Danny Philippou chewed on real knives for his extreme scene in horror Bring Her Back
'It was literally me chewing on a knife. So that's the sound that people hear.'
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Previous Page Next PageThe Philippou brothers can proudly say that they are willing to do whatever it takes to make their terrifying films – even if it means chewing knives themselves.
Bring Her Back is a new twisted horror movie from Australian twin filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou.
The brothers are the minds behind the 2022 smash hit Talk to Me, and sit down to chat about their new project, which is only the second movie they’ve ever made.
On a Zoom call at the crack of dawn on a Tuesday, I meet the enthusiastic filmmakers for the first time and immediately complain that they gave their main villain the same name as me.
They burst into laughter, setting the tone for this interview.
‘You were a massive point of inspiration!’ Danny says, fuelling my ego.
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Previous Page Next Page Jonah Wren Phillips stars as Olly in the film (Picture: A24 Films/Shutterstock)Without too much of a spoiler, there is one scene in the A24 supernatural horror that is so visceral, it reportedly left some fainting in cinemas.
Metro’s Tori Brazier even said in her review: ‘I physically recoiled at Bring Her Back’s most disturbing and stomach-churning scene.’
So, of course, it was necessary to ask the brothers how on earth they came up with something so gory and disturbing.
‘I thought of it. I’m pretty proud of myself, actually,’ says Danny.
‘It’s always tapping into things that make you uncomfortable, make you personally cringe. And like, metal on teeth was always such a thing. And so it has always spawned from what is making me uncomfortable. And I think what also helped, in terms of the practical element, trying to pull it off practically, was the sound design of it.
‘It was literally me chewing on a knife. So that’s the sound that people hear, and that’s why I feel it is so like, “Oh, what the f**k”.’
He added that other nauseating noises in the film were also created by him, getting creative with the sound department.
‘Even with the wood chewing, like our sound designer was just recording me chewing on bench tops and things like that. That’s why you can’t fake the sound.
‘Sometimes you have to send it.’
Sally Hawkins and Sora Wong star as Laura and Piper in the film (Picture: Ingvar Kenne. All Rights Reserved)The film stars Oscar-nominee Sally Hawkins as Laura, an eccentric foster parent who takes in step-siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong), who are grieving after the death of their father.
Jonah Wren Phillips also stars, playing Olly, a selectively mute little boy who is also under Laura’s care, who Andy labels a ‘freak’ straight off the bat – and to be frank, the analysis isn’t inaccurate as the child’s behaviour becomes increasingly creepy.
‘Casting is everything,’ says Danny when discussing the incredible talent of the young actors.
‘Each actor had their sort of thing; it was such a specific ask. So with Piper, we knew we wanted to authentically cast a vision-impaired person. So that was really important to her casting.’
Piper’s lack of vision is a key plot point and expertly portrayed by Sora Wong, a young actress who had never before appeared in a film.
‘Letting the young actors know that there’s no such thing as a bad take. Like, you can’t let anyone down. This is a really safe space. I don’t even know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I’m doing here! It’s like, let’s all find the film together,’ says Danny.
English actor Billy Barratt plays Andy (Picture: PA Wire)The directors admit that they had zero belief that the megastar Sally Hawkins was ever going to actually appear in their film.
‘We reached out to her first and approached her first with the expectation that she’d say no, but when they reached back and they’re like, “Sally, loved the script,” our minds were blown. And she’s such a beautiful human and such an incredible performer and a generous collaborator. She was the best.’
They added that her performances were so powerful that she was even a little frightening on set.
‘There were two or three scenes, and we were scared to approach her because she was so in the headspace, she was in a really frenzied state. That’s how powerful she is. She’s f**king awesome.’
The directors were shocked when Sally agreed to star in the film (Picture: A24 Films/Shutterstock)When it comes to scary moments, Michael shares that rain, which features heavily as a motif in the film, caused a lot of on-set chaos.
‘There are some big tracking shots, stuff that goes from inside to outside in the rain, and rain is such a difficult thing to shoot with, because, with makeup, as soon as you start, it starts raining. That all washes off. Costumes get wet. Sound is hard to use, and there are so many things that have to go right.
‘You’re kind of holding your breath a little bit in those moments, like, “please just let us get away with it in this moment.” Actually, I’ll say the scariest thing was when we were shooting with real rain, with real rain machines and stuff. We were filming a scene, and I looked down and water was coming under the front door, like it, like, flooded the house almost. So that was a bit scary.’
The film is set to release in the UK soon (Picture: A24 Films/Shutterstock)The directors are both quick to emphasise that with only one other film under their belts, they are still novices.
‘It’s so interesting, because every film or project that you do, it always feels like you’re starting from scratch, and you forget everything a little bit, and it always feels like you’re drowning. So even with the next movie, and having these two, I’ll still not feel like I know what I’m doing. That’s the honest answer,’ said Danny.
When it comes to looking forward at future projects, it seems prudent to ask if they have any plans to draw on their experiences as twins – a sibling relationship that frequently appears in horror movies – but rarely from twin directors with the real-life credentials themselves.
‘Oh my gosh, yeah, potentially down the line,’ says Danny.
‘I think you write stuff that scares you, not annoys you. You just annoy me,’ Michael adds jokingly to his brother.
Danny adds: ‘I feel like there would be no beautiful relationship between the siblings if they were twins. They’d hate each other, but maybe one day we’ll bring that to screen!’
Bring Her Back hits UK cinemas on Saturday, July 26.
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