"Bring Her Back', a family horror film with disturbing features

Playing with family horror, the Philippou brothers focus strongly on the perturbing aspects of the story, showing how the most terrifying aspects we can face are those occurring within family contexts and those we theoretically know best.

Apart from these psychoanalytic hints that may refer to Freudian theories, 'Bring Her Back' is also a body-horror with many fashionable elements in a sub-genre that has become increasingly successful in recent years: think of 'Titane' or 'The Substance', but the shocking 'The Ugly Stepsister' will also be released in the autumn.

The script of 'Bring Her Back' has some overly cumbersome and confusing passages, but despite this, the film succeeds in enthralling thanks to an evocative audiovisual apparatus and a pace that grows as the minutes pass.

Mixing vintage elements (the use of videotapes) with an extremely contemporary aesthetic, this film speaks to us about many sensitive issues - redemption and contact with the past - without relying on the classic 'explanations' so prevalent in similar titles, but instead emphasising how the mystery remains far more effective and fascinating than any elucidation.

Also noteworthy is the excellent writing of the characters, who are credible and well played by a cast that is undoubtedly up to the mark: among the performers, special mention goes to an excellent Sally Hawkins, called upon to play a role that is not easy.

New releases include the Chinese film 'A Brief History of a Family' by Lin Jianjie.

As a result of the one-child policy, almost all households consist of no more than three people, within a rapidly changing society marked by deep social inequalities.

This is the case of the wealthy family of Tu Wei, a young boy who lives with his parents in a beautiful modern but aseptic house, where order and discipline seem to prevail over affection. One day, a boy of Tu Wei's age arrives in this very wealthy home, who has a decidedly different and more modest life. He is warmly welcomed by Tu Wei's parents, who feel a hidden sense of guilt because of the social gap and their own unexpressed desire to offer more to others.

It combines social drama elements with political reflections in this feature film that starts from a very interesting foundation.

Presented at the Sundance Film Festival and at last year's Berlinale, 'A Brief History of a Family' has several cues that make the viewer think, but its overall performance is too banal to strike as deeply as it could have. The dialogue is often scholastic and the staging not sharp enough to really shake one to the core. The result is a largely wasted opportunity.