After taking the world by storm with their horror debut feature Talk To Me in 2023, all eyes were very much on Australian brothers Danny and Michael Philippou to see how they would follow up such a mammoth success.
Proving that they were no flash in the pan, the twins launched back into the genre with this week’s Bring Her Back, an oft-disturbing tale of a brother and sister and their uncovering of a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother (played by a sublime, against-type Sally Hawkins).
Talking to the duo as the film releases in cinemas (you can read our review here), Peter Gray touched on the different facets of horror explored on screen, how Hawkins came to be involved, and how one particular gross horror effect was achieved practically on set.
I spoke to you both for Talk To Me a few years ago, and it’s so awesome to chat again and just see this insane success come from that film. I saw Bring Her Back, and triggered beyond belief! I mean this in the best way possible when I say it’s the feel-bad movie of the year. And I want to say regarding your inclusion of “Untouched” by The Veronicas here. So many people have said how it should be a National Anthem, and you’ve just decided to fuck that right up with this!
(Both laugh) Danny Philippou: Somehow it still feels upbeat to me. It’s an homage to The Veronicas.
One of the first things I wanted to ask was where “grapefruit” came from? Is that something that started between the both of you? I love that aspect of Andy and Piper’s sibling relationship and that that was their word.
Danny Philippou: Oh yeah. You draw from so many different places when you’re writing. So maby real places as well. I don’t use the word “grapefruit”, but my co-writer does, and that’s his word for people that are saying, like, “I’m being serious. This is not a joke. Grapefruit.” Yeah, it just felt so rich and so right for these characters.
Andy and Piper felt so lived in as people. Did your own sibling relationship inform that on screen in any way?
Danny Philippou: Only when they were fighting each other (laughs). It’s actually based on the relationship of a friend and his little sister, and when they are entering new places, because she’s non-sighted, he’s constantly guiding her and mapping the world out for her. It’s a really beautiful relationship that they have.
Obviously the horror here is still supernatural, but it feels more based in an emotional mentality. Is there an approach for the both of you regarding tension that differs from the supernatural? Are there tools you implement that exacerbate that visceral feeling we’re feeling?
Michael Philippou: It’s more psychological. I’d say what Laura is doing, in a way, is more terrifying than the supernatural stuff, because it’s grounded in a reality. She’s a therapist and she knows how to fix people, but she’s using her ability not to heal, but to break. She understands these things She has a goal. An ulterior motive. And that’s what a lot of the movie is. It’s what you see, what you don’t see, the truth and the lies, and the layers of someone. She’s outwardly bubbly, but there’s this undertone that’s not right with her. There’s so much thematically that ties in, and it’s cool in the writing process when you get to that point where everything clicks and makes sense on all those different layers.
I feel like we love Sally Hawkins in everything. To have her in this was a real trip, because she was so frustrating as a character. We can see what she’s doing, but no one else can! When it came to Sally Hawkins, I believe she was the first person that you thought of. How did it come about to think of her in a role that we would never expect her to play?
Danny Philippou: She’s such a strong character actor, and every performance she does she’s playing someone completely different. It was so exciting. She’s never done a proper genre film before, or played a character like this, so that was so exciting. It was our producer, Samantha Jennings, that gave us the knowledge and told us to have another look at Sally’s work. I’d seen a couple of her films, but when I really went down the rabbit hole and watched her filmography, she’s mind blowing. It’s so incredible. We thought she wouldn’t say yes. And the call was so amazing of her. She was such a beautiful collaborator. She’s such a gentle soul. It’s crazy to see her go to the places that she did.
There’s the sense that grief is kind of inherited, or passed down in a way. Did you conceptualize grief as a legacy, rather than an isolated feeling? Was that something you thought of?
Danny Philippou: I feel like Laura’s grief is (that) she’s not reaching out to people, and she’s trapped herself inside her own home and in this circle. As she’s pulling people into this dark place, only if they can break out of it are they going to be free. She’s turning somebody into a monster. She’s hurt and she’s hurting someone else, and in turn, they’re hurting other people. It’s a cycle that’s happening, and it’s terrifying. It doesn’t feel as generation to me as it does a really morbid isolation.
And with Sally Hawkins in this role, did you ever find yourself rewriting scenes or reevaluating after you see what she’s done? Seeing her bring this emotional nuance and vulnerability that you maybe didn’t expect?
Michael Philippou: Yeah, once she came down to Australia and we started going through scene by scene and breaking it down, (and) that was a process in itself, some things would change but the beats overall didn’t. I guess some stuff that was supposed to be scary turned more sad, because she connected with the character on such a human level. There was this inherent sadness about it. It’s a tragedy. Laura isn’t a bad person. She’s asking why has life turned her into this? And she’s lost her sanity. That’s the most heartbreaking thing.
I’m assuming one of the moments that was always written to be scary was the knife scene with the teeth? The sound design in that sequence was almost more terrifying that what we see. I had such a visceral reaction to that. I love horror, but that was pushing it. Was it one of those things when you were writing that you knew it was going to be a scene that would mess people up?
Danny Philippou: I know that that bothers me. That sound. And the way we actually accomplished it was with rubber knives, and on set I actually chewed on knives for the sound. Our sound designer had the microphone right up to my mouth. That was disgusting! You can’t fake the sound. I like that you can’t look away from the screen, but you’re gonna hear it as well. Yeah, it bothers me. And putting that on the screen is surely going to bother other people as well. That’s always fun in a horror movie.
Bring Her Back is screening in Australian theatres from May 29th, 2025, before opening in the United States on May 30th.
