- Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, Jonah Wren Phillips
- July 26th 2025
- 104
- Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Two step-siblings realise there is more to their new foster mum than meets the eye in this unsettling supernatural horror.
Sally Hawkins has played many off-kilter characters over the course of her career and now she’s upping the ante by playing a psycho.
Directed by Talk To Me‘s Danny and Michael Philippou, Bring Her Back follows 17-year-old Andy (Billy Barratt) and his visually impaired younger stepsister Piper (Sora Wong) after they are sent to live with foster mum Laura (Sally Hawkins) after their dad dies.
Laura, who is also grieving the loss of her visually impaired daughter, Cathy, seems like a quirky yet kind parental figure at first, but she slowly tries to drive a wedge between the siblings.
She targets Andy and tries to make it seem like he’s crazy – and it’s all a part of her terrifying plan for Piper and her creepy and mysterious foster child Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips).
The directing brothers do a terrific job of creating an unsettling and chilling atmosphere inside the house.
You immediately know that something is not right, but you can’t put your finger on it, and that tension and sense of uneasiness builds and builds.
For a long time, it’s more of a creepy psychological thriller as Laura is trying to get into Andy’s head, but then it veers into full-blown body horror territory.
Consider yourself warned that this is not for the faint-hearted. Some moments are so disgusting and bloody that you might need to watch them through your fingers!
There have been many creepy – or outright terrifying – children in horror history, and Phillips deserves to join that list as Oliver, a mute child who has to be locked in his room.
There is more to Oliver than meets the eye, and Phillips has to act out some very disturbing and otherworldly behaviours. Knowing you’re watching a young boy makes the horrifying imagery all the more shocking.
But the star of the show is Hawkins, who slowly turns up the dial from weird to totally unhinged over the course of the film.
Just like Talk To Me, Bring Her Back is a supernatural horror that will stick with you long after the credits roll.
In cinemas from Saturday 26th July.
By Hannah Wales.
© Cover Media