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Release Dates: May 29, 2025 (Australia), May 30, 2025 (U.S.)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Rating: Rated R for strong violent content and other mature elements

Production Companies: Causeway Films, RackaRacka Studios, SAFC Studios, Salmira Productions

Producers: Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton

Cinematography: Aaron McLisky

Music: Cornel Wilczek

Bring Her Back (2025)

Directors: Danny and Michael Philippou

Writers: Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips

Bring Her Back takes an even grittier, darker, and bleaker path than its predecessor Talk To Me (2022).

With a film filled with so much violence and death, you wouldn’t necessarily expect it to hit you emotionally with the same intensity—but the Philippou siblings do it once again, defying expectations in powerful, unexpected ways.

After Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper’s (Sora Wong) lives are turned upside down by a string of tragic events, they’re placed in a new home where we experience, alongside them, a series of terrifying and violent ritualistic practices.

Enter Laura (Sally Hawkins), a counselor and grieving mother looking to foster a child—to care for, and to keep her and her son Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips) company.

It’s a simple story, but what elevates it is the strength of the performances—especially Hawkins, whose emotionally charged portrayal is practically award-worthy. She’s supported by an equally gripping duo in Barratt and Wong, whose chemistry feels raw and real. The child actors carry the emotional core of the film on their shoulders, and they do so with startling maturity and depth.

Barratt and Wong’s sibling dynamic is nothing short of spectacular. From the first scene, they establish a ride-or-die bond that cements them as one of horror’s most affecting sibling pairs in recent memory. If you don’t think a horror film can tug at your heartstrings, just wait until these two show you what love and loyalty look like under extreme, terrifying pressure.

Hawkins, meanwhile, takes the audience on a rollercoaster of emotions. Her character plays with a full spectrum of warmth, instability, vulnerability, and menace—often all in the same scene. You’ll find yourself constantly questioning her intentions, unsure whether to empathize with her or recoil. What’s never in question, though, is Hawkins’ full commitment to the role. Her performance sets the emotional and psychological foundation of the film and raises the bar for everyone else.

As intense and disturbing as this movie gets, it’s astonishing how deeply it can still cut you emotionally. Nuanced characters and layered themes—grief, abuse of power, manipulation, catharsis, vulnerability, and dependency—complicate matters for our protagonists in the most heartbreaking and, honestly, f***ed-up way possible.

As they proved with Talk To Me, the Philippous rarely rely on cheap jump scares. Instead, they immerse you in a sustained feeling of dread that mirrors their characters’ experiences. Where Talk To Me had brief moments of levity and breathing room, Bring Her Back tightens the noose from the first act and rarely lets go. Don’t expect to leave this film feeling light. If you’re not horrified by what you’ve just witnessed, you may be quietly sobbing into a sleeve.

To put it simply, Bring Her Back retains much of the Philippous’ style—its visual intensity, musicality, thematic weight, and raw performances—while turning up the dial in nearly every regard. It keeps pace with Talk To Me but brings its own emotional punch and a more refined sense of despair.

This isn’t a film for the faint of heart. Bring Her Back will imprint certain images in your mind forever—both for their grotesque creativity and their emotional devastation. It’s rare to see a horror film handle such bleak themes with such beauty. And yet, thanks to breathtaking cinematography and brutal honesty, this film pulls it off. You’ll leave the theater shaken, maybe even shattered, with more questions than answers—and theories waiting to be explored.

The fact that the Philippou brothers managed to dig even deeper into the darkness they explored in their debut is wild—but they do it with clarity, intention, and a twisted sense of artistry. They pull hauntingly real performances from their cast, build empathy instead of just fear, and tackle tough themes that demand to be confronted for any kind of closure. It’s all wrapped in striking visuals, intense violence, and phenomenal sound design carried over—and leveled up—from Talk To Me.

We can only wait—nervously—for what comes next from this powerhouse horror duo.