The Philippou Brothers on the Catharsis of BRING HER BACK and Its Emotional Core
- creepykingdom
- 23 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Shannon McGrew
From A24 and the Philippou Brothers (Talk To Me) comes their latest nightmare, BRING HER BACK, where a brother (Billy Barratt) and sister (Sora Wong) uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother (Sally Hawkins).
For the upcoming release of BRING HER BACK, Creepy Kingdom’s Shannon McGrew spoke with co-directors Danny and Michael Philippou. During their chat, they discussed everything from the personal grief that inspired the story to the eerie power of the film’s setting and the cathartic process of bringing their vision to life.
You have both talked a lot about the inspiration for the film and your personal experiences with grief and loss. Now that the film is finished and audiences begin to engage with it, has the process felt cathartic?
Danny Philippou: It felt pretty cathartic while shooting it. There was a bit of closure there. I mean, I say that, but yesterday, I was doing an interview, and then I was talking about Harley, who had passed, I started crying and was like god dammit [Laughs]. It was beautiful to fly out his mum and his two brothers to a screening in South Australia.
One of the things I loved about this film is how the house, especially the pool and shed, feels like a character itself. How did you approach using those spaces to build such a strong atmosphere?
Danny Philippou: We knew that we needed to find a location where the pool was at the heart of the house, visible from every angle and every window. We were scouting for ages and found this incredible triangular pool in the middle of this valley. We tiled over the pool to give it the exact color scheme and shape we wanted. We collaborated very heavily and worked with our production designer, Vanessa Cerne, who was so incredible. Then, the pool shed was built at the location. The heart of the house is the pool, and the soul is the pool shed. We had to knock all the fences down, retile the pool, and then build the pool shed on location, which was incredible.
Michael Philippou: Speaking of that location, it’s in the middle of a walking trail, so the front yard is like public land, so imagine there are like demons walking around, and you have people jogging and being like, “What the hell is that?” [Laughs]. There were a lot of people stopping, and so it became a bit of a circus.
Danny Philippou: We’re also practically flooding the house with rain. At one point, the house started filling up with water.
Michael Philippou: It’s a beautiful house, but shooting there practically with the light and all that stuff in the windows was a logistical nightmare, but it was definitely worth it.
With the film being completed, what’s been your biggest creative or emotional takeaway from this process, and how do you plan to bring that into your next project?
Danny Philippou: I definitely want to be more fun for my next film. I was going through a bit of a nihilistic, depression era. You go through dark things or whatever, and you express it on the page, but the next film can be a bit funner. I say that, but it’ll end up being just as bleak, I know [Laughs].
Michael Philippou: I like going dark, and I think our impulse is darkness. I’m open to having a bit more fun. It was fun to shoot [Laughs]. I like to read novels, and if I had two options: a fantasy novel or a grim, dark fantasy novel, I’m obviously picking the grim, dark fantasy [Laughs].
Lastly, although this is such a dark horror film, did you both have a favorite moment on set?
Danny Philippou: I think it was that party montage. That was the craziest, funnest thing where you’re roaming the camera around for an hour, and the funniest moments are happening. You’re screaming things out, and the actors are improvising. Everyone’s having the time of their lives. The initial cut went for about 30-40 minutes because all these incredible moments were happening.
Michael Philippou: For me, there was a scene that was cut, and it’s them all ding-dong dashing the neighbors. Sally Hawkins was ding-dong dashing and running down the driveway, and Andy and Piper were driving off and running over some bins because they were drunk. It was an awesome scene, but we had to cut it for pacing. It was so much fun shooting that.
BRING HER BACK arrives in theaters May 30th.