One of the incidental pleasures of recent indie-horror films from around the world is how they’ve doubled down on the power of gaslighting. It’s chilling to see the psychological warfare unleashed on a person, enough to make them question their critical faculties and/or sanity. Why fear the monster under the bed, when family members and ‘well-meaning’ acquaintances can make up for it?The power of perception can be vital – which most people are discovering in the age of social media. Imbuing human paranoia into a folk horror-tale is one of the best decisions made by director-duo Danny and Michael Philippou in Bring Her Back – their sophomore film, after their clutter-breaking debut in Talk To Me (2023).Having started as YouTubers in Adelaide, the Philippou brothers soon showcased their knowledge about horror tropes. And they also know the points when most horror films take a leap of faith – and how ludicrous it looks. So the duo mine it for laughs.It’s another miracle of recent that instead of being rigid, indie-spirited horror films operate without any fear of flirting with their own formlessness.They’re emotionally grounded films, filled with jump-scares, R-rated violence, without being scared to flit in and out of the psychological thriller territory and loading it with social commentary and humour when necessary.Earlier this month, we saw Zach Cregger’s Weapons – a sensational film about a small town where 17 kids go missing. I felt spoiled walking out of Bring Her Back – having seen two strong horror films, only weeks apart.There’s something wrong with Laura (Sally Hawkins) the first time Andy (Billy Barratt) and his visually impaired step-sister Piper (Sora Wong) enter their new foster home. They’ve recently lost their father – and child services have assigned both teenagers to Laura.As they enter their new home, the music is loud and the walls are painted in bright colours. Laura introduces them to her taxidermied dog and step-son Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), who stares into space, without saying a word. According to Laura, Oliver became mute around the passing of Cathy, her daughter, who drowned in the backyard pool.The Phillipous trust their audience to catch on to the film’s train of thought, which begins with a handycam-recorded ritual that resembles a snuff film. But the information is sprinkled with the right amount of red herrings, in a manner that most audience members decode the film around the same time.Even in their first film, the director-duo had used the staple of a horror film ritual (a seance) and improvised on it to a fun, but ultimately disturbing, conclusion.Here are just the bullet points: satanic ritual, a mother grieving her daughter’s death, the title of the film (Bring Her Back) – it’s not hard to guess where the film is headed. But it’s how the duo choose to build it, and at what point they raise the stakes of drama, is what’s interesting.As Laura, Hawkins is incredible as the grief-stricken mother. Merely two weeks after we saw one of the year’s great performances by Amy Madigan (in Weapons), Hawkins goes toe to toe with her. It’s a performance fuelled by the endless heartache most parents will identify with. And the way Hawkins alternates between manipulation, delusion and sincerity is what makes it so memorable.On the cusp of turning 18 and able to become a legal guardian to Piper himself, Andy is an obstacle in Laura’s way. So, she does everything within her power to make it seem like he’s not fit to look after her, and paints him as someone with rage issues.Andy is played brilliantly by Barratt – a protective elder brother, unsure about what is exactly going on with them. Having shared an abusive bond with their late father – something he hides from Piper so as to avoid tainting their dynamic – Andy is also the first to realise something is off about Laura.Even when one thinks they know where the film is headed, the Philippous pull the rug from underneath their audience, more than once. The sound design (by Jennifer Leonforte and Lee Yee) is visceral, where they manage to recreate sounds of teeth chewing through a wooden coffee-table top, a knife stuck in one’s mouth or a character knocked unconscious after hitting their head on a pillar.Save for a couple of arbitrary scenes that are blurred (by the Central Board for Film Certification), it’s a miracle that a film with so much frontal gore is playing in Indian theatres. Bring Her Back starts off as any other creepy horror film, but by the end (to the film’s credit) I could relate to Laura’s desperation and grief – which turns her into a monster. A counsellor in child services earlier, it’s a stunning arc to see the lengths one would go for the people they love.What would you do, if there was the slightest chance you could bring a loved one back from the dead? What would you sacrifice? Your honour, your sanity?Bring Her Back is playing in theatres.