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The Philippou Brothers Unleash ‘Bring Her Back’: How the Ex-YouTubers Became A24’s Leading Horror Hitmakers


After 'Talk to Me' and the Sally Hawkins thriller 'Bring Her Back,' Danny and Michael Philippou have escaped being YouTubers and become horror hitmakers.

In their twenties, the brothers honed their filmmaking chops — and gained millions of subscribers — on their channel RackaRacka, producing fast-paced, comically violent videos like “Harry Potter VS Star Wars” and “Ronald McDonald Chicken Store Massacre.” All the while, they took some crew jobs on film sets and commercials to work toward directing their own movie. Nudging ribs and kicking each other under the table during their interview, the 32-year-old twins — distinguishable by Danny’s bleached hair and Michael’s buzzcut — still share the rambunctious, slapstick banter that’s evident in their YouTube videos. Danny is so keen that he hands over a copy of the book he’s currently reading — the 1997 novel “Out” by Japanese author Natsuo Kirino, about four female employees at a bento factory who cover up a murder — and makes a brief pitch of an adaptation.

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