’s outcome into something more tragic than terrifying. That same complexity, however, may also prevent the film from delivering the gut-wrenching climax its slow-burn setup promises.

Rather than introducing a clear-cut villain, the film leans into a creeping, paranormal aura. This eerie atmosphere is skillfully built through unsettling scenes with Ollie—brilliantly played by Phillips—and through grainy VHS footage reminiscent of [Rec] (2007). But despite its chilling buildup, the finale doesn’t fully pay off. Instead of a cathartic confrontation with inner and literal demons, the climax plays more like a shrug. The result is a film that never quite earns the emotional release that its carefully constructed tension was building toward, leaving viewers more contemplative than shaken.

Still, one of the most admirable aspects of Bring Her Back is that it never feels like a derivative horror pastiche. Like The Babadook (2014) or Hereditary (2018), it takes subtle inspiration from the genre’s canon without becoming a predictable imitation. You can spot smart nods to Vertigo (1958), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and The Exorcist (1973), but the film retains its own identity. Like many of those classics, Bring Her Back builds its scares through atmosphere and dread rather than cheap jump scares—the most difficult, but also the most enduring and effective way to haunt an audience. Albeit the film also is very effective in its use of gore, never gratuitous yet crafted with the type of masochism that made the first Saw films so effective.

In the end, Bring Her Back is a strong follow-up to the Philippous’ Talk to Me, confirming them as a directing duo with a unique and evolving visual language. With a standout performance from Sally Hawkins and a talented young cast, the film’s layered story and emotional complexity make it a top contender for the best horror film of the year—even if its ending leaves audiences wishing for a more cathartic release to match the tension that came before.

7.9/10