MUST SEE: A24'S "BRING HER BACK" OCCULT THRILLER

Written by Michael Thervil

Trailer by A24

There are so many words that could be used to describe the newest film “Bring Her Back” which is being distributed across America from A24 (Civil War, Warfare). Words like “hard hitting”, “intense”, “gripping”, and “edgy” are some of the words that come to mind. Honestly, to describe Bring Her Back, these words aren’t enough; especially when you watch a child sink their teeth into a wooden table out of demonic possession and hunger then attempt to cannibalize themself. According to IMDB (Internet Movie Database), the official synopsis of Bring Her Back is as follows:

“A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new stepmother.”

This sounds a little too vague for most people. However, a more accurate but unofficial synopsis to describe Bring Her Back should be:

“After the death of their father, a protective brother and fragile sister find themselves in the midst of satanic ritual abuse in their new foster home with a highly deranged, sadistic, dark and psychologically cunning, sinisterly manipulative foster mother who is a believer in the occult and a practitioner of alchemy and necromancy.”

Although it may seem as if we have given away the plot point(s) of this film, we can guarantee you that we haven’t. Bring Her Back is the second feature film by Directors Michael and Danny Philippou who hail from Australia and are the Directors of the 2022 award winning film entitled “Talk to Me”. Bring Her Back stars Billy Barratt as “Andy”, Sally Hawkins (Laura), Mischa Heywood (Cathy), Jonah Wren Phillips, who gave an incredible performance playing the role of “Oliver”, and Sora Wong who played the role of Andy’s sister “Piper”. Other stars in Bring Her Back are as follows: Stephen Phillips, Liam Damos, Olga Miller, and Sally-Anne Upton.lips, Liam Damos, Olga Miller, and Sally-Anne Upton.

Bring Her Back in theaters May 30th, 2025

What we liked about Bring Her Back was the cinematic craftsmanship in conjunction with the tone, and color of the film which was finely executed by Marty Pepper. We also enjoyed the sound mixing as well. For the older members of the audience, the VHS tape cut scenes in the opening of the film featured something that older members of the audience should be very familiar with and that  is the subject of SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse) as it was a big topic of discussion during the 80’s all across  America.

Another thing that we think the audience really appreciated, again, especially the older members of the audience, is the raw and uncensored scenes of the film. Younger viewers in contrast have had very little exposure to these kinds of scenes in film, so they were kind of “taken back” by the opening scenes of Bring Her Back. This was due to the MPA (Motion Picture Association) increasing their level of censorship in films over the last 30-40 years. Because of that, American movie-goers have developed a certain level of sensitivity to certain kinds of “graphic content and subject matter”.

When we talked to several viewers after the advance screening of Bring Her Back and they stated:

“It wasn’t that it [the film] was sexual because there was nothing sexual in the film, it was how the “gory” and graphic parts of the film were presented especially when it came to the supernatural parts in the movie.”

For some viewers it gave them chills, for others it made them pause so that they could take time to mentally digest what they were watching. Granted, Bring Her Back is a horror/mystery film, but it doesn’t feel like a traditional horror/mystery film. For some viewers it felt somewhat slightly foreign to a degree and that’s because it is. Again, many audience members in this advance screening didn’t necessarily grow up in a world that was as “visually shielded” as the world is now in terms of cinema.

Speaking of visuals, the visual effects team of Bring Her Back did an excellent job articulating what the vision both Directors had for this film and so did Tim Riach who was over the special effects. If you’re looking for a film that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat but essentially sucks you into the plot and storyline; Bring Her Back is that film.

Bring Her Back is a must-see film that gives viewers a break from most other American horror/mystery films because of its striking visuals. Bring Her Back is rated “R” by the MPA for “strong disturbing bloody content, some grisly images, graphic nudity, underage drinking and language”. It has a run time of an hour thirty-nine minutes and is set to be releas