Talk To Me: Movie Review
Oh whoa! Look! I came back!
I know you were worried, since my schedule has been a bit chaotic lately and I appreciate your patience.
I appreciate you, reader.
You hear me?
I appreciate you.
The Movie
Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou and written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman — Talk to Me is an Australian supernatural horror film, starring Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes, Chris Alosio, Marcus Johnson, and Alexandria Steffensen. Talk to Me premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on October 30th, 2022, then was released in Australia in July of 2023.
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. — IMDb description
The movie centers on teenager Mia, who is struggling with the second anniversary of her mom’s death. Desperate to get her mind off it, she and her friend (and friend’s little brother) go to a house party where the kids are going nutty for the next new thing — talking to the dead using a creepy disembodied hand! Wowzer. These kids are just crazy.
These youths take turns holding the creepy hand and saying “talk to me”, while the other kids film (and assumedly post to their tiktaks or blue birds apps).
Of course, if you mess with ghosts, you might end up toast…s.s… ?
This is a horror movie, of course, so horrible things happen.
The Review
I actually went to see this in theatre. The closest cinema only had a showing at 10:30pm, which I didn’t appreciate. I mean, I love getting spooked but I am not a fan of empty, dark parking lots at midnight. Oh well, I survived (assumedly, since I wrote this review).
This movie gave me It Follows vibes and I really enjoyed it. I will preface that to say, if you watch this, you should expect a popcorn horror flick. It’s a pretty standard possession movie with the unique aspect in how the possession is delivered (the creepy hand).
The characters are compelling — the main character, Mia, has a lot of depth though I didn’t exactly find her very likeable. She does a lot of destructive things, which of course, can be tied back to her grief and trauma, but that doesn’t mean I have to like her. Ya know?
On top of the good acting and well-rounded characters, I felt like the plot was well paced, the atmosphere/suspense well done, and the gore effective. I was entertained the whole film and left really happy, so I definitely would recommend this film to my fellow horror fans.
Again, don’t go into it expecting the next Hereditary or Midsommar, but it’s a fun movie for sure.
8/10
x PLM
p.s. Also, the Gravely Serious podcast did a in-depth review of the movie if you want more. Just beware that they do have spoilers near the end of the episode.
