Amid a thrumming and ominous soundtrack — a mix of whooshing and pulsating noises that filled a darkly lit cavernous screening room of the NeueHouse in Hollywood last Friday — Talk to Me filmmakers Michael Philippou and Danny Philippou previewed exclusive scenes and the first trailer for their “spiritual successor” Bring Her Back.
The Adelaide, Australia-born twin brothers and directing duo were in town for the sneak peek event hosted by A24, teasing that their highly anticipated and hair-raising followup is 95% complete, awaiting “final touches” in sound design and music — emblematic of what made their sleeper hit, the low-budget possession flick that became the indie company’s highest grossing horror film ever, as haunting as it was. In one previewed scene — which I am not able to disclose the contents of, though I will describe the numerous audience gasps and hands that went up to shield eyeballs (including my own) — Danny Philippou had to “chew on cutlery” in a sound booth to nail the noise.
To put it another way: “Trust me, the trailer doesn’t show the half of it,” Michael Philippou said.
In a conversation moderated by A24’s Sam Hanson, the helmers dished on everything from their devastating real-life inspiration to the nitty gritty aspects of the production process. Bring Her Back was developed “at the exact same time” as Talk to Me, as both were written concurrently with some characters even “interchanged at one point,” Danny Philippou explained.
(L-R): Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou and Sam Hanson in conversation (Courtesy A24)
“Once Talk to Me wrapped, and it was possible to make another film, that script was there,” he continued, “and there’s a certain anxiety over not making another film or not going into it straight away. But I was like, ‘The door is open, quickly, run into it! Run, run, run! Let’s start shooting, the script’s ready to go baby.’”
Speaking to Deadline after the Q&A — amid trays of appetizers and one culinary nod to the aforementioned stomach-turning scene (between Severance and Bring Her Back, melons are having a big year in Hollywood) — Danny Philippou revealed that the duo had reinvested their fees back into Talk to Me to get the project made.
“Our lawyer was like, ‘That’s the dumbest decision you can make, 8% of Australian filmmakers make their budget back.’ He was like, ‘You’re not going to see anything.’ So that was in our heads, so the fact that anything happened, that we got it to Sundance, that A24 were interested, I literally get emotional thinking about it. It was the best week of my life,” he said.
Naturally, going into their next film as soon as possible was paramount to avoid any second-guessing and building up of daunting pressure. “I could feel the anxiety building up within me, the idea of making a followup or having to top ourselves, anything like that, and I feel like if I didn’t get on the train straight away, I just never would have boarded it,” Danny Philippou added.
Unlike their first feature, however, Michael Philippou describes Bring Her Back as leaning more into the psychological. The forthcoming movie, bowing in theaters May 30, is informed by personal loss and family experience. As Danny Philippou and writing partner Bill Hinzman were penning the script, a cousin of the Philippou’s lost her 2-year-old.
“Horror is a fun way to look at dark things like that, and the idea of her never being OK ever again after that — that sort of was an inspiration point, and how far she would go to heal herself from that and the idea of a never-ending grief cycle is terrifying to me,” Danny Philippou said.
The Philippou brothers pose alongside the final poster art for ‘Bring Her Back’ (Courtesy A24)
Additionally, while both Talk to Me and Bring Her Back share the same genetic tissue — meditations on possession and crossing over to the other side — Danny Philippou maintained that the latter film has a “rawness” not present in the brothers’ directorial debut, informed by the loss of a “really close family friend” who died suddenly at the age of 23 during pre-production.
“The grief was so raw and real and in the moment, and we had no way to properly process it,” he described. “We were doing production meetings, we started shooting and there was no time to properly sort through those emotions and they poured themselves out into the script … scenes that were designed to be scary sort of turned sad.”
Michael Philippou added, “Leaning into loss and how far you would go to bring someone back that you love — those deep questions that you wonder about and think about, translating that to the screen. I think that’s something that we didn’t fully get out with Talk to Me, so this is like another iteration of it.”
Described as “a lot more grim than Talk to Me” by Michael Philippou, with his brother adding, “and it’s a lot more gruesome as well,” plot details about the movie have been kept buttoned up, with a simple synopsis reading: “A brother and sister witness a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.” As a result, the film is “smaller” and “more contained” as an intimate character study born out of “getting personal” with loved ones.
“Tap into the things that really scare you personally, that feel like, ‘oh God,’ icky and a bit uncomfortable,” Danny Philippou said of films that are exemplary of the genre.
Twice Oscar-nominated actress Sally Hawkins stars — her “first proper horror film” — and the duo have nothing but effusive love and praise for the seasoned performer.
“We really did not think she would say yes,” Danny Philippou recalled. “We sent her the script and she got back right away and said she was in love with it, how much it meant to her, how much she connected to it. I was like What the f—?!“
The cast is rounded out by Billy Barratt, the youngest International Emmy winner for BBC Two’s television film Responsible Child, whom the brothers said they wanted for Talk to Me, but couldn’t afford; Sora Wong, a newcomer and vision-impaired actress; as well as Jonah Wren Phillips, a guitarist and Muy Thai fighter born to acting parents.
Gushing about their young cast, the Philippous added that they tried to shoot in chronological order as much as possible to allow for natural chemistry to be built up among the ensemble. The two also had their actors rehearse scenes from their respective characters’ histories not depicted on screen and would employ “curveballs” on set to toss out ideas not in the script to get natural reactions. It was also about respecting their young performers’ personal history and age to glean the most authentic version of a line delivery.
Leaning both on Wong and a friend’s little sister who is nonsighted, Danny Philippou said the latter’s explanation of being blind — that she is “glad that I don’t have to see because I don’t have to see the ugly things in the world … became very thematic throughout the film.”
The setup for the exclusive preview and Q&A. Projected onto the adjacent walls was footage of the mythology seen in the film, playing on loop (Courtesy A24)
The research process also included designing the film’s mythology, which Danny Philippou said he likes to keep pared down by “being a little bit cryptic, and a little bit unknown.” For background, the scribe even went as far as donning a disguise to meet with some questionable characters online, including a person who believed she could transform into a cat.
“It’s so funny — going down the rabbit hole of some of that witchcraft stuff and how dark it can go, I dressed up as a character named Trevor to meet with some odd people online, and I had a long black wig and mascara, like super, super in character,” he recounted. “So I would interview a couple of these people that would really, really believe this dark side of resurrection and stuff like a toad sacrifice that would help with good luck.”
When asked by a reporter how they learned the other brother was a “psychopath,” the Philippous reacted lightheartedly, explaining that they were raised by their granddad until his death and later lacked total adult supervision. “Our childhood was Lord of the Flies and there’s footage of us as 10-year-olds covered in blood, like actual blood, for backyard wrestling,” Danny Philippou said.
Adding that violence became their “love language” of sorts — gore which can be traced back to their early days as YouTubers via their channel RackaRacka — that lack of a safety net translates to their projects.
“You watch a horror movie to be shocked, to be confronted and horrified, and we like the idea — at least in our movies — that no one is safe, no one is bubble-wrapped and no one is immune. It’s a horror film and everyone’s on the chopping block,” Danny Philippou said.
