If you made it through the harrowing final minutes of Bring Her Back, A24’s latest emotional horror film, you probably noticed the dedication at the end: “Dedicated to Harley Wallace 2001 – 2024”. No, he’s not a character. He’s not in the cast or crew credits either. But the memory of Harley Wallace lingers throughout Philippou’s latest horror film.
Wallace was a close family friend of directors Danny and Michael Philippou, better known to some as the Aussie twin filmmakers who freaked out the world with Talk to Me. According to Michael, Harley’s death rocked their world just as pre-production on Bring Her Back was starting. “He was a very close family friend, and he passed away at the beginning of pre-production. It was so out of nowhere, and it changed the way some of the scenes played as well,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
So while the movie is packed with supernatural dread, the scariest thing behind the scenes wasn’t a haunted doll or a possessed mirror; it was the raw, real grief of losing someone important.
And that grief seeped into the movie like water under a locked door. “When you’re dealing with [grief], you almost try to close yourself off from it,” Michael said. “But then it comes out in different ways while you’re shooting.” That “different way” is the film’s entire emotional core.
Bring Her Back follows Laura (Sally Hawkins), a foster mom trying to keep her life together after a personal tragedy. She takes in two siblings, Andy and Piper, who’ve just lost their father. And if that setup already sounds heavy, wait until you meet Oliver.
The Philippous aren’t just doing jump scares here. They’re digging into something deeper. Harley Wallace’s passing didn’t just inspire a title card in Bring Her Back; it shaped the film’s entire tone.
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