Jakarta. In 2022, Australian directors Danny and Michael Philippou made their feature directorial debut with the masterfully done horror “Talk to Me”. Fast forward to 2025, the Philippou twins are back with another horror, “Bring Her Back”. This is a movie that is so masterfully done, it takes them on a path to become the next horror kings. Grapefruit.

Seventeen-year-old boy Andy (Billy Barratt) and his younger, visually impaired stepsister Piper (Sora Wong) have to be placed in foster care after their dad died. They are taken in by the eccentric counselor Laura (Sally Hawkins), who lives with her mute foster son, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips). Just like “Talk to Me”, the Philippous explore grief in their second film. Laura herself is a grieving mother. She had lost her own blind daughter, Cathy, in a pool accident. The plot is all right there in the title. Laura wants to bring her daughter back to life by sacrificing Oliver and Piper via a demonic ritual. 

Clocking in at 1 hour and 39 minutes, “Bring Her Back” is filled with countless stomach-turning scenes. Because of the ritual, the possessed Oliver has an inhumane appetite that is so uncontrollable that the poor boy is willing to eat a knife and a kitchen counter. Laura’s character and Sally Hawkins’ acting brilliance become a major force that keeps the audience hooked. It is thanks to this deadly combo that “Bring Her Back” is extremely unsettling -- even in scenes when there is no blood at all. It also saves “Bring Her Back” from becoming a horror movie that solely relies on excessive gore.

From the get-go, Laura has shown a strong dislike towards Andy as he serves no actual purpose to Cathy's resurrection. Laura is obsessive and likes to overstep her boundaries. She is clueless about social norms (e.g., wearing bright colors to attend Andy-Piper’s father’s funeral). She goes through extreme lengths to drive Andy away. This includes convincing Andy that he has repeatedly wet himself. The creepy, two-faced woman tries to make Piper think that Andy has punched her in the face, even though that was all Laura’s doing. Such actions can easily make the bad foster mother a detestable antagonist. But the Philippou brothers managed to make the viewers hate and feel sorry for Laura at the same time. As the story unfolds, we learn of Laura’s struggles with grief and end up understanding why she is doing all of this.

“Bring Her Back” also tries to put the viewers in Piper’s shoes using out-of-focus shots. The girl can only see lights and shapes. Unlike her stepbrother, it also takes time for Piper to realize that something is wrong in the house. In the acoustic department, the Philippou twins do not use unnecessary loud noises to scare the audience, but they know how to catch them off guard. Because who would expect to hear the 2000s classic “Untouched” by The Veronicas in one of the movie’s intense scenes? 

“Bring Her Back” is now out in Indonesian cinemas as locals embark on a long weekend.