Take a Chilling First Look at Talk to Me Follow Up Bring Her Back from Danny and Michael Philippou
Danny and Michael Philippou’s 2023 film Talk to Me was one of the best and most purely thrilling horror debuts we’ve seen in recent memory, a film that actually went on to be our #1 favorite horror flick of that year. We’ve therefore been intensely curious about sophomore horror film Bring Her Back, which the former YouTube duo known as RackaRacka likewise filmed in Australia for A24. Now we have our first look in the form of a teaser, and it casts Bring Her Back as a potentially even more intense-looking depiction of supernatural ritual than the “grasp the severed hand” shenanigans of Talk to Me. Plot details are extremely sparse a the moment, and all we have is a one-sentence logline from an A24 press email: “A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.”
If you kind of squint, though, it’s easy enough to imagine how another film that seems to revolve around touching the Other Side might be construed to take place in the same cinematic universe–or at least the same head space–as Talk to Me. The difference is that where in Talk to Me our protagonists were young punks dabbling in occult possession as a sort of lewd party game, the ritual depicted here feels far more serious … and considerably more dire.
Bring Her Back was written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, and stars The Shape of Water‘s Sally Hawkins in one of its prime roles, along with English teen actor Billy Barratt. Beyond that, we really just have to infer a vibe from the creepy imagery on display in the one minute teaser below. One thing is for sure: It certainly feels like a serious (potentially self-serious) A24 horror vessel, what with its tick-tock sound effects and collection of cryptic messages, such as “Let Me Out,” “Let Me Die,” “Let Her Die,” and finally “Bring Her Back.” Hopefully, the Philippou brothers can stick the landing and prove themselves to be ascendant stars in the genre world. The film arrives in theaters everywhere on May 30, 2025.