Bring Her Back
2025 · Australia · 104 min
- Director
- Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
- Screenplay
- Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou, Bill Hinzman
- Music
- Cornel Wilczek
- Production company
- A24
Cast
What it is about
Andy and Piper are stepsiblings whose father dies suddenly at home. With no other relatives able to take them in, they are placed under the care of Laura, a former social worker with a good reputation, who lives with a quiet boy named Oliver. Laura's house holds a painful past, and daily life there grows increasingly unsettling, especially for Andy, who begins to doubt his new guardian's intentions and the boy's odd behaviour. The film builds its tension through what goes unsaid and through small details suggesting that something in that house is not right.
How it was made
The project was announced in April 2024, when brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, the team behind Talk to Me, were developing a new original horror film with Causeway Films, with Sally Hawkins attached to star and A24 handling international sales. The Philippous had earlier been linked to a Street Fighter adaptation, which they left to focus on this film. Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman wrote the screenplay. Shooting began in June 2024 in Adelaide and surrounding areas and lasted 41 days. Billy Barratt, Sora Wong and Jonah Wren Phillips make up the main cast. For the most graphic moments the crew relied on practical effects, including a foam knife and a kitchen countertop filled with chocolate designed to break into splinter-like pieces, with a fake mouth assisting the young actor.
Reception and legacy
Critics gave the film generally positive reviews, praising Hawkins's performance, the practical effects and the atmosphere of suspense, while some noted that its emotional side was underdeveloped. It opened in Australia on 29 May 2025 through Sony Pictures' Stage 6 Films and in the United States the following day through A24. Within contemporary horror, it is seen as a continuation of the Philippou brothers' interest in physical horror and psychological unease, with a darker tone than their debut.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
A cast with little experience
Sora Wong told People she had no acting experience and auditioned after her mother found the casting call on Facebook.
Chocolate instead of wood
For the scene in which Oliver chews through a kitchen countertop, the prop was filled with chocolate and designed to break into pieces that looked like splinters.
More films by Danny Philippou
Talk to MeOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.