Danny and Michael Philippou's Aussie supernatural shocker Talk To Me went on to earn $92 million worldwide and emerged as A24’s third-highest-grossing release of all time. The popular indie banner will be hoping to replicate the film's success with the siblings’ sophomore feature, and based on these first reactions, Bring Her Back has a good chance of being just as big a hit.
Though there are a couple of negative-leaning posts, the majority of critics who were invited to see the movie early were very impressed - although Bring Her Back does not sound like an easy watch (we'd expect nothing less).
The official synopsis doesn't tell us very much: “A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.”
Said brother and sister are played by Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, with the great Sally Hawkins playing against type as the foster mother. Other cast members include Jonah Wren Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, Stephen Phillips and Mischa Heywood.
The recent full trailer did give us a little more to go on, as it looks like Hawkins' character has discovered a young medium who can serve as a conduit to contact and potentially resurrect the spirit of her deceased daughter.
Check out the social media reactions below, and we'll be sure to update as more are shared.
"We were in the middle of writing Bring Her Back,” Danny Philippou shared during a preview event (via Bloody Disgusting), “and my cousin lost her two-year-old, and we were in the hospital, and I was just seeing her on the bed, holding this kid, and the family were all around him, and they were holding his feet, and his hands, and his head, and his arms, and eventually, over time, everyone let him go. And my cousin was the last one to let him go.”
“Horror is a fun way to look at dark things like that,” Danny added. “Like the idea of her never being okay ever again after that, that was an inspiration point. How far she would go, you know, to heal herself from it. And the idea of a never ending grief cycle is terrifying to me, and seeing raw grief like that is terrifying.”
“It’s fantastic to welcome Danny and Michael back to Adelaide to shoot their second film. These two are enormously talented and a credit to South Australia. ‘Talk to Me’ has been a huge success globally and I can’t wait to see Bring Her Back get underway and showcase South Australia to the world,” said South Australia’s state Minister for the Arts, Andrea Michaels.
The movie is produced by Causeway Films and RackaRacka, in association with Salmira Productions and SAFC.
“The SAFC is so proud to have played a supporting role in Danny and Michael Philippou’s meteoric rise to success, and we are thrilled that they have chosen to bring their next feature film back home to South Australia and Adelaide Studios,” said SAFC CEO Kate Croser. Bring Her Back hits theaters this summer.