On a sticky, rain-soaked May evening, at a screening for their gut-wrenching (in all senses of the term) new film “Bring Her Back,” filmmaker brothers Danny and Michael Philippou approached an eager New York City crowd with a healthy sense of trepidation. Their 2023 horror breakthrough “Talk to Me” earned rave reviews from critics and performed exceptionally well for a debut feature, earning substantial word-of-mouth praise from audiences over a busy, “Barbie”-fied summer release schedule. As if the pressure to live up to expectations wasn’t intimidating enough, the brothers had only finished “Bring Her Back” a few days before its initial screening, working up to the last minute to shore up the film’s final cut before showing it to audiences. Suffice it to say, their nerves were warranted.
But as the screening finished, the lights went up, and the Philippou brothers sat down for a brief post-show Q&A, it quickly became clear that their apprehension was not merely a bout of filmmaker performance anxiety. “Bring Her Back” is an intensely personal film for the twin siblings, who came up in Australia making scrappy yet wildly popular short-form YouTube sketches under their channel RackaRacka, before stepping into the feature-length narrative space. The film was partially inspired by a friend who lost their child, and the end credits feature a dedication to another family friend, Harvey Wallace, who passed away suddenly during pre-production, which the brothers say had a fundamental, if inadvertent, impact on the film. “When you get really personal, it’s a way to exorcise those demons or to express something you can’t entirely put into words,” Danny Philippou told Salon. “It did feel like we were grieving somebody at that time . . . and the film became about saying goodbye to them as well.”
Jonah Wren Phillips in “Bring Her Back” (Ingvar Kenne/A24)
“I think the [thematic] cohesion is what drew Sally Hawkins to it as well, from a character point of view, really diving into Laura and her scenes in a human way. Grief is something that’s not obscure. It’s ingrained into the film and the characters.”
As its title suggests, “Bring Her Back” is as much about saying goodbye as it is the desperation to come face-to-face with a loved one, long after they’re gone. In her first proper horror film, Sally Hawkins stars as Laura, a seemingly doting foster mother to Andy (Billy Barratt) and his little sister Piper (brilliant newcomer Sora Wong), who has low vision. Laura lost her daughter, who also had limited vision, some years prior, and has devoted herself to foster parenting in the wake of her grief. And though Andy is hyper-protective of Piper, Laura’s instant familiarity and comfort around his sister provide an unusual respite. That is, until Laura’s other foster, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), begins to exhibit increasingly strange behavior, which Laura brushes off. In their brief time together, Laura, Piper and Andy strengthen their bond, only to realize how terrifying it is to be stuck to something as it starts to rot.
Though “Talk to Me” rode the wave of recent horror films that build an allegory around grief, “Bring Her Back” is different. It shirks overt metaphor for an atmosphere that is disarmingly intimate and tender, using Hawkins’ warmth to pull viewers in before submerging them in Laura’s trenchant sadness. The film is lighter on scares than its predecessor. Still, the Philippous have filled any gaps with fantastic character work and rich, haunting details — like Andy and Piper’s code word, “grapefruit,” which they repeat when they know the other sibling isn’t being honest. In “Bring Her Back,” every solitary frame, needle drop and word of dialogue brims with intention. Yet, despite the movie’s often overwhelming darkness, the Philippou brothers are light and effusive, so excited to talk about their film that they often talk over one another just to finish a point. Earlier this month, Danny and Michael Philippou brought their singular sibling energy to Salon to tell us what it was like making one of the year’s most surprising, affecting films yet.
Sally Hawkins and Jonah Wren Phillips in “Bring Her Back” (Ingvar Kenne/A24). At the screening in Brooklyn earlier this month, you mentioned that “Bring Her Back” is a film very close to your hearts. I know it’s an emotional subject, but could you explain why writing and making this film was so important to you?
Danny Philippou: Horror — not just horror, any sort of art — when you get really personal, it’s a way to exorcise those demons, or to express something you can’t entirely put into words. So [making a film] is about drawing from those real experiences and putting them somewhere where you don’t have to carry them anymore. That’s just how we tackle any of the art that we’re doing. Anything that we’re writing, anything that we’re making, is to put ourselves out there and express personal things. It did feel like we were grieving somebody at that time, we just lost them in pre-production, and the film became about saying goodbye to them as well. The best way to make art is to be as personal as possible.
It’s a closed circle. And speaking of, you mentioned at that same screening that you had just wrapped the movie. What were you doing up until the last minutes?
Michael Philippou: The sound mix was the final thing to do, and we were right up against it, trying to get it all done in time. And that’s what was surreal about it. We hadn’t even processed what the movie was. And then going into showing it, it was like . . .
Danny Philippou: Oh my God, so terrifying. I got up for that Q&A, and at the start, it was like, I can’t even speak.
Tell me about how you strived to make grief overwhelm this film, because the feeling envelops this entire movie, as opposed to being just an allegory or metaphor.
Danny Philippou: Naturally, because it was happening at the time. Films that were written to be scary turned out really sad because of what we’re going through. And in the script writing process, it’s about having that lived history, or having this thing that’s tying all of these characters together. When you’re telling a story, everything is serving the theme, it’s not just the metaphor; the characters are serving this theme, the environment is serving this theme. We’re making sure it all ties together — even the sound design and the rain representing these characters’ grief. That feels like you’re telling a cohesive story, when that all ties back to this one thing.
Michael Philippou: I think that’s what drew Sally to it as well, from a character point of view. Really diving into [Laura] and her scenes in a human way. Grief is something that’s not obscure. It’s ingrained into the film and the characters.
Danny Philippou: But there are metaphorical things there, and there are certain scenes that are representing different stuff that’s a bit more vague. [Laughs.] Which I like as well! But having the main thing be grief, it’s like, don’t hide that it’s about that. There’s no shame.
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Let’s talk about Laura. She’s a woman who’s dedicated her life to taking care of children until hers was taken from her, and it transformed her love into all-consuming darkness. How did you approach that balance, where Laura is incredibly monstrous but also very human?
Danny Philippou: It comes from working through the character with Sally. It’s like, “Don’t look at this through a horror lens, look at this through a human lens. What is actually happening here?” A big thing for the film, and having a character to uncomfortably empathize with, is showing that she’s struggling with what she has to do. This isn’t an easy thing for Laura [to hurt these kids]. It’s not like, “I’m just going to get this done.” She actually, at points in the film, doesn’t want to do this. She’s not an outward villain. The world, this experience and this scenario have twisted her into something else.
Jonah Wren Phillips and Sally Hawkins in “Bring Her Back” (Ingvar Kenne/A24). Sally brings this film so much in terms of humanizing what would otherwise be a very grotesque, supernatural story. What was it like to get the call that she was on board for this? Because you’ve mentioned that you didn’t think she’d be interested in this film.
Michael Philippou: No f**kin’ way we didn’t! [Laughs.] We’re such big fans, but we even got told that our energy and hers are so different that it would never work. But hearing that she was interested in it, and chatting with her . . .
Danny Philippou: She really, really connected with it. Sally loved the script. And she never looked at it, like, “Oh, I’m gonna try a genre film now!” She just connected to Laura as a character. She wasn’t looking at it through any genre lens, it was purely from the character. And that was the conversation with her. She was picking up on the smallest little details, asking about them, and the conversation with her felt so natural. It felt like we’d known her forever. And once we got off the Zoom, it was like, “We have to make this work. Whatever we need to do to have her in the film. Please.” We love her so much.
“It was the most amazing thing, seeing Sora from the start of production and watching her at the end. She had all these doubts she could do anything, and then at the wrap party, she’s scream-singing and jumping along, having the time of her life. They were two different people.”
She seems like someone who would gel well with you guys! She seems like she can let her hair down.
Michael Philippou: She’s so much fun. There’s times when you just want to hang out with her. The most fun thing was on the weekends, watching movies with Sally, and getting inspiration for the scenes.
Danny Philippou: And someone that you’re comfortable with, you can ask, “Can we just go to the set at 5 a.m., and film Laura in this environment?” And she’s like, “Yeah, let’s do it!” So it’s just us, her and the cameraman. No one else is there. We’re just in this world together. She was down for all that kind of stuff.
Michael Philippou: Working with someone who’s that passionate and involved and who cares that much is the most amazing.
Danny Philippou: She wasn’t phoning it in.
Billy Barratt and Sora Wong in “Bring Her Back” (Ingvar Kenne/A24)I want to talk about Sora Wong. She’s magnificent in this movie, it’s so hard to believe this is her debut. She’s so natural and vulnerable. Tell me what it was like working and settling into this character, because in the film, she reads so game for everything, like the wild scene where Piper, Laura and Andy are all getting drunk together.
Danny Philippou: She was nervous about all of that stuff. She was like, “I don’t know if I can sing on camera. I don’t know if I can dance on camera. I don’t know if I can cry on camera.” She had these walls put up and these doubts that she put on herself, and then the film was about getting her comfortable to be able to express herself in the most outward way. It was like, “This is a safe place. You don’t feel embarrassed about [anything]. There is no such thing as a bad take. There’s no such thing as you doing something wrong.” It’s about expressing ourselves here and getting people comfortable to be able to portray these characters. It was the most amazing thing, seeing her from the start of production and watching her at the end. She had all these doubts she could do anything, and then at the wrap party, she’s scream-singing and jumping along, having the time of her life. They were two different people.
Michael Philippou: It was an amazing transformation, seeing her from the beginning of the shoot to the end. Because the last shot with her was the last scene that we shot, and so there are so many emotions that need to be conveyed in a subtle, human way. And she just nailed it. We purposely built up to those bigger moments, and seeing that translation was incredible.
Danny Philippou: We mentioned grief, and she was talking about how she wished she’d learned Japanese so she could’ve had a proper conversation with her grandfather. She has experienced these things and this world feels so lived-in; allowing the actors to put themselves into the roles, change dialogue if they need to, pick their outfits, act out scenes that aren’t even in the movie but give [the character] a sense of history — that stuff’s all important.
On a more micro-level of detail: The needle drop of The Veronicas’ “Untouched” in that wild, pivotal scene where Laura is trying to cover her tracks. Was that song written into the screenplay, or was that a decision that came later on? The lyrics, “I need you so much, I can’t forget you / It’s not enough to say that I miss you,” are so strangely appropriate to Laura’s situation and her loss.
Michael Philippou: There’s a reason for that genre and that song. But the exact song wasn’t in the script.
Danny Philippou: We knew that part of Laura’s character, whenever she has these nerves or anxiety, she blasts pop music. She’s using that to calm herself down. The whole film is about perspective and different perceptions. You’re hearing this song, you’re thinking she’s upbeat, but she’s actually in this terrible place. Something really horrific is happening in that upstairs bedroom. Music supervision, for picking the exact song, our guy, Andrew Kotatko, is incredible. The home videos of her daughter that Laura watches are a helpful way of grieving, and we have this inversion of the twisted tapes of resurrections that she’s watching at the same time. It’s like the scene that goes into Yoko Ono towards the end, when Laura’s quickly cleaning up the house. There’s a music inversion [to the scene’s tone], which we love.
Michael Philippou and Danny Philippou behind the scenes of “Bring Her Back” (Ingvar Kenne). Staying on the minute details, I need to ask you about “Grapefruit.” How did you choose that word to be the one Andy and Piper say to each other when they’re asking each other to be brutally honest?
Danny Philippou: When you’re writing these characters and you’re putting yourself into these films — it’s the same with my co-writer, Bill Hinzman — everything is drawn from real places. And “grapefruit” is the actual word that he uses with his partner. “Grapefruit, I’m being serious right now.” He uses that word. So that’s where the exact word came from.
Danny Philippou: It adds such a big [theme] of truth and lies. Piper has to trust Andy 100%. He is her eyes. So that’s a word that’s like, “You have to be straight with me.” And for him not to be honest with her drives the wedge dividing them.
I’d imagine using one word like that is tricky, because if you use it too much, it could feel cloying or like it’s preying on the audience’s emotions.
Danny Philippou: It’s one of those things where you don’t know. I remember those questions [from the studio]: “Is anybody going to get what the hell ‘grapefruit’ means?” Like, I’m pretty sure! They’re like, “Do we need a moment where we explain what the word is?”
What do you think your relationship as brothers brings to a movie like “Bring Her Back?” It’s so firmly about family, and you two seem like you have a great sibling rapport like Piper and Andy.
Michael Philippou: I don’t think so!
Danny Philippou: I don’t think so either! [Both laugh.]
Michael Philippou: It’s interesting, the film is less based on our relationship and more about who Piper and Andy are based on. There are small things about it, but not overtly.
Danny Philippou: What’s wrong, Michael? What’re you embarrassed about?
Michael Philippou: I’ll tell you one thing I was inspired by. It was Andy hitting Piper. That’s your older sibling. Our older sister drugged us when we were babies because she was jealous that we were getting all the attention.
Danny Philippou: Such an inappropriate story to tell, but yeah, she did try to kill us. [Laughs.]
As someone whose sister dropped him on his head as a baby, I can relate.
Danny Philippou: Thank god!
“Bring Her Back” is in theaters nationwide.
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