The film opens with a haunting, grainy glimpse into a sinister ritual—a young girl is placed at the center of a drawn ring, where a bloated man joins her. In a shocking sequence, she is hung by the neck as another girl, marked by a wine-colored birthmark under her eye, is revived. This unsettling prologue sets the tone for a psychological horror story that weaves grief, manipulation, and supernatural dread into a gripping narrative.
At its core, the film follows Piper (Sora Wong), a blind teenager yearning for connection, and her stepbrother Andy (Billy Barratt), who share a bond forged through hardship. The siblings’ lives are upended when their father, Phil (Stephen Phillips), dies of a drug overdose in the shower. Enter Wendy (Sally-Anne Upton), a social worker who places Piper in foster care with Laura (Sally Hawkins), a grieving mother, while Andy’s troubled past threatens to separate them. After some convincing, Laura reluctantly agrees to take both siblings into her isolated home, where she lives with a mute boy, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), whom she claims is her nephew.
Laura’s home is steeped in eerie tension. Piper is given the room of Laura’s late daughter, Cathy (Mischa Heywood), who drowned in the backyard pool—an event that shattered Laura’s life. Strange details pile up: Oliver bears a birthmark like the girl in the ritual footage, and Laura watches that same disturbing video, which reveals a cult-like process of possession and resurrection. The ritual involves an “angel” consuming an “old body” to transfer a spirit into a new one—a chilling hint at Laura’s intentions.
Laura’s behavior grows increasingly sinister. She shows blatant favoritism toward Piper, mocks Andy, and manipulates him in cruel ways, from humiliating him with a staged bedwetting incident to deleting photos from his phone. Her actions escalate as she pushes Andy to kiss his father’s corpse at Phil’s funeral, a disturbing demand framed as “customary.” Meanwhile, Andy struggles with his past—abuse from Phil he kept secret to protect Piper’s image of their father—while grappling with the trauma of finding Phil dead.
The film’s tension spikes as Oliver’s behavior turns bizarre. When Andy tries to connect with him, Oliver chews on a knife, mutilating his mouth, and later writhes in agony when crossing a mysterious white ring around the house. Laura, unfazed, tends to him while referencing the ritual tape. Andy’s suspicions deepen when he sees Phil’s ghost muttering, “She’ll die in the rain,” sparking fears for Piper’s safety. His attempt to investigate lands him in the hospital after a fall, but not before he spots a missing child poster for a boy named Connor Bird—who looks exactly like Oliver.
As Laura’s manipulation intensifies, she turns Piper against Andy, framing him for physical abuse and exploiting his secrets. Oliver’s behavior spirals into grotesque chaos, as he consumes everything from furniture to his own flesh, culminating in a horrifying act of eating Cathy’s frozen corpse from a shed freezer. Andy, desperate to save Piper, alerts Wendy and uncovers Laura’s true nature: she kidnapped Connor, passing him off as Oliver, and is obsessed with resurrecting Cathy through the ritual.
The climax is a heart-pounding descent into tragedy. Laura runs down Wendy and Andy with her van, drowning Andy in a puddle to silence him. Piper, discovering Andy’s body and realizing Laura’s lies, nearly becomes a victim herself when Laura drags her to the pool to recreate Cathy’s death. In a fleeting moment of humanity, Laura spares Piper after she calls her “mum.” Devastated, Laura takes her own life, bleeding out beside Cathy’s corpse.
The film closes with Piper, rescued by strangers, hearing Andy’s final message of love and a plane overhead—a symbol of their father’s ascent to heaven, bringing her bittersweet comfort. Police find Connor, who confirms his identity, and discover Laura’s lifeless body by the pool, cradling her daughter’s remains.
Bring Her Back is a masterclass in psychological horror, blending visceral imagery with emotional depth. Sally Hawkins delivers a chilling performance as Laura, whose grief twists into madness, while Sora Wong and Billy Barratt anchor the story with raw vulnerability. The film explores themes of loss, sibling loyalty, and the destructive power of denial, leaving viewers haunted by its unsettling questions: How far would you go to reclaim what you’ve lost? And at what cost?[wide]
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