Bring Her Back Review- Sally Hawkins is gloriously evil, a sinister delight!

The Philippou brothers seem to be obsessed with showing young people doing dumb things. In Talk to Me (2022), a group of youngsters were hyped about talking to evil from other worlds with the help of a plaster hand.

This time, it’s the resurrection tapes. And Movie Insiderz is here again with its own version of Bring Her Back review that will unveil some secrets about these tapes and how they add meaning to the plot. 

Plot details of Bring Her Back

In our previous article, we gave an overview of the plot of Bring Her Back. Still, for revisiting purposes, the Australian YouTubers (Channel name: Racka Racka), Danny and Michael Philippou mentioned that this film had a personal touch.

It is about handling grief, which they experienced themselves after the death of a close family friend. Laura (played by Sally Hawkins) is a foster mother who takes in two stepchildren, Andy (played by Billy Barratt) and Piper (played by Sora Wong). 

Laura also has a mute child, Oliver (played by Jonah Wren Phillips). He is a key character in bringing Laura’s dead daughter back. He seems to be possessed and Laura tries to calm him down by making the circle sign.

Even a circle sign is made around the whole of the property of the house from where Oliver, whose original name in the film is Connor Bird, cannot get out. Watch the trailer here for a quick recap:

Actors’ performances in Bring Her Back

We have already seen Sally Hawkins’ remarkable performance in the Oscar-winning movie The Shape of Water (2017), where she hardly spoke any dialogue and gave all the expressions of the world just by her face. We need not say anything about her hair-raising acting in this one, too. 

Sally Hawkins is eerily brilliant as she appears to be a caring foster mother but with devious intentions. She is helpless as the love of her dead daughter has consumed her so much that she has no option but to bring her back. She is immeasurably talented and every second of the feature was fun to watch her playing evil with the kids.

God! There are no words for Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver. It seemed as if the entire film was running on his shoulders. The two scenes that we bet, you will be watching by hiding your face within your fingers, were both played by Phillips.

One was when Andy hands him over fruit with the knife and Phillips’ Oliver tries to gobble it all up, along with the knife. And another scene was Oliver chewing on the wooden board of the kitchen counter where his teeth started coming off. Unreal performance! 

Sora Wong is definitely special. The directors had clarified beforehand that they wanted someone visually impaired in real life. Their auditions included kids who were 12 years old and were vision-challenged. Wong fit perfectly well, which she demonstrated pretty well in the film. 

Billy Barratt was exceptional when it came to caring for her sister. He always wanted to protect her, as he had known there was something wrong with their foster mother. His attempts to save her sister from the dark plans of Laura were showstopping. 

What do critics add to the Bring Her Back review?

 

 

 

 

 

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The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes shows a positive response to the movie. It said, 

“A domestic nightmare that draws its most profound scares from Sally Hawkins’ deranged performance, Bring Her Back is an exemplary chiller that reaffirms directors Danny and Michael Philippou as modern masters of horror.” [Source]

The critics verified that Danny and Michael have proven themselves yet again with their masterful writing. It is hard to believe that grief could be so engrossing. With Hawkins’ performance, the film left an unforgettable mark and “permanent damage” to the critics’ brains. A good sign of a momentous flick!

Fans reaction

As compared to Talk to Me, the general audience did not like it much. With the Popcornmeter score of Talk to Me at 83 percent, this one received 79 percent. Audiences are of the view that this one is way “too gross”. The acting, camera work, and twists were great, but the overall movie “stressed them out”. Some found it extremely boring. 

Is it worth watching?

Bring Her Back is an effective take on grief and dysfunction, which is worth watching. What makes it more intriguing is the fact that the unsettling possession tapes that Laura was watching are actually available on a real-life website called “Black Angel Tapes”. The website has all the occult tapes and items that help in evil rituals and support possession-inducing acts. 

The directors have verified that their future films will “take place in the same universe”, cited by Polygon. The movie’s plot also makes use of “Tari Resurrection Tapes,” which Laura was watching with deep interest. 

It gives the creepiest touch to the movie, despite being ultimately disturbing, which was the actual aim of the film. It shows how grief can take everything from a person. Laura even becomes hopeless enough to keep her dead daughter’s body frozen in the backyard.

She does not want to let her go. It shows her irreparable mentality which exemplifies the wild ride that the Philippou brothers had up their bloody sleeves. The rest of the intelligent work was done with close-ups and sleek visual style with distressing visuals, forcing you to think of ways of how to get rid of them. 

Our rating: 8.5/10

Is Bring Her Back available for streaming?

Bring Her Back (rated R) is distributed by A24 theatrically from May 30, 2025. It will soon be available for online streaming on Apple+.

Genre: Horror, mystery, thriller

IMDb rating: 7.6

Rotten Tomatoes: 89 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ score) and 79 percent on Popcornmeter

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

Directors: Danny and Michael Philippou

Writers: Bill Hinzman, Danny Philippou

Producers: Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton

Release date: May 30, 2025

Movie runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes 

Got this on your watchlist? Share your thoughts whether you agree with the review here.