The starting point of Bring Her Back has solid undertones of the Philippou brothers’ last feature film Talk To Me (2022), with the plot-point of ‘protecting the younger sibling’ being common between the characters. Here Piper, Andy’s half-sister remains visually blind and after their father’s death, it all boils down to Andy to take care of his younger sibling, even while being months away from applying for custody. You see a sense of empathy on the part of Andy early on in the film, that translate into a caring sentiment for Piper, wherein he immediately drops in the middle of an interaction between Piper’s friends to save the day (and humiliation) for the latter due to her visual impairment. Yet, this plot-point would remain a partially conflicting one when the drama chooses to veer into the psychological horror territory later on in the film.

Elsewhere, the character of Laura remains eerily indifferent when you are first introduced to her. She remains weirdly zealous and outwardly expressive, even while referring to her past trauma of losing her daughter (also blind just like Piper) in a freak drowning incident. Here even the element of grief remains contrasting – the trauma of Andy and Piper losing their father is invisible, and drastically different from Laura losing her child. One of the worst feelings in the world remains that of parents experiences the loss of their children, a fact that is irrepairable, and in this case epitomizing the character of Laura. In the words of Laura, she would do anything to be called ‘mum’ one last time, even while fostering a mute boy Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips).

There is an underlying social commentary on the foster homes that house foster children in the society. While there is a general consensus of good-hearted adults volunteering for this activity, the point of discussion also remains on whether children are adjusted to them. It almost has its shades rooted in the animated English film Memoir Of A Snail (2024), that followed a similar trope with the exception here that both Andy and Piper are sent to the same foster home. The adjustment is a little more severe for Andy, firstly given his age of being months away from his sister’s custody, and secondly, him experiencing favouritism towards his sister. In a scene, Andy is asked to take care of Oliver while Laura takes Piper out for shopping. And it isn’t as if Andy doesn’t try to warm up – you see him baring his soul while talking about his father’s atrocities on him while the latter continued to love his half-sister, a trait that he soon begins to re-experience in this new house.

The horror elements in the fray are brutal but what remained impressive was the variety of horror on display. It ranged from psychological wherein Andy started doubting his own sanctity of harming his own sister, to something more gory and bloody with Oliver shown to be ‘eating’ a knife, or even biting away on the kitchen stand. Here, even the atmospherics play an important part with respect to its setting of a closed house, that is home to one but many horrors in the midst. The horror grammer also houses another social commentary – on the reliance of videos to use it as a home remedy for a variety of things. Here, the ‘curse’ emerges from a VHS tape that stages a grainy video of occultism that is implied to be replicated in real life.

There are moments of intrigue and unpredictability even as the ‘mystery’ is out of the bag. But a part of you still resonates towards the emotional core of one of the characters, even as the drama coaxes you to think about your options, if the idea of resurrecting a near and dear one were to be offered to you. The events are designed to be a tragedy, that follows the events of a larger tragedy, wherein everyone stands to lose. The emotions on the surface remain brutal and sinister, but deep within, there lies a sense of hope and desperation on the part of one character (purposely keeping things vague to avoid spoilers). So even when the chaos has ended, the haunting image of a particular character as the parting shot of the film is enough for the drama to affect you, hours after it has ended. The screenplay is really a knockout and manages to score even with its solid emotional core.