Bring Her Back Brings on the Chills, Samurai Western Tornado Makes the Cut

Two step-siblings are ensnared in their foster mum's diabolical occult ritual.

- Whang Yee Ling

BRING HER BACK (R21) 99 minutes, opens on July 17 exclusively at The Projector ★★★★☆

The story:

The film titles of Australian twins Danny and Michael Philippou are malicious invitations.

The "me" of the directing duo's 2022 breakout debut Talk To Me was an embalmed hand that possessed the adolescents communing with it.

And in Bring Her Back, the guardian is Laura (Sally Hawkins) and the "her" is the dead daughter she intends to revive.

Assigned to live with Laura in her remote cabin beyond the Adelaide suburbs are 17-year-old Andy (Billy Barratt) and preteen Piper (Sora Wong), who is, as her daughter was, vision-impaired.

Laura already has a catatonic foster son (Jonah Wren Phillips). The boy has a bloated belly, which is strange because sharp utensils and his own flesh are all he seems to eat — both clearly preferable to Vegemite.

Add the mysterious shed behind the pool where the daughter drowned, and the Gothic fairy tale is constantly unsettling.