As a critic and film fan, I find myself drawn to movies that make me smile and weep in equal measures. I’m much less accustomed to movies that make me scream and weep. However, surprisingly, those are just as effective, as I have recently discovered with The Philippou Brothers’ Bring Her Back, a modern-day horror masterpiece.

I’ll be the first to admit that as much as I liked Talk to Me, a part of me was expecting to love it a lot more than I did. It was well written and scary enough. However, as emotional as it was, it wasn’t as traumatic or clever for me as my some of my favorite horror movies of the decade, such as Hereditary or Ready or Not. That being said, it was a solid movie, and even more, an incredibly impressive debut from two YouTubers, who ended up surprising everyone to become genuinely talented filmmakers. And with Bring Her Back, not only do The Philippou Brothers, Danny and Michael Philippou, find themselves surpassing their previous theatrical endeavor, but truly coming into their own as the finest horror filmmakers working today!

Bring Her Back follows two step siblings, 17-year-old Andy (Billy Barratt) and his younger, visually impaired step-sister, Piper (Sora Wong). After the unexpected death of their father, they are sent to live with a foster named Laura (Sally Hawkins), a former mother also recovering from the loss of her visually impaired daughter. At first Laura seems to be eccentric but caring, but Andy notices there’s definitely something off about her. They also meet Laura’s other foster child, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), a mute child with incredibly strange tendencies. The longer Andy and Piper get to know Laura and Oliver, the stranger and more violent things become, until Andy realizes that the pair of them may have just stepped into a truly terrifying nightmare.

Like many movies of its kind, I won’t go too much into spoiler territory, because Bring Her Back definitely benefits significantly when you know much less about it. I will say there’s a lot going on in this movie that truly elevates it above similar horror films of its kind, and certainly the Philippou’s last film. In fact, there’s a level of somber maturity and pathos with Bring Her Back that I thought was more effective here than Talk to Me, though they make terrific companion pieces to one another.

What’s particularly impressive about The Philippou Brothers is how elegantly and seamlessly they navigate the themes of grief and trauma in both films. At its core both Talk to Me and Bring Her Back tackle similar subject matter. But Bring Her Back, I feel, does a stronger job handling it, showing how much The Philippous have learned since their debut feature. I think the film is a lot more subtle about it than Talk to Me, in that not everything is shown for you on screen, but what’s going on is certainly understated yet well defined within the film’s characters; in particular Laura and Andy.

And what terrific characters we get! The way The Philippous flesh out their characters, making them all feel real and multi-dimensional is astonishing. The loving nature of Andy and Piper’s relationship, their challenges at school, in reality; none of it feels forced or out of place. Andy’s protective nature of Piper is so understandable given her condition, and Piper’s innocence truly stems from the more optimistic disposition of the character. We love these two the minute we see them, because they’re smart and caring, and this so important since we must fear for their lives for the horror to be effective. Additionally the character of Laura is terrific on a multitude of complicated levels. That’s what I loved about her; she’s not just a straightforward villain. She’s incredibly complex, desperate, and ultimately so tragically flawed.

Part of this is the terrific writing, but part of it is also due to the terrific performances of the cast overall. Starting and led by the brilliant Sally Hawkins, who gives a stellar Oscar-worthy performance as Laura. How Hawkins is able to take a dark character like this one, but infuse it with a sincere sense of humanity is astonishing. It’s partially where the movie gets much of its emotional center from. Hawkins, in collaboration with the Philippous, understands that more important than the notes she’s playing on screen in her performance, are the notes she isn’t playing. We don’t necessarily get every aspect of Laura spelt out for us, and in many ways, what’s on the page actually dictates that we shouldn’t necessarily feel for her. And yet, with her performance, you still find yourself, in some ways, pitying her and empathizing with her trauma and desperation. There’s a level of understanding of what she does and why, and you end up sympathizing to a point. Then following that sympathy, you find yourself terrified, because Hawkins’ ability to transform herself into something more sinister. It’s a multifaceted performance that drives the tone and themes of the film, as well as its more emotional and tragic elements.

Surprisingly, though, gunning for Hawkins’ spotlight, are her young costars. Barratt, Wong, and Phillips are absolutely stellar. Barratt displays a level of maturity and tragedy in a weighty role for a character that has to carry so much. He plays Andy as a human being, rather than a stereotypical teen, and thus, when emotional moments happen with the character, you truly and genuinely connect with him. Phillips is also a phenomenon, often stealing the screen with simply a few grunts and a terrifying look in his eyes. His role might be the most challenging given his limited dialogue, but he is capable of instilling fear into you just from a stare and some guttural noises. As for Wong, I was absolutely floored when I found out this was her first acting role. She’s a natural, able to convey a sense of innocence and pain in Piper that makes you buy into the sweet relationship between the character and her step brother. Its the dynamic between Wong and Barratt that automatically has you invested you into their plight and their relationship. And Wong even has some really physically challenging moments in the film that are incredibly impressive for anyone to take on; let alone a young actress with visual impairments in real life, such as Wong.

Going back to the idea of “the notes being played and not played” there is an element of world-building in Bring Her Back that is absolutely brilliant. While there’s a larger mythology that is alluded to in the film, no answers or history about it is explicitly told to us. Instead we get bits and pieces of information about potential cults or rituals without too much context behind any of it, and to me the movie is so much better for it. The amount of restraint The Philippous showcase here is astonishing, and on a level we don’t see in most horror films these days, let alone any film. And that’s because the brothers are terrific at *showing* rather than telling. It’s what we call amazing writing and filmmaking, leaving a lot of the unknown elements of this world up to the imagination of the audience, while giving them just enough information to essentially piece everything together. By the time the credits roll, we may (intentionally) not receive every answer, but we certainly are not left with any questions either. What we are left with is pure emotion and reflection, as well as the lasting impact Bring Her Back leaves on its audience. And that is legitimately the type of filmmaking we need today.

On a technical level, the movie has some terrific cinematography courtesy of Talk to Me director of photography, Aaron McLisky. What McLisky shows you versus what he doesn’t contributes to the lasting, haunting nature of the film, with striking visuals that will shock you. He takes a grainy approach depicting some old VHS footage that’s just utterly disturbing. And when he switches over to present day occurrences, whether it’s zooming in on knives and blood, or close ups of some really messed up imagery, it’s equally so. The other technical element that also deserves so much praise is the sound design and sound engineering for this movie. There’s a lot of growls that sound so otherworldly, but also the disturbing, nail-biting effects of metal clanging, bone cracking, and other disturbing elements that set your teeth on edge. Excellent work from sound effects editor Lee Yee and his team. And lastly, the practical blood and body horror effects that we saw the Philippous employ to terrific degrees in Talk to Me work equally as nightmarish here. They really know their way around a messed up visual, sending you cringing in your seat with every bloody, visceral gory detail that embeds itself onto your eyeballs.

It must also be said how admirable it is for The Philippous to write a movie centered on a differently-abled character, like Piper. And to cast a POC with those similar conditions, like Wong, to portray her. It’s something that’s central to the story, and most of all, allows for greater representation for folks like Wong to get starring roles in films like this. It’s such a great idea, and one that is important to the story on a multitude of levels, both for Laura’s character, and Andy and Piper. Not a lot of movies, horror or otherwise, do what Bring Her Back does in this regard, as it puts the spotlight on actors and characters with visual impairments, but never talks down to them, never makes it the core of who their characters are, and also speaks authentically about the condition Piper has. To get an actress like Wong as well, to portray this character, regardless of the fact that she’s Asian and Andy’s character is Caucasian is also a terrific move, because they simply show how they’re prioritizing Wong’s stellar abilities over her ethnicity. And the movie is all the better for it because her brother/sister dynamic with Barratt is so effective for this movie. It doesn’t matter that they’re step brother and sister because the sibling connection is palpable thanks to the tremendous writing and actors behind them.

As far as flaws go, Bring Her Back has very few, which is actually surprising and impressive. Perhaps the only thing I could say about it would be that the ending feels a bit abrupt. However, it’s still the right ending for the film to have, staying true to the characters and what’s been established of them thus far. I do wish there was a bit more to it, but there’s an emotional moment that impacts you so hard, it simply stays with you, regardless of whether or not we get answers about what happens next.

For as terrified as you might be from the brilliant imagery and haunting premise of Bring Her Back, beneath it all, there’s a very somber story of family, grief, and loss; one that highlights the maturity and emotional depth exhibited by The Philippous as filmmakers. This is hands down one of my favorite movies of the year, filled with stellar performances, powerful themes, and emotional, heartbreaking moments that resonate with you long after the credits roll. The Philippous and their amazing cast and crew should be proud, because Bring Her Back is an exercise and a challenge in filmmaking that they all rose up to, proving themselves among the most capable and impressive new filmmakers working, not just in horror, but in cinema today. And the cast gives among the most profoundly human performances I’ve seen in a film all year, led by an Oscar-worthy turn from Hawkins. While horror as a genre is often overlooked by critics and awards voters alike annually, what The Philippous have done with Bring Her Back is a testament to the potential for horror films to be as good as cinema can get, and I dare any naysayers to see this powerful, beautiful, tragic film, and not agree with that overall sentiment.

Overall Score (on an entertainment level): A –
Overall Score (on a representation level): A