It is hard to overstate just how successful, and also bizarre July 2023 was in the movie industry. Amongst the Barbie, Mission: Impossible, Sound of Freedom, and Oppenheimer phenomena, where theaters are literally bursting at the seams with moviegoers, and discourse surrounding the critical reaction to those movies varies as far as the eyes and ears can see and hear, an Australian horror classic, Talk to Me, threw its hat (or hand) into the ring and added some horror flavor into an already eclectic collection of newly released movies. Talk to Me might not be the same kind of financial success story as the aforementioned movies already are, but in regard to the quality of the movie itself, Talk to Me is every bit as masterfully crafted as anything released in recent years…
Talk to Me is the feature film debut from Danny & Michael Philippou, the twin brother duo also known as RackaRacka of YouTube fame. RackaRacka is an insanely popular YouTube channel, and in an era where most eyeballs are on clever and entertaining YouTube videos, the Philippou brothers quickly risen to fame. Michael even fought in the undercard of the KSI vs. Logan Paul pay-per-view boxing event (which he won against fellow YouTuber, Scarce). YouTube fame aside, the brothers also have experience working on Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook. The Babadook, another Australian horror classic, was a Causeway Films production, which led the siblings to their collaboration with Samantha Jennings (co-founder of Causeway Films, co-producer of Talk to Me). Being set in and filmed in and around Adelaide, Talk to Me feels incredibly authentic and has a similar vibe to other seriously dark Australian productions. Oddly enough, the connection that stood out to me the most out of all of the dense Australian film history was its similarities to the work of Blue-Tongue Films. Notable Blue-Tongue members included David Michod (Animal Kingdom), Joel Edgerton (The Gift) and Nash Edgerton (Spider). The visceral and bleak nature of the great Blue-Tongue feature-length as well as short films is so omnipresent in Talk to Me. Blue-Tongue does not do a lot in the horror genre, but the thematic similarities between Talk to Me and those films, in particular the hyper-realistic human characters and unflinchingly bleak and uncanny stories really tie these movies together.
Now let’s get to the movie itself. It is important to avoid any spoilers, as the twists and turns of the story are most enjoyed when unexpected. So rest assured, I will be continuing in generalities. Talk to Me is about a group of young kids, ranging from 14 to 18-years-old. A good chunk of this movie takes place at various house parties, with bass heavy hip-hop/grime music blasting over the speakers upon entering, which gives these scenes a jolt of energy and excitement. The authenticity of the characters and their interactions amongst each other is a tribute to how talented the actors all are. The core group of Mia (played by Sophia Wilde), Jade (played by Alexandra Jensen), Riley (played by Joe Bird), Daniel (played by Otis Dhanji), Hayley (played by Zoe Terakes) and Joss (played by Chris Alosio) all have an excellent report with each other…
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Although Talk to Me plays mostly as an ensemble, the main character of the story is most definitely Mia. Mia’s mom has recently passed away, seemingly by suicide. Mia has since endeared herself to her best friends, Jade and Riley’s family, who are brother and sister. Riley is significantly younger than Jade and Mia, but still just as close to Mia as Jade is. Talk to Me opens with a seemingly unrelated and shockingly violent scene that sets the stage for the general atmosphere of the movie. Right off the bat, the audience understands that this world is just that much darker than they might be accustomed to, even for this genre.
After the excellent opening scene, Mia, Jade and Riley, as kids do, sneak out of their house much to the chagrin of their strict but cool mom, played by the great Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings). Mia, Jade and Riley make their way to a house party where Hayley and Joss are hosting this spiritual phenomenon that has overtaken the youth of the region. Hayley and Joss are in possession of this severed hand that looks like a trophy or a mini statue. This hand was reportedly the actual hand of a medium who could conjure spirits. To activate its power, one must hold the hand, light a candle and say, “Talk to me…”. Almost immediately and without fail, a spirit appears only visible to the person who is in contact with the hand. To take this one step further, this person then says, “I let you in…”, and like a bolt of lightning, the spirit takes control of this person’s mind and body. Joss and Hayley have this down to a science where they tie the person down beforehand, and time it for 90 seconds, as going over 90 seconds is believed to be detrimental. Once the candle is blown out, the spirit leaves the body, giving the person who conjures the spirit a high like no other. Mia is first to try, and is very disturbed by the result, but just like everyone else who tries, is infatuated by its power, almost addicted (like in Flatliners). The power of this hand has swallowed these kids whole, they are obsessed with playing, but once the seriously dark nature of the hand has a firm grip on these kids, causing all sorts of hell to break loose, the difference between spiritual unconsciousness and reality starts to become blurry, leading to tragedy and despair amongst the group…
Stylistically and execution wise, Talk to Me is masterfully crafted. From the excellent sound design to the stunning visuals, everything about this movie was exciting and terrifying. The atmosphere was perfect for the story that was being told, and there’s really only one or two scenes that drag to the point of tuning out ever so slightly. Most of the movie is edge of your seat thrilling sequence after sequence. The spirits conjured in this film are some of the most well-designed and horrifying creatures imaginable. Thematically speaking, Talk to Me is one of the most honest and dark portrayals of death and despair that I have seen on screen. It is an absolutely unflinching story that pulls zero punches and isn’t afraid to tell this bleak story with almost no light at the end of the tunnel. Dealing with grief and despair is something us horror fans have seen countless times. But Mia’s story felt so original as there were many layers to the mystery surrounding her mother’s death, her relationship with her father, her relationship to her friends and the confusion brought on by the spirits. All of these factors are spliced together perfectly in the writing of this story, with all of the twists and turns, the audience is always treated to genuine scares, mysteries, lore and relationship drama that keep the movie humming on all cylinders. The afterlife is portrayed in such an unsettling way in Talk to Me that feels so unique given how many other movies cover the same subject matter. I found this portrayal to be ultra-nihilistic, but it also aligns with how I personally view the subject matter, which is an odd conundrum to experience, not going to lie…
Even though Talk to Me is sheathed and drenched in darkness, there are still plenty of lighthearted comedic moments throughout the movie that feel well-timed and natural. As far as deeply unsettling movies are concerned, Talk to Me is without a doubt one of the most entertaining of the bunch. The critique on modern youth culture and the obsession with going “viral” lingers as a thematic focus but is never fully consumed with beating that dead kangaroo…
The ending of this movie caught me totally off-guard, in the best way possible, and is exactly where this story wanted to go, and more importantly, should have gone. You never know if the filmmakers are going to take it all the way there, so it is satisfying to see this movie play out like a noir-horror instead of something safe with an uplifting and heroic finale to such a dark tale. Talk to Me has no intention of being warm, it wants to stay ice cold. The wrong ending could have dramatically affected how the audience felt about this movie, so it is refreshing that it stays true to the characters and story arc. There are characters who seem to make it out unscathed with a happy(ish) ending, and then there are characters who aren’t so lucky…
I would recommend Talk to Me to anyone and everyone, not just for fans of the genre, and I would especially recommend seeing this movie in a theater. A24 has a winner with this one. Except, I do wish it wasn’t released into such an anomalous movie month, and maybe would have benefited financially from a different theatrical release window that wasn’t so crowded. It is still encouraging that Talk to Me is tracking to be a financial success, and with good word of mouth, should be able to have some legs at the box office and VOD. Talk to Me oozes originality and energy, has great performances and is incredibly well-crafted by the filmmaking team. I really do believe this will go down as one of the year’s best movies, and also one of the best original horror movies in recent years…
Wicked Horror Rating: 9/10
From A24, Talk to Me is playing exclusively in theaters as of July 28th, 2023.
