Family Requires Sacrifice! Never has that edict been more relevant than in the new film, Bring Her Back from the Philippou brothers, the filmmaking team that brought us 2022’s breakout Australian supernatural horror film, Talk to Me.

Well, the brothers are back at it in their horrifying tale of a troubled brother and sister who are placed in the remote countryside home of their mysterious new foster mother. At first, the isolation seems like a chance to heal old wounds, but strange occurrences and whispered warnings begin to unravel the truth.

As night falls, the siblings discover that their foster mother is the keeper of a dark, ancient ritual—one that demands a chilling sacrifice. The deeper they dig, the more they uncover a web of cryptic symbols, eerie relics, and unsettling visions that blur the line between reality and nightmare.

Racing against time and trapped miles from help, they must outwit forces both human and supernatural. Every door hides a secret, every shadow conceals a threat, and survival means confronting the unimaginable.

Bring Her Back grabs you by the wrist from its first shiver of strings and doesn’t let go. It threads classic thriller DNA through a contemporary sensibility, landing somewhere between gothic domestic nightmare and blood-slicked fable. Sally Hawkins anchors the film with a performance that is at once tender, brittle, and unnervingly opaque—a fragile candle flickering in a house built on secrets.

On paper, the premise sounds familiar: brother Andy (Billy Barratt) and sister Piper (newcomer Sora Wong) arrive at the secluded home of their new foster mother Laura (Hawkins) and eventually uncover a terrifying ritual. On screen, it feels fresh, though.

The Philippou brothers work from a lineage stretching back to 1962’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? borrowing the tension of weaponized caretaking and the horror of intimacy turned predatory. But they refuse to coast on homage alone. Their camera prowls; cuts snap like a trap; silence becomes a tool, then a threat. A wide shot of a hallway—dark, empty, impossibly long—does as much heavy lifting as any jump scare, and a late-act ritual sequence plays like a collision of myth and meat. This is how you do horror!

Hawkins is the film’s keystone. She vacillates from maternal warmth to something much colder with exact precision, letting a tremor in her voice or a long pause rewrite our assumptions in real time. Opposite her, the young leads – particularly non-sighted newcomer Wong – create a tight sibling bond; their whispered strategies (their safe word is “grapefruit”) and shared glances become our lifeline to safety as the walls continue to close in.

Emma Bortignon’s sound design is equally effective: distant taps that might be pipes or prayers, a low-frequency hum that creeps under the skin, and melodic notes that turn into dread.

Fair warning: Bring Her Back is not for everyone. In fact, my viewing partner bowed out fairly early on. It is bloody, it is gory, and it sometimes revels in over-the-top, in-your-face violence that will make you watch through parted fingers. Bloody Hell, that knife scene still brings shivers! Yet the excess serves a purpose. The brutality underlines the film’s central thesis—that family can be sanctuary or sacrament, but it can also be ceremony, and ceremonies demand offerings.

Some will argue the film leans too hard on genre tropes; I’d counter that it wields them with intent. The Philippous set the table with familiar cutlery, then carve new shapes - sometimes quite literally.

If you’re craving a thriller that respects the classics while cutting a fresh path through the woods, Bring Her Back is a dark, dazzling triumph. See it with the lights low, and let the house swallow you whole. Then come up for air and argue about what, exactly, was sacrificed.

4K Ultra HD Edition

Home Video Distributor: A24
Available on Blu-ray/4K - August 19, 2025
Screen Formats: 2:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH; Spanish
Video: Dolby Vision HDR
Audio: Dolby Atmos
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray lokced to Region A

VIDEO

A24’s 4K Ultra HD release of Bring Her Back is a striking showcase for the film’s moody visuals. Presented in 2160p with Dolby Vision HDR, the transfer delivers deep contrast and impressive shadow detail, essential for a story that unfolds in dimly lit interiors and candlelit spaces.

Pay particularly close attention to the nighttime sequence when the siblings are first exploring Laura's property by lantern light. The Dolby Vision HDR treatment makes the blacks in the surrounding forest inky and detailed without crushing shadow texture while the warm lantern glow creates a nice contrast against the moonlight.

Fine textures — wood grain, fabric, and weathered skin—come through with lifelike clarity. Overall, A24 has nailed it with this edition, which faithfully enhances the film’s unsettling tone with a cinematic look and feel.

AUDIO

A24’s 4K UHD release of Bring Her Back delivers an impressive Dolby Atmos mix that enhances the film’s unnerving atmosphere.

Dialogue remains crisp and clear, balanced against the haunting score and layered environmental effects. The surround channels immerse viewers fully, drawing them into the secluded home’s eerie spaces.

A memorable sequence occurs during the candlelit ritual, where whispers drift across channels while low rumbles swell overhead, creating a chilling sense of presence and dread that heightens the film’s tension. Nicely done A24!

Supplements:

Commentary:

• With directors Danny and Michael Philippou

Special Features:

• Coming Full Circle: Making Bring Her Back
• Collectible postcards with behind the Scenes Photography by Ingvar Kenne

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Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 104 mins
Director: Danny Philippou; Michael Philippou
Writer: Danny Philippou; Bill Hinzman
Cast: Billy Barratt; Sally Hawkins; Mischa Heywood
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "I'm going to drown you, love."
Distributor: A24
Official Site:
Release Date: May 30, 2025
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.