‘Bring Her Back’ is going to have you talking!
What a great Australian production! I was impressed with the casting, acting and cinematography on this one by the makers of ‘Talk To Me’, brothers, Danny and Michael Philippou.
The story follows two step siblings who recently lost their father. Piper and her older brother Danny are forced to move in with a foster carer, Laura. Laura, who recently lost her daughter, is also fostering another child, Oliver. The new family dynamics reveal weaknesses in the characters’ relationships before being strengthened by trauma bonding, which never goes well.
The story is slow to take off but there is enough suspense to keep you engaged. The themes of grief and loss are strong in the first half of the story, which takes a sinister and psychological turn, breaking down relationships in the household.
Gradually, the intensity builds and the supernatural themes catapult this movie from ‘The Exorcist’ to ‘Saw’ territory in terms of gore and cringe.
I love horror movies, so for me to look away means I have gone from ‘fun’ scared to ‘uncomfortable’ scared. I didn’t expect it to get so violently gory so quickly, especially with kids involved. If you want to watch something disturbing, this is the movie for you. But if you have a soft stomach, you may want to bring a teddy bear or watch cartoons afterwards. Some of these scenes are definitely not for the faint hearted.
I would have liked a bit more context to the characters instead of excessive amounts of gore. Specifically, I would have loved to known more about the death of the father. Additionally, more information about Laura’ s background and her connection to Oliver would have given the movie more depth.
This aside, I give this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars for its amazing execution of complex human emotions with extremely realistic (and horrific) imagery and effects