Bring Her Back Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Bring Her Back Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 22, 2025

Foster care can be an extremely perilous event for kids, especially if there's been some unexpected trauma which has led to that situation. It's probably understood that any kids going into foster care have probably had something bad happen to them, but there are of course echelons of tribulation, and in that regard, stepsiblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong) have already experienced the death of their mother before Andy suddenly discovers their father deceased in a shower. Andy's just about to achieve the age of majority, but until then he and his younger stepsister are placed in the care of an (at the very least) eccentric counselor named Laura (Sally Hawkins). Suffice it to say that in true horror film fashion Laura has a few ulterior motives tucked up her flighty sleeve, and Andy and Piper are in serious danger.

Films about at least perceived naïfs surrounded by malevolent forces (not to mention people) have been staples of the genre since time immemorial, but Rosemary's Baby probably provides a decent comparison for a couple of reasons. It's not exactly a spoiler to mention that Bring Her Back opens with some grainy footage supposedly culled from an old VHS (shades of Ringu, of course) documenting some kind of seemingly Satanic ritual. While not immediately completely clear, that certainly at least indicates something sinister is going on, and considering how completely peculiar Laura is from the get go, it doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to discern there's some kind of connection between the video and the caretaker.

Co-directing brothers Danny and Michael Philippou toy with a bit of "meta"-physics with that very opening snippet of grainy footage, which includes the word "cult" written upside down, but which is then immediately followed by a subtitle announcing "this is not a cult", which may lead some to believe there's a hip new production entity with some very disturbing masthead imagery and a deliberately anarchic name. But the "actual" film then segues into what seems to be that video actually being shot, which offers some brief scenes of that aforementioned Satanic ritual. Does it ultimately matter what kind of ritual it is, once that nefarious subtext has been revealed? It might be argued that not even the Philippous thought so, since there are a number of unexplained elements not just with regard to the ritual but to subsequent plot machinations which are ostensibly based on it.

That might put the kibosh on the film's conceit from the get go, but Bring Her Back has some undeniably effective moments, and it is propelled by three really remarkable performances at its center. It might be joked that Sally Hawkins discovers a whole new if arguably unimproved Shape of Water in her characterization of the fraught Laura, who has recently undergone a tragic loss of her own involving that liquid. Hawkins gets to chew the scenery from virtually the first moment, which may again let the veritable cat (and/or demon) out of the bag too early, which then may frankly make the performances by Barratt and Wong all the more effective. (It should be noted in passing that Wong is vision impaired, as is her character, something that is utilized to pretty unsettling effect in a couple of standout scenes.)

Bring Her Back has some potent thoughts on loss and grief, but the Philippous may (no bloodletting pun intended) undercut their affecting premise by going for the absolute gusto in terms of some of the body horror on display. A lot of that has to do with the fourth central character in the film, a strange mute boy named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips) who is already under Laura's questionable care when the stepsiblings arrive. The whole aspect of not one, but actually three, underage minors being used and abused by an obviously addled older woman adds a whole level of angst to the proceedings that is undeniably distressing.

Bring Her Back Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bring Her Back is presented on Blu-ray by A24 with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. As of the writing of this review, the IMDb doesn't have much technical information other than that the DI was 4K, but I was able to find this interview with director of photography Aaron McLisky which overtly mentions the Arri Alexa Mini LF. This is a pretty ravishing looking presentation "even" in 1080, though as I tend to do, I certainly recommend picking up A24's 4K UHD release of the film, as its HDR / Dolby Vision grades add measurably to an already expressive and impressive palette at this resolution, as well as offering upticks in fine detail levels. That said, this is a digital source that doesn't shirk from the glossy and extreme clarity the technology offers, and there really hasn't been an overly aggressive attempt to make this look like film. A surplus of (at times purposefully askew) close-ups helps to elevate fine detail levels on faces and even clothing textures. Once things get into decidedly more gruesome territory, some of that fine detail becomes downright disturbing. As with the lack of tweaking to make things supposedly more filmlike, there's also kind of a refreshing lack of aggressive grading here. There are certainly evocatively lit scenes galore, and the palette is suitably robust throughout.

Bring Her Back Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

If you'd like a quick introduction to some really beautifully immersive Dolby Atmos audio, simply listen to the first few seconds of this film, which offers both spooky effects like what sound like cymbal splashes on the edge of the bell combined with really impressive water sounds, which almost cascade down and around the listener. Water effects are recurrent throughout the track for reasons that soon enough become apparent, but there are other consistently evocative uses of often slightly (and sometimes more than slightly) sinister sounding ambient environmental effects clearly emanating from the side, rear and Atmos speakers. Cornel Wilczek's score and a rather large number of source cues are also nicely spacious. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Some Russian (?) on the video and scenes of it being shot are not subtitled, but otherwise optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Bring Her Back Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director Commentary with Danny & Michael Philippou


• Coming Full Circle: Making Bring Her Back (HD; 19:22) has some good behind the scenes footage and interviews.


• Deleted Scene: Ding Dong Dash (HD; 1:04)


• Russian Video (HD; 1:16) actually is accessible only via a glyph which for a certain very small demographic will remind some of the cool eclipse logo for the little remembered 1969 Harvey Schmidt - Tom Jones (not that one) musical Celebration.

This is packaged per A24's standard operating procedure, with a slipcase enclosing a DigiPack, which itself encloses art cards.

Bring Her Back Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Vis a vis the perils of foster care, I actually quite recently shared just a bit of salient family history in my closing comments of the The Gullspång Miracle Blu-ray review, and that personal history may have made me more attuned than some "casual" viewers in terms of the emotional impact the story told here delivers. As unsettling as this film undeniably is, I'd still argue there are some narrative deficiencies, and the third act just may be too Grand Guignol for the overall film's good. Technical merits are first rate, and the supplements enjoyable. With caveats noted, Recommended.