Bring Her Back directors Danny and Michael Philippou spoke at a Q&A in New York (which was also live-streamed to viewers in Los Angeles) following the film's first screening. They revealed the tragic influences that led to the final product.
Known for their work on the hit horror film Talk to Me, the Philippou brothers are back with a new terrifying tale. This time, they are tackling the topics of grief, resurrection, and possession in Bring Her Back. The movie sees two foster children (one of whom is visually impaired) thrown into a questionable new guardianship under the watchful protection of a mother who has just suffered a tragic loss. The movie stars Sally Hawkins, Bill Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, and more.
Bring Her Back Directors Reveal Tragic Influences on New Movie
"Whatever You're Going Through at the Time Is Like Automatically Inherent In the Material."
While speaking during a Q&A in New York City for their latest film, A24's Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Phillipou discussed the creation of the new tale of horror, which was heavily influenced by a tragedy in their real lives.
Danny was the first to speak, noting that there was a "big loss in the family:"
Danny Phillipou: When you're developing and writing something, it's just whatever's happening to you at the time, whatever you're going through at the time is like automatically inherent in the material, but you're right, and whenever we hit a roadblock of one project, we jump over to the next. Just make sure there was never a really long writer's block.
So, it was just interchanging between the two of them. But yeah, there was a bit of grief going on at the time in the family. There was a loss, that big loss in the family, and there were tragedies in our family, and then so just sort of, yeah, made its way over to the screen.
Elaborating, Danny emotionally told the story behind their cousin's tragic loss of their two-year-old:
Danny: I told the story one little time I've said it's like a really hard story to tell, but our cousin lost her two-year-old and like, it was this thing, like we were in the hospital with her, and the family was surrounding her in the hospital bed, and he was on the bed, and they were holding onto every part of him, Like his hands and his feet and his head, and my cousin was, like, the last person to let him go, and she didn't look like she was ever going to be okay, ever again.
And it was sort of tapping into that a little bit, and looking at that, and then, like, it gave me a big sense of anxiety. And it was so heartbreaking and so awful, and the idea of this cycle of grief that wouldn't end, or like if she wasn't okay ever again, if she couldn't let him go, and that was sort of like one of the sitting ideas for it.
Danny then went into depth about how horror as a genre is a great creative tool to express experiences like that and the emotions associated with them:
The best way to express anything [you're] going through, and any thoughts and feelings that you're going through. And then looking at it through a horror lens. And then looking at like, it's such a thing that I've been talking about horror before, but grief, the idea that grief is all consuming and takes a bite out of Laura, and she has a chance, maybe, to allow that wound to heal, but she decides to succumb to it and fall victim to it.
And, yeah, it is very cathartic. And then on set was very cathartic, because we lost another, like a close family friend who we think at the end there, and then, like, there was nowhere to process that or put that. And then the film became this place that you sort of put it in and those emotions, and we're very open about it with excel in our producers and stuff like that.
And then, yeah, it changed the script and the scenes that were written to be scary and upset, and it waswas the most expressive thing in it, like the most cathartic part, because we shot a lot of it as much as we could in order, like that moment in the pool shed...
It's just an expressive medium and expressive thing, and it's just like, naturally, anything that makes you uncomfortable, if you look back on anything in your childhood, you'd be like, That person was a little weird. This experience was a little weird. The stuff you're like, grabbing those different moments, anything that's like confronting or makes you uncomfortable, like, even the idea of metal against teeth... tap into that and write about that.
Michael then took a moment to address what he wants audiences to get from Bring Her Back after seeing it:
Michael Phillipou: It's a surreal experience, and it's just one of those things, when an idea of a movie gets in your head, it won't go away until you make it. And that's just one of those things that, it just will just stay there until you create it.
And with YouTube, we're able to all those kind of smaller ideas, ideas for fight sequences and like comedy stuff, like there was so much stuff that we wanted to do and try and see what would work, that we got all those kind of smaller ideas out. But then there's a whole life of these other ideas and characters and moments, the scenes and movies that we hadn't been able to do.
So, it was, yeah, it was like, 'Talk to Me' was a party movie. And then we wanted to do a character study. We wanted to do a slow burn. I wanted to focus on something that was more psychological. So there were different tones of different tempos...
What Do Audiences Think of Bring Her Back So Far?
Audiences Are Sure That 'Bring Her Back' Is Another Terrifying Experience
While Bring Her Back doesn't release in theaters until May 30, 2025, critics and the press who have seen the early screening are voicing their thoughts on the movie—and they sound positive.
The Direct declared that the filmmaking duo "have horror down to a tee:"
"I’ve now seen 'Bring Her Back,' and Danny & Michael Philippou make it very clear that they have horror down to a tee & man is some of this film uber uncomfortable. It’s a dark film that uses the horror genre to creatively explore grief in harrowing fashion—and lots of body horror."
Junior Felix from That Hashtag Show claims the movie is "one of the most original horror films [he's] seen in years:"
"'Bring Her Back' is one of the most original horror films I've seen in years. The film is heavy, frightening and just plain bonkers. It's a slow burn but trust me there are scenes that will have squirming in your seat and you'll leave the theater uncomfortable. Damn."
Mama's Geeky's Tessa Smith describes the story as a "devastating & heartbreaking look at grief:"
"'Bring Her Back' is a devastating & heartbreaking look at grief. It goes way harder than I expected - in a good way. It's disturbing, disgusting & thoroughly entertaining. As a parent there's a lot going through my mind right now. I dug it, but it's a LOT to take in."
Matt Neglia from the Next Best Picture Podcast admits that "it takes its time to build," but the movie is a "deeply disturbing and emotionally shattering exploration of grief:"
"'BRING HER BACK' is another deeply disturbing and emotionally shattering exploration of grief from Danny and Michael Philippou, fully delivering on the promise they showed with 'Talk To Me.' Sally Hawkins gives a haunting performance unlike anything she’s ever done before, and Jonah Wren Phillips impresses with a terrifying turn that contains some of the film’s most brutal moments. Though it takes its time to build, the film sustains a chilling atmosphere through symbolic, heavy rainfall and a foreboding score that keeps dread lingering in every frame."
Sean Boelman from FandomWire declared that Bring Her Back "is one of the most disturbingly executed horror films [he has] seen in years:"
"'Bring Her Back' is, in some ways, your typical indie horror about grief/trauma. However, it is one of the most disturbingly executed horror films I have seen in years. I don't often get squeamish in movies, but this one got me... not once but twice. A massive surprise."
