Danny and Michael Philippou on RackaRacka, Talk to Me and their new movie Bring Her Back
Danny and Michael Philippou's debut horror Talk to Me gained popularity among the likes of Steven Spielberg and Jordan Peele. (Getty: Robby Klein)
Danny and Michael Philippou have made it in Hollywood — but they're not staying.
Their Adelaide-set horror, Talk To Me, made a whopping $US92 million ($143 million) at the global box office (for context, Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, starring Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson, made $US54million the same year), cementing their place among some of the most notable filmmakers in the world.
"Everything feels so surreal," Danny told ABC Entertainment.
"When you're in Hollywood, it's this crazy thing, and then you come back to Australia and it feels like nothing even happened. It feels like a dream."
But the 32-year-old twin brothers have well-and-truly earned their seat at the table.
Talk to Me went viral on TikTok, dropped a merch line, and made headlines when Kuwait banned it due to its inclusion of non-binary actor Zoe Terakes. (Supplied: Maslow Entertainment)
Talk to Me was bought by A24, following an industry-wide bidding war, and quickly became the powerhouse studio's second-highest-grossing film ever, trumped only by their Oscar Best Picture winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Needless to say, the Philippous felt "a lot of a stress" to live up to the whirlwind of their debut.
And while they had a bigger budget backing them up for their second offering, Bring Her Back, there's one thing they remain adamant about: "We want to do everything in Australia."
From YouTube's RackaRacka to the big leagues
The Philippou brothers first got a taste of fame through their YouTube channel, RackaRacka — named after their home suburb of Pooraka in Adelaide.
Their recurring evil Ronald McDonald videos had plenty of homemade blood and tongues. (YouTube: RackaRacka)
Amassing a cult following in the 2010s, their homemade stunt and slasher videos racked up more than 1 billion views and earned them almost 7 million subscribers.
And while they now have the funding to pull off the gruesome carnage of their dreams, they're still using the same practical effects techniques they taught themselves during those YouTube days.
"It's the best practice ground, you're being so physical, you're being so hands-on and you're just learning to do stuff," Danny says.
"We've tried so many different things and failed at so many different things," Michael adds, "so when people say on set: 'You can't do that!' It's like: 'Um, I think you can.'"
Danny and Michael's YouTube experience means they aren't afraid to get their hands dirty on set. (Supplied: Sony Pictures)
Much of their film crew have been with them since even before their YouTube success, a core team they've complemented with leading sound, design and filmmaking professionals who Danny says "elevate everything and bring this whole expertise to it".
"But sometimes, we like doing YouTube style, like: 'Take that camera off the f***ing tripod and let's go shoot some stuff [by hand],'" Michael laughs.
'Like a puzzle box': Bring Her Back explained
While the Philippou's labelled Talk to Me a party horror, they see their latest work as a character-driven body horror, complete with scenes of gritty gore.
The story starts with teenage step-siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong) dealing with the death of their father. They're sent to live with foster carer Laura, who's compellingly played by Oscar-nominated Brit Sally Hawkins (Shape of Water; Paddington) with a particularly impressive Australian accent. Laura has also previously taken in the mysterious Ollie (Jonah Wren Phillips), a non-verbal young boy with increasingly disturbing behaviour.
Andy shelters his little sister Piper from anything dark. (Supplied: Sony Pictures)
Piper, who is visually impaired, is shielded by her big brother Andy, who describes their surroundings to her with rose-tinted language.
"Andy is Piper's eyes, and he's not allowing her to see both sides of the world … and by doing that, he's putting her, ultimately, in more danger," Michael explains.
"Only when you see the good and the bad in the world, can you navigate it."
A focus on the balance between light and shade was sparked by a conversation with their friend's now 15-year-old sister Cheyenne, who is visually impaired and who lends her voice to the soundtrack.
"I asked her, what does she feel like it would be like, to be able to see?" Danny says.
"And she's like, 'I'm glad I can't see, because I don't have to see the ugly things in the world.'"
Danny and Michael put out an Australia-wide casting call to find their Piper, and say Sora Wong's improvised audition for her first ever acting role was "incredible". (Getty: Paul Archuleta)
For the brothers, playing with perspective became key to the film.
"Certain people are perceiving certain things [differently]," Danny explains.
"So it was about finding a visual language and an audio language for each character."
They've also left it up to the audience to interpret the plot in their own way, taking inspiration from their favourite films and novels.
"Like in The Shining, how not everything's overtly explained, and the hints are there, and you can put it together if you really look and theorise," Danny says.
"But it's not given to you ... it's like a puzzle box."
What's next for the Philippou brothers?
Danny and Michael still can't quite believe the reception they've had from their heroes, with industry veterans like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Jordan Peele reaching out to congratulate them.
"They're directors that we look up to, and now we're friends with them — like we had a movie night at Fede Álvarez's house, who did Alien … and then we went to The Lot and Baz Luhrmann was there. It's so strange that they're real people," Michael says.
"They feel like mythological creatures, and we feel inferior to everybody," Danny jokes.
But even with all this success, signing on to a big foreign studio is firmly off the cards for Michael and Danny.
The Philippou brothers bought a house — together — with their Talk to Me earnings, but insist "there's a floor each". (Supplied: Sony Pictures)
The pair fought to keep Talk to Me's Adelaide setting, and for the cast to speak in Australian accents — even foregoing a studio budget and instead re-investing their own fees to get the movie off the ground.
They say they turned down a "big studio IP" offer — the chance to work on a franchise film or similar large-scale project — for Bring Her Back, prioritising what they felt was "the more honest story to tell".
"I always want to bring everything back here," Danny says.
"It's where we grew up, it's what we know, so the stories to tell are Australian," Michael adds.
Their next release, however, has taken them all over the world: a documentary on Deathmatch wrestling they've shot across Mexico, America, Japan and locally.
"But the next film we're writing will be 100 per cent in Australia, 100 per cent shooting everything back in SA, which I can't wait for," Danny says.
Bring Her Back will be in Australian cinemas from May 29.