Rating: R | Runtime: 104 minutes
Release Date: May 30th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: A24
Director(s): Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Writer(s): Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman

Grapefruit.

This is a ballsy script. So much so that I do think pulling back on the throttle at the eleventh hour causes it to lose some impact. The ending on-screen is exactly what you’d expect from a more mainstream version of what comes prior, so it capping off what otherwise proves to be a glorious subversion of every trope-y turn on display inherently feels like a misstep.

Bring Her Back is still very good, though. Between this and Talk to Me, Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou are definitely confirming they’re the real deal where it comes to contemporary dark and (mostly) uncompromising horror.

Give Jonah Wren Phillips all the flowers too as his performance is the sort that should win awards but won’t because it’s in a genre film. Sally Hawkins is also phenomenal, but her internal battle with grief is yet another effective example of familiar metaphoric territory. That Phillips bests her work while also fulfilling the stereotypical “monster” role is something else completely.

---

(L-R) Sally Hawkins and Jonah Wren Phillips in BRING HER BACK; courtesy of A24, photo by Ingvar Kenne.