An eagerly anticipated horror sequel dubbed ‘horrific perfection’ is finally being released in the UK.
Bring Her Back is the second film from directing brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, best known for smash hit 2022 film Talk To Me.
Their latest release follows siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong), who are placed with foster mother Laura (Sally Hawkins) following the sudden death of their father.
As Laura’s behaviour towards Andy becomes increasingly hostile, and their new foster brother Oliver’s (Jonah Wren Phillips) behaviour deteriorates, Andy begins to suspect something isn’t right in their remote home.
The eerie film has landed an 89% Rotten Tomatoes rating following its release in the US before it arrives in UK cinemas on July 26.
The critics’ consensus reads: ‘A domestic nightmare that draws its most profound scares from Sally Hawkins’ deranged performance, Bring Her Back is an exemplary chiller that reaffirms directors Danny and Michael Philippou as modern masters of horror.’
The Australian said in their review: ‘[Bring Her Back is] scarier without resorting to chainsaws or any of the other instruments of mayhem that on-screen psychopaths are fond of. It’s tense from start to finish and it shows [Danny and Michael Philippou’s] strengths as filmmakers.’
Chicago Reader went as far as to laud the film as ‘horrific perfection’, and ScullyVision said it left their theatre ‘squirming in shocked discomfort.’
Rolling Stone wrote: ‘The filmmakers want to jolt folks, for sure. But they also want to bring you to a place where the emotional after effects of that juddering linger long after the jump scares have faded away.’
Riot Us said it left their critic feeling ‘disturbed’, while Always Good Movies added: ‘Bring Her Back will probably stick in your gut for a little while, and don’t be surprised if you walk away feeling hollow inside.’
Many heaped praise on Paddington star Hawkins as Laura, branded ‘the rotten heart and spoiled soul of the movie’ and a ‘boundlessly talented actor.’
Globe and Mail raved: ‘In the devilish hands of Australian filmmaking brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, evil has been concentrated into an exceptionally and impressively nasty 104 minutes.’
‘Bring Her Back is an absolutely bonkers horror film, disturbing in the extreme. I don’t think I’ve ever come so close to throwing up in a movie. That’s not a criticism, more like a demented badge of honor,’ Arizona Republic surmised.
Speaking ahead of the film’s release, Danny shared that the film taps into a painful family memory for him after he, at age 13, found his grandfather dead at home.
‘Our father was trying to give him CPR, and I remember so vividly the vomit in his beard,’ he told the New York Times.
‘That became an inspiration point. Freaky to think about, so you write about that.’
Bring Her Back is released in UK cinemas on July 26. It is available to watch on VOD in the US now.
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