I recently had a chance to watch Bring Her Back, which not only lived up to CinemaBlend’s glowing review but is a must-watch for the Halloween season. I haven’t had a movie make my hair stand on end like that since Hereditary, and surprisingly, there’s some common ground the two movies share in how they scare an audience.
For those who don’t want to see a decapitation scene again, don’t worry, that’s not what I’m talking about. For those looking for good horror, however, I have to talk about how both of these movies rely on a parent’s grief and the extremely dark places it can go.
Hereditary Focuses On Parents Losing A Child In Two Vastly Different Ways
Hereditary and Bring Her Back both start with mothers losing a daughter, which I think plays into why I linked the two almost immediately. That said, the way both mothers handle it unfolds in uniquely different ways. While Annie in Hereditary retreats within and tries to survive, Bring Her Back‘s Laura leaps into action and tries to concoct a plan to get her daughter back.
It’s two different types of grief, taken to the most extreme. What makes both special is that the stories play on their grief to make it a compelling part of the story, which really elevates the horror in an unexpected and authentic way.
The Movie Plays On The Extreme Emotions We Display In Grief, Which Is Both Unsettling And Occasionally Scary
Whether you’re a parent or not, grief is a helluva thing. Losing a loved one is an immeasurable pain, and it can lead to desperation to escape that feeling, or to somehow regain the feeling you lost.
Bring Her Back takes this to the most extreme, showing a mother willing to undergo a satanic ritual if it means bringing her daughter back to life. As despicable and disturbing as her actions are, you can’t help but feel for some of the pain Laura endures to be driven to such lengths.
Grief hits Annie in Hereditary another way, as she struggles to cope with losing her daughter while trying not to hate her son for the role he played in her death. The tragedy makes them blind to the horrors unfolding in their home, which get all too real at the end. Similar to how grief can drive us to extreme lengths, it can also make us blind to the things that are right in front of us.
Where To Watch Hereditary And Bring Her Back
If you’re looking to check out both movies this Halloween season, having an HBO Max subscription is the key. Hereditary, Bring Her Back, and a healthy library of many other A24 movies are available on the streaming platform.
I maintain that both are near the top of the list of the best Horror movies one can watch, especially for those who have run all the classics into the ground. These are going to be the movies that we’re still talking about decades from now, and hopefully, inspiring the next generation of filmmakers.
That said, I’m not sure how the bar can be raised any higher when it comes to quality bone-chilling horror. I’m eager to see what the future holds, though if things get more intense than what Bring Her Back and Hereditary can offer, I may not want to watch whatever is coming out down the road.
Fall is a great time to snuggle up on the couch for a terrifying night of horror, so it’s not a bad idea to plan a date night for either of these movies. That said, maybe have a lighter show to watch before bedtime to put on before that, because it’ll be needed after watching either.