Bring Her Back has dominated at the 2026 Aacta (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) awards, winning 10 of 16 nominations, while Jacob Elordi has continued his recent awards buzz by taking home best lead actor for his performance in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou’s horror-thriller about a sinister foster mother, emerged as the most awarded film of the night with 10 wins. This marks a major milestone for the Adelaide brothers, surpassing the eight awards they won for their 2024 global breakout, Talk to Me.
Bring Her Back won best direction, best film, best leading actress in a film for Sally Hawkins and almost every technical category, including cinematography, editing, original score, sound, costume design, hair and makeup, and casting.
The livewire Philippou brothers made it two from two when their haunting horror Bring Her Back won best film and direction at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards on Friday evening.
Having won the same awards with their debut film, Talk To Me, two years ago, twins Danny and Michael Philippou’s darker and more disturbing follow-up won 10 AACTA statuettes at the ceremony on the Gold Coast.
Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou, known together online as RackaRacka, are Australian twin filmmakers, YouTubers, and stunt performers. They are known for their horror comedy YouTube videos and for the career as horror filmmakers which those videos spawned. They have won numerous awards for their work, including the Best International Channel Streamy Award, Best Overall at the Online Video Awards, and the AACTA Award for the Best Web Show.
Originally from Adelaide with Greek heritage, the brothers moved to Los Angeles in January 2019 but continue to make films in Australia. They made their feature directorial debut when they wrote and directed the supernatural horror film Talk to Me, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was released internationally on 27 July 2023. Their second film, Bring Her Back, was released in 2025. Both received positive reviews.
Early life and education[edit]
Danny and Michael Philippou were born in Adelaide and raised in the northern suburb of Pooraka. They are of Cypriot and Greek descent.[2] Their father is a Greek Cypriot and their mother is Greek.