Bring Her Back Review – A Haunting, Heartbreaking Horror from the Talk to Me Directors

Review: Bring Her Back

Directed by Michael and Danny Phillippou

Written by Michael and Danny Phillippou

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

Release Date May 30th, 2025

Published June 4th, 2025

A Flood of Emotions

To be perfectly honest, I needed a few days to recover from the gut punch that is Bring Her Back. This emotionally raw horror story about grief and loss packs an unexpected punch that lingers long after the credits roll.

Michael and Danny Philippou, the sibling duo behind 2022’s Talk to Me, shocked audiences with their visceral, fast-paced nightmare debut. But Bring Her Back, though said to exist in the same creative universe, is something else entirely—deeper, quieter, and far more emotionally devastating. If Talk to Me was horror for the nerves, Bring Her Back is horror for the heart.

Grapefruit

Billy Barratt and Sora Wong star as Andy and Piper, teenage siblings navigating life after the sudden death of their father. Piper, who is blind, has always relied on Andy as her primary caretaker. With their emotionally distant father gone, they’re thrust into the foster system—just months before Andy turns 18 and could potentially become Piper’s legal guardian.

The only foster parent willing to take them both is Laura (Sally Hawkins), a former child services worker grieving the death of her own daughter, Amy—who, in a painful twist of fate, was also blind. Laura immediately bonds with Piper, but tensions arise between her and Andy. Laura begins to cross emotional and psychological boundaries: reading Andy’s texts without permission, criticizing his relationship with his sister, and isolating him during their father’s funeral to force uncomfortable rituals upon him.

An Unreliable Narrator?

Told entirely from Andy’s perspective, Bring Her Back cleverly uses score, framing, and dialogue to make us question what’s real. Is Laura the villain Andy believes her to be—or is he, in his trauma and paranoia, an unreliable narrator? The script walks a tightrope between reality and perception, forcing the viewer to sit in the discomfort of not knowing whom to trust.

Sally Hawkins is extraordinary as Laura. One of the most versatile actors of her generation, Hawkins gives a performance that is both deeply unsettling and profoundly human. Her grief is physical—etched into her posture, hidden behind strained smiles and chirpy reassurance. She can make you feel uneasy with a glance, yet you can’t quite hate her. It’s a masterclass in controlled emotional ambiguity.

A Breakout Star

Sora Wong, in her first feature role, is a revelation. Her natural, grounded performance as Piper anchors the film’s emotional stakes. In the final act, as Piper becomes the emotional core of the story, Wong’s vulnerability and quiet strength become almost unbearable to watch. You don’t fear for her because she’s blind—you fear for her because she’s real. And you care.

Jonah Wren Phillips also deserves praise for his chilling role as Oliver, a young boy whose presence introduces the film’s most disturbing horror elements. To say more would spoil too much, but Phillips’ performance—and his haunting, blood-streaked face—will stay with you long after the film ends.

One of the Best Movies of 2025

Ultimately, Bring Her Back is a horror film only in the sense that grief itself is horrifying. It’s a story about mourning, memory, and the irreconcilable pain of losing those we love. Dedicated to someone the directors lost far too young, the film is saturated with real grief, which gives every moment weight. It understands that there is no one way to mourn—and that shared trauma, processed differently, can become a dividing force rather than a unifying one.

It’s not an easy watch. But it’s a necessary one.

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Bring Her Back movie review, Philippou brothers, Sally Hawkins, Sora Wong, 2025 horror movies, psychological horror, grief in film, Talk to Me universe, indie horror, A24 horror