Whelm is an archaic word that means “to engulf or submerge,” especially when framing the reference to water which, shaped as a swimming pool in this film, makes it contextual. In its ambience of comprehending the film, it neither works nor applies.
Bring Her Back was written and performed for a teenaged audience. That shouldn’t mean making a plot so obscure it will ride like a wave over the teenage brain. Further, directors shouldn’t be accepting of second-rate performances by principals Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, even as newcomers to viewers. Passionate they may be; convincing not always. To be seen to be acting is a huge let-down for the audience. Credibility of performance flies out the window.
A24 has been responsible for releasing many “out of the box” low budget original movies. It bankrolled the directors in 2023 to make surprise horror flick Talk to Me. First images on screen of Bring Her Back suggested torture porn. How this picture ever was green-lighted is a mystery!
Starring Sally Hawkins, critically acclaimed for her role as Elisa, a mute janitor, in fantasy drama The Shape of Water (2017), she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. You’d never guess! There won’t be forthcoming adulation for Hawkins’ current performance.
As Laura, foster mother, counsellor and all ’round snoop, on the surface she’s ebullient and “nice” to the point of being overpowering. She has an unsettling maternal nature. Perhaps her reason for super-positivity is to win over her charges from unfortunate home lives, instead providing discomfort to the teens she oversees, including existing orphan Oliver, who eats flies, wood, sharp blades and, by film’s end, announces himself as Connor Bird.
Laura has lost her daughter to a backyard pool drowning. She develops a terrifying ritual at the secluded home to save her daughter’s soul by having it take over another girl’s body. Drown one girl, get back the daughter. However, as the story advanced, I don’t think Laura comprehended what she was doing. Her rites came via VHS tapes. Ritual was haphazard, a chalk-drawn circle supposedly to keep the nasties inside and all unpleasantness outside the ring. So how come so much obnoxiousness occurred outside that chalked circle?
Stepsiblings Andy and Piper (Billy Barratt and Sora Wong) are orphaned after their father dies. As Piper is vision impaired Andy does everything possible to protect his younger stepsister. Together, though an initial objection to Andy as he has no handicap, they are farmed out to Laura’s foster-care where they uncover the Bring Her Back ritual. One thing that surprised was Laura pouring her urine over Andy in his sleep after she’d learned he’d been physically abused by his father. It was a shocking image, but how it was intended to progress the storyline wafted above this reviewer’s head.
Images in the film drag the viewer into a world of heartbreak, mystery, and relentless force. The movie is sombre and emotionally draining, about gas-lighting and manipulation. The concept of the foster home situation is hellish and a very real horror. Such a shame, then, the plot is so obscure with dumb decision-making. The pieces to put it all together are like a jigsaw puzzle where the round part doesn’t quite fit into what looks like its corresponding space.
