Bring Her Back (2025) – A Horror Movie Review a Day Halloween 2025

Welcome to Knockout Horror. It’s day 19 of our 31 days of Halloween movie review a day feature. Back in 2022, Aussie YouTube creators Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou absolutely shocked the horror world with their massive supernatural hit film Talk to Me. Three years later, they had the unenviable task of attempting to follow up that success with their sophomore effort Bring Her Back. Today, we are going to be taking a look at whether or not they succeeded.

Grief, Loss, and… Satanic Rituals?

Whereas Talk to Me was a fairly formulaic supernatural story that acted as an analogue for substance abuse. Bring Her Back goes in a completely different direction. The focus here is on grief, loss, and finding the strength to move on after a death. All told through a medium of satanic rituals and some absolutely wince inducing body horror.

The story follows step-siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong). The pair have found themselves entering the foster care system after the death of their father. Andy, soon to turn 18, wants to take custody of Piper but, due to his age and a history of violent behaviour, is currently unable to do so.

After they are both placed in the home of child psychologist Laura (Sally Hawkins), Andy has to be on his best behaviour to keep a low profile. A task that will become incredibly difficult as it seems as though Laura is hiding a terrible secret.

I’ve actually already explained the ending to Bring Her Back so go check that out if you have already watched the movie and are looking for answers. Keep in mind, though, while this review is spoiler free, the ending explained most definitely isn’t.

From RackaRacka to Bring Her Back

The story behind the Philippou brothers, known online collectively as RackaRacka, is pretty incredible. They started their YouTube career over a decade ago in 2013 with Danny funding the endeavor via medical experiments. Their success garnered the attention of production company Triptych Pictures affording the pair an opportunity to work as additional crew on The Babadook. From there on out, it’s been success after success.

Talk to Me was an absolute breakthrough hit in 2022 and garnered a bunch of mentions in best horror movie of the year lists. Deservedly so, too. I have to be perfectly honest, as much as I could appreciate the movie. The absolutely obnoxious lead character really undermined my enjoyment of it. Bring Her Back has no such problem. The characters here, Piper and Andy, are incredibly likable and easy to root for.

We are dropped in right as their father passes away. There’s, obviously, a lot of water that has gone under the bridge in the recent past and we learn more about this as the movie goes on. Suffice to say, Andy and Piper’s relationship was once complicated but they are now devoted to each other. Piper has severely impaired sight and Andy acts as something of a comfort to her. Helping to guide her through life.

The step-siblings are dealing with, not only, grief from losing their father but also the fear of losing each other. The lady they are placed with, Laura, has dealt with her own measure of grief. Losing her daughter recently in a horrible accident. She’s currently caring for her mute nephew, Oliver, as well but it seems like all isn’t quite what it seems in her isolated home.

Likable Heroes, Twisted Villains

While things start off seemingly okay, Laura’s intensity and apparent dislike of Andy creates problems almost immediately. He needs to stay on the straight and narrow but Laura has no intention of making things easy for him. Saying any more would risk spoiling the plot. Needless to say, things are about to take a severe turn for the worse.

The characters here are easy to relate to and pretty well developed. Andy is a likable protagonist and his motivation is always easy to understand. Piper’s impairment, obviously, imparts a sense of vulnerability on her that only adds to how much you want these two to succeed. Oliver, we know less about but he is going to be providing the bulk of the horror. Later exposition will only heighten the impact of some of his scenes.

All three are buoyed up by some utterly stellar performances from Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, and Jonah Wren Phillips. There isn’t a weak link in this cast and everyone stands out as being completely believable. Phillips, in particular, has such a complex role to play but delivers it fantastically.

Laura is a very interesting antagonist who is incredibly well performed by British actress Sally Hawkins. While her motivations are understandable, she’s such a twisted person that it’s impossible not to despise her for what she has planned. It creates an interesting clash of emotions that makes her quite compelling.

Visceral Horror with an Emotional Core

The supernatural stuff does, once again, play centre stage here, for the most part. It comes along with a huge dose of domestic drama, though. Laura and Andy frequently butt heads and this creates its own sense of tension and atmosphere. We gradually learn more about what Laura is planning and this opens up the story quite a lot. The frustration and tension really grows as Laura’s plans become more clear.

Bring Her Back has some of the nastiest body-horror moments I have ever seen. Obviously, I won’t spoil them but the Philippou twins were in their bag when it comes to shocking the viewer. It’s horrifyingly creative stuff and the practical effects only make it even more visceral and nasty. This is a treat for people who love to see the human body splitting and breaking apart in horrible ways.

You could argue that the primary directive was to leave the viewer wincing and wanting to turn away but that’s what body-horror is all about. From this perspective, Bring Her Back doesn’t feel as nuanced and sharp as Talk to Me’s various spirits and supernatural beings but it still works incredibly well.

It’s the emotional heft of the story that carries this movie through, though. This is, ostensibly, a tale about crushing grief that is told through a horror lens. With this in mind, it is very easy to buy into and invest in as most can surely empathise with all of the characters here. Bring her Back is frequently sad and tragic but also features a few enjoyable moments of catharsis as the characters briefly forget their pain.

It should be pointed out, as well, that this movie shows tremendous growth for the Philippou brothers as filmmakers. Shot setups are better, cinematography is improved, the script is tighter, and the character writing is improved. This feels like the work of experienced directors and a great sign of what’s to come.

Ambitious, If a Little Muddled

With the praise comes a few problems. Whereas Talk to Me was a very focused movie that rarely strayed from the simple story it was trying to tell. Bring Her Back is a bit more ambitious and, consequently, a little more muddled. There are a lot of strings to this story and a lot of competing narrative elements.

We have Andy and Piper’s grief, their previously complicated relationship, Andy’s desire to gain custody of Piper, and a bunch of dark family secrets. Laura’s own story of grief plays out alongside Oliver’s strange behaviour. There’s also a bunch of other side stuff all going on at the same time.

There’s even some satanic cult stuff here and there that only adds to the chaos. It feels a bit messy, a lot less focused, and like there are too many competing arcs, at times. To be perfectly honest, though, the messiness doesn’t derail the movie’s emotional core. However, it does create a few logic fails that will leave you scratching your head.

Some are likely to feel like the horror is purely based around shock value which will leave them feeling a bit short-changed. The ending is one that will absolutely divide viewers, as well. It was changed due to the twins actually experiencing the death of a friend which changed how they viewed the subject. This leaves it feeling a lot more conclusive but also a lot less creative and interesting. Some will likely find it to be extremely unsatisfying.

Should You Watch Bring Her Back?

I really enjoyed Bring Her Back and highly recommend it. For me, it fixed my complaints about Talk to Me in a huge way. Likable characters, a slightly less formulaic story, some truly disgusting body horror, and a story that is heavy with grief and emotion. It’s a bit muddled at times, there’s a bit too much going on, there’s a few logic fails here and there, and some will absolutely hate the ending. With that being said, this film shows tremendous growth for two exciting directors and is easily one of the best horror movies of 2025.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

Support the Site Knockout Horror is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Basically, if you click a link to rent or buy a movie, we may earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps keep the lights on and the nightmares coming. Don't worry, we will never recommend a movie purely to generate clicks. If it's bad, we will tell you.

Disclaimer: Images, posters, and video stills used in this review are the property of their respective copyright holders. They are included here for the purposes of commentary, criticism, and review under fair use. Knockout Horror makes no claim of ownership and encourages readers to support the official release of all films discussed.