Saw Bring Her Back with a free AAA24 ticket.
This is a fantastic follow up to Talk to Me. The Philippou brothers have taken everything they've learned from their first film and used it to make this one even more effective.
If you're a horror fan I would make the effort to see it while it's still in theaters.
I love the mix of psychological, supernatural, and body horror. It builds up the suspense in such an uncomfortable way until it all comes crashing in.
It's a really interesting depiction of the cycles of abuse and grief. It also presents a horrifying reality of outwardly "trustworthy" people being able to get away the most heinous things imaginable. Vulnerable kids are taken advantage of by the adults they should be able to trust and struggle to be believed. I also think there's strong criticism of "rebirthing" and people who foster/adopt for self gratification.
Laura is terrifying in the lengths she goes to bring her daughter back by manipulating these children with skills she learned as a counselor to help troubled kids. The moment where she reads Andy's messages is completely recontextualized with the revelation of who Ollie is.
Just like in Talk to Me we are given just enough information on the supernatural force to understand the awful reality underneath the surface. Since we see the demon mimicking the voices of people whose flesh (and hair) it consumes, I think that Cathy was never actually going to come back and Piper would have been some kind of permanent host.
The practical effects on Ollie really sell the skincrawling transformation his body goes through over the course of the movie. Also, great performances by all the actors.
The ending is an absolute downer, with only the slightest of ray of hope for Piper with an airplane flying overhead. None of the characters get a happy ending, some suffer much more than the characters that die.
There's a handful of nitpicks I have, but nothing that actually took me out of the movie.
I'll definitely be looking forward to whatever this team makes next.
