WHAT THE FUCK
I can pretty much watch anything without squirming — almost nothing makes me squeamish — but I was so squirrelly throughout this movie and had to squint multiple times to control the visual data I was allowing into my body. I still feel a little sick to be honest. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this movie to anyone with a weak constitution.
That said.
Masterful moviemaking. When a movie is marketed as a supernatural cult horror film, you go into it with a certain expectation, and that anticipation is wholly unrealized in this film. There is a cult, and it is supernatural, but at its core Bring Her Back is an exploration of grief and trauma, told by a pair of deranged Australian movie-makers who know how to put on an intimate story in the context of gore and suspense.
And y’all, the suspense! I understood the whole plot of the movie about 20 minutes in, but I had no idea what was going to happen from scene to scene. The build-up of tension and the unravelling of each new piece of the puzzle kept me fully invested even when I needed to close my eyes to keep from running out of the theater. Even with a plot that is easy to predict, I still managed to be surprised. At one point, I recognized my reaction was wholly American because I expected a gun to be used and it absolutely was not — and the scene was much better for it.
And now we have yet another horror film where an established woman is giving the performance of her life, falling right in line with Demi Moore and Toni Collette. Sally Hawkins gives a career-best with multiple layers, and I don’t remember the last time a single actor made me that uncomfortable. The kids are also impressive (there is a voicemail that brought me to tears), but something always twigs at me when horror movies cast children with disabilities. From Hereditary to A Quiet Place to this film, it just makes me a little uncomfortable, because it feels like their casting was MEANT to make us uncomfortable. Even when the disability is integral to the plot, I still wonder why a disabled child is so often to go-to for talented horror filmmakers. On the other hand, it’s making space for actors who otherwise may not be showcased, so maybe my problem isn’t with horror but instead with the wider industry not creating roles for those same actors.
I’ll think about it later.
For now though, as someone who has experienced so much loss, I am left with a little empathy for the impulse to bring her back, or bring anyone back, at all costs. Grief is just love with nowhere to go, and we all channel it in different ways. It can drive you to seek solace in community, which could send you running into the arms of a cult — a cult like the mysterious one in the movie, or a cult like Scientology or Evangelical Protestantism. The necessity of putting that love somewhere can make you do things you would’ve never thought possible otherwise. Grief can take out even the strongest among us, and when that happens, there’s no telling who might get hurt in the process.
Score: 4.5/5
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