Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Bring Her Back’2025 has been a great year for horror. Zach Cregger’s Weapons blew audiences away while introducing Amy Madigan’s instant icon, Aunt Gladys. Michael Shanks’ first feature film, Together, put Alison Brie and Dave Franco in a cautionary love tale of toxic proportions. And Ryan Coogler‘s Sinners has become one of the most acclaimed films of the year. But this year also saw the return of a promising pair of directors for their second feature-length movie. Danny and Michael Philippou, the genius duo behind 2023’s Talk to Me, brought an even more terrifying tale to life through Bring Her Back.
Bring Her Back features a frightening and stellar Sally Hawkins as Laura, a woman who becomes a foster parent to two recently orphaned siblings. Though she seems well-intentioned, it doesn’t take long for Laura’s theatrics to fall apart and reveal her cruel intentions. Bring Her Back is a clever mix of grief mismanagement, demonic possession, and gruesome horror that churns out one of the most unique experiences of the genre. Here’s a deep dive into what happens in the film’s final moments.
‘Bring Her Back’ Sets the Movie’s Bases Through Its Unsettling Elements
After the sudden death of their father, Billy Barratt’s Andy and Sora Wong’s Piper are sent to live with Hawkins’ Laura. Her chill attitude, along with her secluded forest house, seems the perfect combination for the siblings to be able to find solace. But Andy and Piper soon realize that Laura has baggage of her own. She recently lost her daughter, Cathy (Mischa Heywood), who drowned in her backyard pool. Shortly after this tragic event, she also took in another foster child, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips).
Andy quickly becomes suspicious of both Laura and Oliver’s erratic behavior. The first seems to have a fixation on Piper, at the same time being a little more neglecting of him and Oliver. The latter is just a presence that roams through the house grounds without uttering a word. Laura tries to disguise herself as a cool foster mom by having drinks with Andy and Piper just after their father’s funeral. But this only piques Andy’s curiosity further, prompting him to try to fish answers out of Oliver. A triggered Oliver seems to be so hungry, he gnaws on a knife, but gives Andy two clues – the word “bird” and a cry for help.
Sally Hawkins’s Laura Concocts a Wicked Plot in ‘Bring Her Back’
As expected, Laura’s intentions by fostering Andy and Piper are revealed to be less than honorable, for Piper is the last sacrificial piece of her elaborate plan. One of the most unsettling parts of Bring Her Back shows her watching a VHS that inspired her wicked plot, thus explaining what she’s been up to the whole film. It all revolves around a demon known as Tari. Laura starts a resurrection ritual by summoning him to possess Oliver. The second step is having the possessed Oliver eat Cathy’s corpse, which Laura is keeping inside a freezer in a garden shed, to act as a vessel between Cathy and Piper. Then, to complete the ritual, Piper has to die by drowning in the same pool that Cathy drowned in. This would allow Oliver to transfer Cathy by regurgitating her spirit into Piper’s body.
Bring Her Back’s plot is outlandish, but the Philippous craft it in a grounded way that makes the menace feel real. Laura’s elaborate plan involves so many pieces that elevate the risk of everything going wrong. And just that it does, for Andy – who never gives up on trying to save Piper – learns that “Oliver” is in fact Connor Bird, a boy who was reported missing some months before. With this discovery, he convinces Laura’s former co-worker, Wendy (Sally-Anne Upton), to confront her together and see her evil machinations by herself. Sadly, things don’t go as Andy would have expected.
Laura’s Desperation Unchains a Chaotic Sequence of Events in ‘Bring Her Back’
The possessed Oliver becomes desperate, becoming violent with Laura and trashing the house. The feeling that her plan might crumble invades Laura. Her desperation comes to a peak when Wendy and Andy arrive at her house. She tries to make everything seem normal for Wendy, but inevitably, Laura ends up transforming from a jittery foster parent into a rage-filled, grieving mother who is hellbent on bringing her daughter back from the dead. Thus, after being cornered by Andy and Wendy, she resorts to killing them both.
Shortly afterwards, Laura brings Piper back into the house, but the latter notices something’s wrong. In a heartbreaking turn, she resorts to hiding in the bathroom, only to discover Andy’s lifeless body. Realizing she’s now on her own, Piper tries to escape. But the attempt goes sideways, with her hitting a wall and falling unconscious. Somehow, Laura finally put all the pieces into place to consummate the ritual. She forcefully drags Piper into the pool, with a body-and-soul-filled Oliver standing beside.
Fears Turn into Tears During the Final Moments of ‘Bring Her Back’
Laura tries to finalize the process by drowning Piper, while she fights for her life. Piper realizes she’s hopeless against the wrath of a devastated mother, resorting to begging for her life by calling her “mum.” At this exact moment, something clicks inside Laura again. A mix between the realization that she’s committing a heinous crime and the sudden acceptance that her daughter is forever gone invades Laura. She tearfully asks Piper for forgiveness and lets her go. Piper runs to a nearby road and is found by people in a passing car. Connor crosses the house’s protective boundary, prompting Tari to leave his body. He’s later found and rescued by the authorities. Laura, finally coming to terms with her daughter’s death, finds one last comfort in hugging her at the pool where she took her last breath. Standing there, she’s then surrounded by the police.
Bring Her Back leaves a deep mark once it ends. It is a reflection of the lengths people will go to deal with their trauma and their grief when left undealt with. Having lost her daughter, Laura’s mind and soul broke and prompted her to do the unthinkable. Her determination to resuscitate her knew no limits and thus, Bring Her Back ends with a signal that she will have to face justice for her crimes against these children.
Bring Her Back is now available to stream on HBO Max in the U.S.
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