After the death of their father, a pair of siblings, Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong) are placed in foster care. Their new foster mom Laura (The Shape of Water’s Sally Hawkins) dotes on the blind Piper and pretty much ignores Andy. Right away, we learn something screwy is going on as her other ward Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips) tries to strangle cats and eat knives. Laura’s obviously off her rocker too as she manipulates both her new foster kids, but naturally, Piper is unaware of what’s going on. Eventually, we discover Laura has her dead daughter locked in her freezer and she’s using Piper to… well… read the title.
Bring Her Back comes to us from Danny and Michael Pillipou, the directing brothers behind Talk to Me. Like that film, this one has some good moments. I think I might give Bring Her Back the slight edge since it contains some choice gnarly bits of gruesomeness tucked in here and there. (Like when the little kid starts eating everything in sight.)
Unfortunately, it’s one of those slow burn deals that takes its sweet time to get where it’s going. Since we already pretty much know the destination, it makes for a rather long trip. It doesn’t help that the audience is at an advantage since Piper is unaware of the shenanigans her new mum is pulling. Add to that the fact the film relies on rather sensitive subject matter (grief, child abuse, foster care, etc.) for its shocks. You also have to put up with the cliched scenes where nobody believes Andy (even Piper).
The young cast members are quite good though. Phillips is especially memorable as the creepy kid who runs around the third act with a distended stomach. As the foster mom you love to hate, Hawkins really plays the role to the hilt. Maybe if they decide to do a sequel they’ll bring her back.
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