Bring Her Back (2025) Dir: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou

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In 2022, co-directors and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou created a terrifying supernatural horror called 'Talk To Me', which they had great critical success with, including from myself, who absolutely loved it. As such, when I saw that a new film from the two brothers was coming out, and that it was a horror, it will come as little surprise to know that I was very interested in seeing it.

I found the camerawork very interesting, particularly in regards to focus, or the lack of - I thought it was very intrinsic to the horror aspect of the film. The ways in which this was achieved was pretty creative too, for example, with the use of rain on windows and blood splatters. On that point, it's safe to sat that this was a very visually explicit film, at times bordering on gratuitous.

I think the nature of the injury detail, mixed with the very heavy themes, particularly surrounding trauma, means that this definitely isn't a film everyone will enjoy, or even be able to sit through. I struggled with it, especially the final third. If I were at home, I would have had to pause it multiple times. This was a truly visceral, intense, viewing experience, but if you can stomach it, it repays you with an incredibly compelling and emotionally driven narrative, which I appreciated a lot.

I really enjoyed the bond shown between the pair of Billy Barrett and Sora Wong - it was genuinely very sweet, and made what happened in the film all-the-more devastating. Barrett did an excellent job of conveying his character's emotional torment and struggles in the wake of his trauma - he was so strong. Meanwhile, I loved watching Wong's character interact with others, as well as her environment. I was very impressed with some of her more significant emotional scenes.

Sally Hawkins was so good at being a manipulative and troubled character that I began to worry for the welfare of Paddington Bear. In all seriousness, though, she was tremendous in this role. I thought she was able mix emotion and antagonism really smoothly. Despite having a fairly basic role, I felt that Jonah Wren Phillips made the most of it, and was a huge reason for this film being as freaky as it ultimately was. His mostly deadpan facial expressions and mannerisms were very effective.

Overall, whilst I did find this to be a very well-made and impactful horror, I must also admit that it bordered on too much for me, at points. Reactions will, of course, vary from person to person, but I would advise being cautious with this film if you have a history of certain traumas - I won't spoil details too much, but I believe there are websites where trigger warnings can be checked. However, if that isn't an issue for you, then you will likely love this film, especially if you enjoyed the last film from the Philippou brothers.