Bring Her Back

This is a horror movie that doesn't have to rely on jumpscares; it doesn't have to rely on possession or creepy rituals, even though it's got both. And gore; I had to look away in one scene in particular. The actual horror is the all-too believable manipulations of a foster mother with a hidden agenda, and our feeling of powerlessness to stop her. This was the kind of film that it would be excruciating to have to leave before seeing the end, because it makes you care about its characters so much. You'll probably even finding yourself root for the villain. This is the best horror movie I've seen in a while and it stuck with me for days.

Bring Her Back dives into darkness, but not for cheap scares. It's a layered, slow-burning descent into grief, guilt, and obsession, where horror is a byproduct of emotional unraveling.

The possession element is handled with restraint. The young boy's performance is deeply unsettling, not because of jump scares, but because it feels believable. The mother's arc is the true backbone. Her desperation, unraveling, and gradual revelation give the film its emotional weight.

The horror sequences are disturbing, yes, but they're never the point. What drives the film is a mother's raw need to retrieve what was lost, no matter the cost.

It's not just a horror film. It's a psychological excavation, with more to unpack than it first lets on. A strong, thoughtful entry in the genre.

Bring Her Back is one of those rare horror films that hit both emotionally and technically. The story is intimate and unsettling, but it's the execution that makes it stand out.

First, Sally Hawkins delivers a phenomenal performance - raw, layered, and painfully real. She holds the entire film on her shoulders with such precision and emotion that it's honestly Oscar-worthy. I couldn't help but think of Hereditary (2018), where Toni Collette also gave a mind-blowing performance but was completely snubbed by the Academy. Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself.

Atmosphere is tense from the very first scene. The film masterfully builds dread without relying on cheap jump scares. The cinematography is elegant and intimate, often using close shots and cold tones to create a feeling of claustrophobia and grief. Sound design and music are subtle but deeply effective - at times you don't even notice them, but they're working in the background, crawling under your skin.

This is not just another horror flick. It's thoughtful, beautifully acted, and full of emotional weight. Highly recommended if you appreciate horror that respects your intelligence.

Bring Her Back is probably one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen, I certainly didn't expect this movie to be a comfortable watch but in comparison to how I felt walking out of Talk To Me it makes that film look like child's play. It's the sort of film that gets under your skin early and stays there and I honestly wouldn't have had it any other way. The Phillipou brothers are clearly masters of their craft and it's a shame that I don't know if I'll be able to stomach a second watch because I would love to see what new details would reveal themselves on rewatch.

This very much felt like a Jordan Peele film to me in that every new scene contain some small new piece of the larger puzzle, it had my full attention from the very beginning and that's a testament to not only the script but the filmmaking. The directors always felt like they were one step ahead of me and I loved discovering more and more about the larger story they were telling as the film went on. It has such a perfect grasp on its tone and it made me feel horrified and uncomfortable and honestly disgusting at points and it's got some of the most effective uses of violence I've seen in any horror movie. It never felt gratuitous in its content and I think that's because it felt like the film was actually trying to say something meaningful about grief and trauma. The two child performers are astounding but I have to say that the film belongs to Sally Hawkins who gives a performance that I can only describe as a tour de force. She hit every beat of this massively complex character perfectly and it really does feel like that character is what makes the movie because the effective moments that I'll remember mostly come from her. She gives a performance that left me in awe from scene to scene and it's destined to be yet another amazing horror performance that the academy will ignore.

Bring Her Back has a script that's worthy of being studied and examined and it has such a good execution of it's story that I honestly wish it was something I'd come up with myself. Every emotion this movie made me feel felt like exactly what the directors wanted me to and I truly cannot believe how disturb it left me. There are moments and images I don't think will ever fully leave my mind and this a new directing duo that's really worth getting excited about. Sally Hawkins is outstanding, as is all the acting, with a script that feels effortlessly intelligent in how it ties everything together. It's rare that a film with such little chance of a rewatch is a positive for me but in Bring Her Back's case I could not think of higher praise for how truly effective it is.

BRING HER BACK was everything I hoped it would be. It will absolutely nauseate thousands of people. While many will recognize it's greatness, an equal amount will call it "a terrible movie" because it will so effectively fill them with intensely negative feelings throughout it's entire runtime, as it intends to do, and as most of the greatest horror movies of all time do. It is utterly brutal, and wholly unnerving, with the power to sicken and traumatize. There are plenty of movies that feature relentless amounts of brutal violence, but BRING HER BACK manages to disturb on a deeper level, likely by way of the great majority of it's brutality occurring amongst children (and, kids who are being manipulated by an adult, on top of everything else). It is painful to watch things unfold, and that's what makes it a truly effective horror film.

I took a chance on the directors' first film TALK TO ME when it hit theaters a couple of years ago, and was blown away. Not only was it fiercely original with it's concepts and it's vibe, but it was more fun than the majority of horror films, and got WAY more cruel and intense than I was expecting in its second half. When I saw the trailer for this, I knew it was highly likely they would be taking the cruelty even further, and that is precisely what they have done.

Casting lead Sally Hawkins in this role is the most brilliant casting utilization I have seen this year thus far. She is most commonly known as playing heartwarming characters (like Paddington's adoptive mother), but here, as the villain she is utterly terrifying - I think that knack for playing warm characters adds to the horror of her character immensely, and with these elements combined it leads to by far the best performance I've ever seen by her - fully gut-wrenching. All of the kids that fill out of the rest of the cast were phenomenal as well. I can't even imagine being Jonah Wren Phillips and playing the poster boy character Oliver - the role is so colossally intense, it makes me wonder if it's going to effect him in reality for the rest of his life - I feel like it will have to in some form.

Beyond all else, it's clear that the Philippou brothers are intelligent people. They know how to dig into the audiences psyche with such precision, and one of the key ways they do that is by keeping their films rich with a level of psychological depth that a great majority of horror films are missing nowadays. The movie is brimming with dramatic themes that are the type of things that deeply traumatize children in reality - taking this and rounding it out with some truly hellish supernatural ideas and visual horror, and you have the recipe for an absolutely devastating horror film. I was also impressed with the level of emotive resonance that this brutal film managed to conjure during its finale - I was on the verge of tearing up, and that is very rare for horror. The only reason I don't give it a 10 out of 10 is because I know it will simply be too dark and brutal for a huge chunk of the population, it doesn't exactly cater to repeat viewings.