Abhiroop Das
Danny and Michael Philippou’s ‘Bring Her Back‘ is an Australian supernatural horror movie that follows half-siblings Andy and Piper, who are assigned a new foster home following the mysterious death of their father. Laura, their foster parent, is a person of many secrets, many of which circle around the third foster child in the house, Oliver. Soon, cracks begin to develop within the family, with Laura vying for control over Piper, for reasons of her own. When the farce is revealed, the children find themselves at the heart of a supernatural ritual, which demands their sacrifice. The narrative serves as a dissection of grief and a person’s reaction to it, while also exploring its darker sides. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Bring Her Back is Driven by the Directors’ Personal Experiences
While the overall narrative of the movie is a fictional creation of the Philippou brothers, along with co-writer Bill Hinzman, various aspects of it draw inspiration from the experiences they had before and during the film’s production. According to Danny, the primary trigger of the story, that is, the death of Laura’s daughter Cathy, is inspired by the directors’ real-life loss. While describing the passing of his cousin’s two-year-old child in the hospital, he mentioned observing the support his entire family provided. His thoughts about grief led to a fascination with the idea of a never-ending cycle of pain, and how far a person can go to cope with it, resulting in the creative experiments of the film that eventually become the character of Laura.
Furthermore, Laura’s character is also informed by the directors’ perception of another death, one that happened during the film’s pre-production. Harley Wallace, a close friend of the Philippou family, died at the age of 23, and with no time to process his death, the brothers instead poured their feelings out in the script and in their conversations with Sally Hawkins, thus providing Laura with the additional weight of lived experiences. Additionally, Danny mentions that the day he found his grandfather dead is another inspirational point. His distinct memory of the scene and their father’s desperate attempts at resuscitation likely serve as a reference for not only the broader theme of the movie but also the death of Phil, Andy, and Piper’s father.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Danny stated that the creation of Piper, a person with partial sight as the protagonist, was also inspired by a personal affair. He said he has a friend whose younger sister is “non-sighted,” highlighting how many of her experiences in life are restricted, such as her wish to board the bus without any assistance, which her family rejects on the grounds of safety. Danny described her wanting to be independent and “learn how to navigate the world” as a fascinating concept, thus making it one of the narrative’s pillars. “I loved talking to her and hearing about her perspective,” he said.
The filmmaker added, “So it began just about having Piper as a character, and it evolves, and horror spawns out of that, and you make sure it all ties in. But that was the biggest inspiration point.” Piper’s first scene shows her at the bus stop, trying to make friends on her own, thus showing the director’s interest in exploring the concept and how it plays into a movie such as this, where the main characters’ agency is undermined on several levels at once.
Bring Her Back is Loosely Inspired by Popular Movies in the Same Vein
During an interview with Den of Geek on the topic of films that have inspired ‘Bring Her Back,’ Michael brought up ‘The Exorcist’ and, particularly, the terror that comes with the idea of someone being possessed by another entity. That feeling found its outlet through the character of Oliver, who undergoes blood-curdling physical and psychological transformation throughout the narrative, being possessed by a demon that promises the power of resurrection. During a similar discussion with CBR, they also cited Korean horror films and their ability to seamlessly weave multiple-toned scenes together as a reference. Danny claims that their movie is partly inspired by the 1962 psychological horror ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’, with Michael pitching in to add another title, 1997’s ‘Mouse Hunt’, to the list.
While ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane’ follows an out-of-prime actress tormenting her sister, who has paraplegia, the story does bear some vague resemblance to ‘Bring Her Back’ on two accounts. Firstly, it covers Andy’s jealousy towards his half-sister for being favoured by their father. However, the bond between the siblings eventually wins out, as Andy comes clean about his father’s abusive history. Secondly, the torture that Blanche, the elder sister in the 1962 classic, has to endure might serve as a reference for the abuse suffered by Oliver at Laura’s hands. As such, ‘Bring Her Back’ has aspects that are a composite of the creators’ inspirations. However, the larger narrative of the movie, regarding the child abduction and ritual sacrifice, remains a fictional construct, with no direct real-life antecedents.
