Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou’s highly anticipated sophomore film, will be released in theaters on May 30, 2025, through A24. The follow-up to their successful 2023 film Talk to Me, Bring Her Back delivers another masterfully crafted entry in the elevated Horror genre.
Set against the eerie isolation of a remote countryside home, the film follows siblings Andy and Piper—played by Billy Barratt (Responsible Child 2019, Invasion Series series) and newcomer Sora Wong in a striking feature debut—as they uncover a sinister ritual lurking beneath the surface of their new foster home. Oscar-nominated actress Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine 2013, The Shape of Water 2017) brings quiet menace and depth to the role of their manipulative foster mother, Laura. The film is a relentless, disturbing rollercoaster that will leave audiences deeply unsettled—it is not for the casual Horror fan, but for those who crave terror and gore that will haunt them for days after.
Bring Her Back draws you in with the powerful bond between Piper and Andy—a relationship rooted in trust, resilience, and shared trauma. Their sibling connection becomes the emotional anchor of the film. As the plot unravels and the terror intensifies, that bond makes each twist more harrowing and the film’s eventual outcome all the more devastating. Hawkins’ performance is terrifying in its quiet intensity. There are moments when genuine pain and vulnerability slip through her character’s façade, making the viewer question whether she is genuinely sinister or unhinged.
This ambiguity keeps the tension simmering, blurring the line between malevolence and madness in a captivating and deeply unsettling way. Adding to the film’s mounting terror is Jonah Wren Phillips (How to Make Gravy 2024), as Oliver, a mute foster child, is also in Laura’s care. Despite having little to no dialogue, Phillips commands the screen with a haunting presence and an eerie, almost otherworldly energy. The scenes involving Oliver are, without question, among the film’s most jarring.
Thematically, Bring Her Back delves into grief and trauma—territory that, while well-trodden in Modern Horror, feels freshly visceral here. Unlike many contemporaries, the film does not rely on metaphor or allegory to make its point. Instead, it confronts these themes head-on, showing in stark, unsettling detail what can happen when vulnerable, grieving people lose their grip on reality. It is not grief as subtext—it is grief as fuel for madness, and the result is both emotionally raw and deeply disturbing.
With the intensity of the gore and the physicality of the Horror, Bring Her Back delivers a brutal sensory experience that refuses to let the audience look away. Every wound, contortion, and grotesque detail is felt on a visceral level, making the terror not just something to witness but something to endure. The use of practical effects is masterful, particularly in supporting Phillips’ performance as he transforms into something almost otherworldly.
The use of gore in Bring Her Back is dialed up significantly—easily tenfold compared to Talk to Me. While Talk to Me leaned into Psychological Horror with flashes of violence, Bring Her Back fully embraces its blood-soaked intensity, using graphic imagery not just for shock value but to heighten the stakes and create authenticity in the sinister, ritualistic forces at play.
Not since 2018’s Hereditary has a film been so masterful at exploring grief while delivering a deeply disturbing and viscerally haunting Horror experience that leaves such a lasting impression. Bring Her Back is a beautiful film that needs to be seen in a theater with other moviegoers, where the collective tension, gasps, and shared moments of fear amplify the experience. It is a demanding watch, both emotionally and psychologically, echoing the complex, often painful realities of grief. This is why Cryptic Rock gives Bring Her Back 5 out of 5 stars.
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