On May 29, 'Bring Her Back', a new horror film from the creators of the sensational 'Talk to Me', will be released in Russian theaters. In our review, we discuss what thoughts the fresh work of the Philippou brothers provokes and how it differs from...

After the death of their father, Andy (Billy Barratt) and visually impaired Piper (Sora Wong) fall into the hands of child protective services. Soon, a middle-aged woman named Laura (Sally Hawkins) expresses a desire to adopt the girl, but the brother and sister oppose this arrangement. Realizing that she cannot separate them, she takes both into her care. Piper takes a liking to their new stepmother, while Andy finds her behavior strange. No less questionable is Oliver (Jonah Ren Phillips), another foster child of Laura's, whom she chose not to mention.

Two years ago, Australian YouTubers Michael and Danny Philippou, without any hesitation and, on the contrary, with astonishing self-confidence, burst into the world of big cinema. Their debut work (the Russian version of the title is hellish vulgarity) came closest to becoming an exemplary horror film for Generation Z. Few have managed to so accurately convey the hang-ups and 'troubles' (slang, possibly outdated, the author of the text is an 'oldie') of today's youth. But most importantly, their film, while formally being a post-horror, did not 'bait' for recognition and gave off the 'vibe' of that very party under a sampled remix of Edith Piaf.

Ivan Kilyakov

A Hand Without Help: Review of 'Talk to Me', the Most Praised Horror of the Year

The film 'Talk to Me' has been released, a moderately engaging genre statement about not disturbing the dead. About the popular horror that many (seemingly, not fully

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The Philippou brothers are self-taught with a prankster background, and they know exactly how to elicit an emotional response from viewers on the other side of the screen. Talking to Gen Z about death and the harmfulness of self-destruction, and doing so in a lively, understandable language rather than from the position of strict adults, is no easy task. And it is more likely that bloggers, who are constantly in contact with their audience, can handle it than experienced directors.

The new film from the duo did not take long to arrive. First, Michael and Danny announced a sequel to their hit, and then declared that another film would be released before it, set in the same universe. Since work on these horrors was carried out in parallel, it is possible that the directors hid some references to the previous project in 'Bring Her Back'. However, if such references exist, they are somewhere in the realm of related themes and narratives, not in the story.

It is not hard to believe that the scripts were written simultaneously. Both films indeed talk about the same thing: how the pain of loss breaks the psyche of the mourner and pushes them to seek 'non-standard' solutions to overcome the crisis. In the main character of 'Talk to Me', the rejection of reality resulted in an escape from it through drug-induced stupor, while in the central characters of the new film, it manifests as a paranoid desire to find (or create) a replacement. Of course, the Philippous hid all these meanings under a thick layer of plaster in the debut and under a thickness of bloody water in the second film.

Nevertheless, 'Bring Her Back' still cannot be called a copy of the 2023 film. The main difference is that the addressee has lost its age reference, and the senders have become a bit older and more serious, which may not be so noticeable in interviews but is obvious during viewing. The tone has also changed. Although teenagers who never put down their phones are again at the center of the plot, youthful fervor has this time given way to painful melancholy. Even in the most repulsive and disgusting moments, sadness can suddenly wash over the audience.

If not with sympathy, then with understanding or condescension, we are forced to watch even the villainess played by Sally Hawkins. Her mental confusion is dictated by a traumatic experience that she was unable to overcome. However, the fact that the authors feel pity for the antagonist and encourage us to feel the same in the finale does not make her any less sinister and irritating. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the role of the occultist stepmother is the most atypical performance in the actress's career.

The mask of a caring guardian falls from Laura's true face already in the first scene with her, when she offers visually impaired Piper to pet a stuffed dog and then makes fun of her. By the way, the Philippou brothers should have hidden (or better yet, not mentioned at all) the fact that Hawkins' character is into taxidermy: it is too obvious a spoiler for further plot twists. During the subsequent part of the runtime, viewers will watch the woman torment poor Andy and brazenly lie to his sister. Sometimes the supernatural and monstrous recede into the background, and the film turns into a psychological thriller.

But, as they say, you can't live on words alone. As soon as you take your hand away from your eyes, the brothers immediately throw in something that will deprive you of your appetite and, perhaps, sleep for the next 24 hours. Michael and Danny see no ethical boundaries and create a real 'cannibal hell' on screen. The program includes picking teeth with a knife blade, eating one's own flesh, and a snuff film with commentary in Russian. In terms of nastiness, the duo's new film far surpasses the debut, which now seems herbivorous. 'Bring Her Back' is a purebred body horror, and, as befits films of this direction, all episodes of violence and bodily transformations are presented with nauseating relish.

In between these scenes, viewers will be fed dark omens, recurring visual images (mostly circles), and symbolism. The latter, however, is not much deeper than a home swimming pool (although the author of the text liked the metaphor about airplanes). It is not entirely clear what the priority task is for the Philippous—telling stories about traumatized people or showing shock content that cannot be uploaded to YouTube. Apparently, we should wait for the sequel to 'Talk to Me' to get an answer to this question. For now, we can state the following: the nuggets from Adelaide have certainly not lost their debutant fervor, and that is good!

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