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Coming into 2025, Bring Her Back was one of my most anticipated films of the year. It was made by the Philippou brothers, the directing duo that burst onto the scene with the 2023 breakout hit Talk to Me, and if you’ve seen that movie, you know why I was so excited for the pair’s sophomore feature. Talk to Me is one of the best horror flicks of this millennium, so of course I couldn’t wait to see what the Philippous would do for an encore. I was sure the brothers would knock it out of the park once again, and now that I’ve finally seen Bring Her Back, I’m happy to report that it does not disappoint.
Bring Her Back was directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, and it stars Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, and Sally Hawkins. In the film, Andy and Piper are siblings who live with their father. They appear to lead a fairly typical suburban life, but their entire world gets turned upside down one day when they find their dad dead in the shower. Since the kids are both under eighteen, Andy and Piper have to go into foster care, and they end up in the home of Laura, a tender woman with a tragic past of her own. She lost her young daughter some time ago, and she currently houses a mute foster child named Oliver. At first, this seems like a perfect place for our teenage protagonists to work through their grief and trauma, but in typical horror fashion, Laura isn’t quite as loving as she seems. Not long after we first meet her, concerning cracks begin to appear in her warmhearted veneer, and it soon becomes clear that she’s harboring a grisly secret that just might cost Andy and Piper their lives. Before I say anything else, I have to let you know that Bring Her Back isn’t the kind of fun popcorn horror that casual fans typically expect from this genre. In fact, “fun” is just about the last word I’d use to describe it. Bring Her Back is grief horror in the vein of Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Dark and the Wicked, and just like those movies, this one will hit you like a ton of bricks. Instead of jump scares every few minutes and an endless stream of overused cliches, the film takes a more measured and atmospheric approach to its grim subject matter. It’s saturated with the kind of disturbing creepiness that seeps into your bones and stays with you long after the credits begin to roll, so even when nothing overtly horrific is happening on screen, the implications of what might be lying just beneath the surface are more than enough to send shivers down your spine. This is slow-burn horror at its finest, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Unlike some of its cinematic peers, Bring Her Back is more than mere insinuation and suggestion. When things go south for the characters, this movie gets very gory, and there were a number of scenes that made me literally squirm in my seat. It’s that gruesome, but perhaps surprisingly, the blood and guts are almost never gratuitous. Aside from a couple of brief shots, the carnage always serves a clear narrative and thematic purpose, so it feels like a natural part of the story rather than an inappropriate exercise in senseless violence. In a word, this film is the best of both worlds, but like all truly great horror, it doesn’t get by on its scares alone. It’s rooted in believable characters brought to life by amazing performances, so let’s talk a bit about the major players in Bring Her Back. First up, we have Sally Hawkins. She plays Laura, and if you’re familiar with her work, you won’t be surprised to hear that she’s fantastic in this role. From the moment you first meet the woman, you totally buy into her warm, affectionate demeanor, but you can’t help but think there’s something not quite right with her. She almost seems a bit too nice, and that’s largely due to Sally Hawkins’s subtly nuanced performance. You’ll feel a similar way about Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, the actors who play Andy and Piper, but without the sinister undertones. These two performers are just incredibly likable, so you can’t help but instantly fall in love with their characters. They ground Bring Her Back in a sense of genuine humanity, so when things start to go south for the siblings, you’ll naturally start rooting for them to make it out alive. Rounding out the main cast, we have Jonah Wren Phillips, the kid who plays Oliver. He doesn’t get to do much talking, but he doesn’t have to. He exudes a nearly tangible aura of creepiness just by standing still and staring into space, and no matter what Oliver does, Phillips never falters. He even nails it when he finally gets to show some real emotion, so I can’t wait to see where this kid’s career goes from here. Last but not least, I have to say a few words about the deeper themes of Bring Her Back. As I mentioned before, this is grief horror, but it’s a very specific kind of grief horror. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that it’s about the dangerous lengths people sometimes go to in order to ease the seemingly unbearable pain of losing a loved one, and as a Christian, I can’t help but think of St. Paul’s poignant words of encouragement on this very topic: “But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) Beneath all the blood, guts, and fantastical scares, Bring Her Back feels almost like an extended meditation on that ancient teaching. Granted, this is by no means a Christian movie, but it forms something like a photographic negative of the Christian attitude towards death. It shows us the horrors that can be brought on by unbelief in the face of our inevitable mortality, so in a somewhat paradoxical way, the film points to the good news of the Gospel by highlighting the “bad news” of our hopeless fate without God. Along with the great horror or the excellent characters, that deep resonance with our faith makes Bring Her Back one of the best movies of the year. It might even be better than the Philippous’ feature debut, but I need to let the film sink in a bit more before I can say that definitively. Either way, I think Bring Her Back is destined to become a genre classic, so if you enjoy this particular brand of terror, I highly recommend that you check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
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Crossovers and shared universes are all the rage these days, so it should come as no surprise that we’ve finally gotten a Karate Kid crossover that merges the original series of films and the 2010 remake into a single cinematic universe. Sure, fans may not have been clamoring for this franchise mashup, but if there’s one thing Hollywood studios do well, it’s following trends. This movie was bound to be made sooner or later, and even though I wasn’t particularly chomping at the bit to see Karate Kid: Legends, I figured I’d give it a shot. I’m a big fan of martial arts and the original The Karate Kid, so when tickets went on sale, I booked a seat for opening night and hoped for the best
Karate Kid: Legends was directed by Jonathan Entwistle, and it stars Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, and Ming-Na Wen. In the film, Li Fong is a teenager who studies kung fu in Beijing with Mr. Han, the “new Mr. Miyagi” in the 2010 The Karate Kid remake, but when he and his mother move to New York, he has to leave that life behind. However, as I’m sure you can guess, he can't stay away for long. He soon meets a retired boxer about to make a comeback, and he helps the guy incorporate a bit of kung fu into his repertoire. Not long after that, Mr. Han visits his young protege in the Big Apple, and he convinces the kid to enroll in a citywide karate competition called the Five Boroughs Tournament. To win, Li will have to defeat Conor Day, a local bully who’s already proven himself to be a superior fighter, but the boy from Beijing just might have a shot. He begins training again with his old master, and Mr. Han also reaches out to Daniel LaRusso, Mr. Miyagi’s pupil from the original movie, to help beef up the kid’s skills. The Miyagi and Han families share a generations-old connection, and with this unique combination of karate and kung fu, Li becomes a much more formidable fighter than he ever was before. If you think that plot synopsis sounds a bit overstuffed, you’re not wrong. There’s a lot going on in Karate Kid: Legends, and at only about ninety minutes, the film doesn’t have time to fully flesh out all of its characters and subplots. To take just one example, Li’s mother is played by the wonderful Ming-Na Wen, but the actress is woefully underused. Her character spends most of the movie just disapproving of Li’s kung fu training, so Wen doesn’t get to show off her amazing acting chops. To make matters worse, when the woman has an inevitable change of heart in the final act, it feels completely unearned, so this character is just an all-around missed opportunity. Thankfully though, that rushed pace isn’t nearly bad enough to ruin the entire experience. By and large, Karate Kid: Legends makes the most of what it does show, so I walked out of the theater with a big smile on my face. Take Li’s joint karate/kung fu training, for instance. The film flies through some of those scenes a bit too quickly, but it still gives us enough to make the dynamic between Daniel and Mr. Han a real blast. Sometimes their teaching styles betray the connection between their respective traditions, and other times they quibble about the differences between their arts, but no matter what they’re doing, it’s always an absolute joy to watch these two characters interact. The rest of Li’s new “family” are pretty likable as well, but hands down the best character in Karate Kid: Legends is our new karate kid himself. He’s played by Ben Wang, and let me tell you, this guy has what it takes to be a star. Not only does he nail all the emotions Li goes through, but perhaps even more importantly, he just exudes charisma. You simply can’t help but love seeing him on screen, so you’ll have no trouble at all caring about Li, rooting for the kid, and getting deeply invested in his story. Those fun protagonists are the heart and soul of Karate Kid: Legends, but they’re not the only thing this movie has going for it. The martial arts action is pretty good as well, but I have to acknowledge that it’s also a bit of a mixed bag. Let’s start with the good. Unlike in the original The Karate Kid, the majority of these actors can actually fight. Most notably, Ben Wang is one of the most acrobatic martial artists I’ve ever seen on screen, and Jackie Chan is a living legend for a reason. They execute their action scenes with blinding speed and pinpoint accuracy, so when they go all out, it’s truly a sight to behold. On the flipside, these fights sometimes feel like victims of the film’s rushed pace, so as fun as they are, a couple of them are frustratingly short. More egregiously, there are also a handful of times when director Jonathan Entwistle falls prey to the biggest problem that plagues Western action filmmakers–He chops up some of his fight scenes with way too many cuts, so you can’t always see them in all their free-flowing glory. It puts a bit of a damper on what could’ve been some of the best moments of the entire movie, so if you’re a big action fan, you’d do well to temper your expectations a little (but thankfully, only a little!). Last but not least, I want to talk about some of the deeper themes of Karate Kid: Legends. This film deals with the typical ideas you’d expect from a Karate Kid flick–like finding your place in the world, defeating a seemingly invincible bully, and respecting the traditions that have shaped you–and they'll all tug at your heartstrings just like they're supposed to. But if you ask me, the most interesting thing about this movie just might be the new ground it breaks for the franchise. By combining karate and kung fu (as well as kung fu and boxing), the film updates the whole idea of this franchise for a world where mixed martial arts is the most popular combat sport around. Granted, the characters still compete in single-style competitions, so it’s not full-on MMA, but it’s a pretty good middle ground between the original movie's narrower focus and the amazing martial arts fusion we’ve witnessed in the last few decades. It makes for a fun new twist on an old formula, and when you combine it with the (mostly) great characters, fun action, and time-honored themes that have always been part of this franchise, you get a worthy sequel to the original 1984 classic. Sure, Karate Kid: Legends is by no means the best film of the year, and it’s not going to end up on my top-ten list come December. But it gives you everything you want from a Karate Kid flick without feeling like a carbon copy of the movies we’ve seen before, and that’s enough to earn a thumbs up from me. When you think about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what comes to mind? For a lot of fans, it’s probably fun action, witty banter, and memorable characters with amazing abilities. Those are some of the MCU’s most recognizable calling cards, but if you ask me, the best thing about this franchise is something a bit less obvious. A lot of its movies also contain powerful messages that resonate with our faith in unexpected ways, and in this article, I want to examine one of those profound points of contact with the Gospel.
On the surface, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may seem like little more than a fun fantasy adventure with a splash of director Sam Raimi’s signature horror stylings, but if you dig a bit deeper, you’ll find that it contains a world of meaning. This film uses its dark, genre-bending story to explore a vexing question that’s haunted the human race for millennia, and the answer it gives is surprisingly perceptive. You could even say it’s surprisingly Catholic, so let’s dive into the good doctor’s second solo adventure and see what important lessons it has to teach us. “In the Grand Calculus of the Multiverse…” When Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness begins, it doesn’t waste any time getting to the good stuff. Before we have any idea who the major players are (aside from Doctor Strange himself and his usual band of allies, of course) or what our hero is up against, we’re thrust into a tense action scene that foreshadows the movie’s primary message. We see Doctor Strange teaming up with America Chavez, a teenager who has the power to travel the multiverse, and they’re on the run from a mysterious, seemingly demonic entity that wants to steal America’s power for itself. Their only hope is to find a mythical text called the Book of Vishanti, but it soon becomes clear that the duo won’t be able to outrun the creature. Instead, Strange has to call an audible, and he does something shocking. He starts taking America’s power for himself, and even though he knows it’ll kill the girl, he justifies this heinous action by appealing to “the grand calculus of the multiverse.” He’s willing to sacrifice one life to save the entire multiverse, even if that life belongs to a friend. Unfortunately for him, their demonic foe quickly catches up to them and fatally wounds the sorcerer before he can even finish explaining his reasoning, and America uses her power to travel to the main MCU universe and escape the monster. Interestingly, her former friend’s corpse also travels with her, so there are now two Doctor Stranges in this reality–one living and one deceased. For now, that’s little more than an insignificant curiosity, but it’ll become much more important when we reach the third act. The first time I saw Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, this scene caught me off guard. I knew from Spider-Man: No Way Home that Doctor Strange wasn’t averse to letting villains die to protect the multiverse, but I never thought I’d see him kill an innocent person. That was a step too far even for him, so for a split second, I almost thought I was watching Deadpool or The Boys. To be fair, learning that this wasn’t our Doctor Strange eased the shock a little, but not completely. He’s still the same character, so I didn’t expect him to deviate so much from everything I knew (or thought I knew) about him. It’s the kind of opening that sticks with you through the rest of the film, and I’m pretty sure that was intentional. It sets the stage for the primary question Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is going to explore–Can we do evil that good may come of it? Or, in more contemporary terms, does the end justify the means? That age-old ethical dilemma fuels this entire story, and it all begins when the titular hero chooses the greater good over the life of his friend. The Fall and Rise of Wanda Maximoff Soon after America makes her way to the main MCU universe, we find out that the real villain of this movie is Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. After the events of the Disney+ show WandaVision, this poor woman so desperately wanted to be a mother again that she became obsessed with traveling to a universe where her children were real, so she began sending demonic entities after America to steal the girl’s power. It’s a heartbreaking revelation that instantly makes Wanda one of the most sympathetic villains the MCU has ever put on the big screen, but our sympathy for her ends when we realize just how far she’s willing to go to find her boys again. She wields the Darkhold, a book of black magic that’s known to corrupt anyone who uses it, and even worse, she has no qualms about slaughtering anyone who gets in her way. On top of murdering a multiversal Doctor Strange and trying to kill America Chavez, she also lays waste to Kamar-Taj, massacres numerous sorcerers there, and single-handedly destroys the Illuminati in another universe. Wanda has simply become a monster, but in her mind, it’s all worth it. No amount of bloodshed is too much if it means she’ll get to be a mother again, so she’ll do whatever it takes to find her family. When we reach the final act of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the witch appears to be unstoppable, but in a surprising twist, achieving her goal turns out to be her downfall. America eventually gives in to Wanda’s demands and opens a portal to a universe where her children are real, and when the kids see her choking the girl and attacking their Wanda, they’re terrified. They understand right away that the woman in front of them is evil, and they want nothing to do with her. It’s not the reaction Wanda was expecting, but it’s the reaction she needed to see. It brings her back to her senses and allows her to understand just how monstrous she’s become. Sure, her desire to be a mother again was good, maybe even noble, but the means she used to fulfill that desire were hideously wrong. She let herself become a gruesome villain, and when she finally realizes what she’s done, she’s horrified. She ends her quest and destroys the Darkhold in every universe, and with that final act of redemption, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness answers the question it posed in its opening scene–As the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, “One may not do evil so that good may result from it” (CCC 1756). It doesn’t matter what our intentions are. If we’re doing evil to achieve a good end, we’re still doing evil, and that will inevitably turn us into the “villains” of our own stories just like it turned Wanda into the villain of hers. That’s why Wanda abandoned her quest right when she had reached the cusp of victory, and it’s also why she destroyed every copy of the Darkhold in the multiverse. She knew the evil book would inevitably blacken anyone who used it, regardless of their good intentions, and she didn’t want anyone to fall under its corrupting influence ever again. The Rise and Fall of Stephen Strange Wanda’s arc alone is enough to make Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness a deeply meaningful parable that dovetails quite nicely with our faith, but it’s not the only way this film brings its timeless message to life. Doctor Strange finds himself faced with a similar moral dilemma as well, but his arc plays out a bit differently from Wanda’s. After an opening that sees one of his multiversal variants doing evil to achieve a good end, the big question that runs throughout this movie is whether our Doctor Strange will go down that same path. Every other version of him that we meet eventually falls prey to that temptation, so we can’t help but wonder if this one will too. For most of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he remains adamant in his commitment to always do good, but when we reach the third act, he finally buckles. He finds himself trapped in the multiverse with no way home, so he uses that reality’s Darkhold to possess his corpse in the main MCU universe in a last-ditch attempt to rescue America from Wanda’s insidious grasp. Unfortunately, even an undead Doctor Strange can’t defeat the Scarlet Witch on his own, but with a little help from America’s ingenuity and Wanda’s multiversal children, the sorcerer ultimately succeeds. He manages to use the most vile of books to achieve a noble end, and surprisingly, it doesn’t seem to affect him much. The first time you watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, you might find this turn of events a bit confusing. Isn’t the whole point of the film that the ends don’t justify the means? How can Doctor Strange flaunt the story’s primary message with total impunity when it matters most? It seems like thematic gobbledygook, but thankfully, the movie redeems itself in the very last shot. Right before the credits begin to roll, we see the titular superhero walking down the streets of New York, and without warning, he falls to the ground. He starts screaming and writhing in pain, and in the midst of his agony, a third eye appears on his forehead. It’s an odd scene to watch in isolation, but if you’ve seen the rest of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, you know exactly what’s going on. We learned from another Doctor Strange variant that the third eye is a mark of the Darkhold’s evil influence, so this final shot tells us that the sorcerer was in fact corrupted by the sinister book. His plan may have ultimately worked, but he didn’t get away scot-free. The Darkhold left a deep scar on the man’s soul, and his dark fate cements the film’s message in a way you almost certainly won’t forget. Sure, from a purely utilitarian perspective, evil can sometimes get the job done, but from a moral and spiritual point of view, it’s just not worth it. Every sin, even one done to achieve a good end, always leaves a black mark on our soul and slowly pushes us away from God, and that’s a price no Christian should ever be willing to pay. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
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