March 29, 2024
This terror is an absolute nerve cooker that breathes down the back of your neck with genuine, artfully done frights. It’s a daring game we’d be happy to play again and again.

Preston Barta // Features Editor

TALK TO ME (2023)

Not yet rated, 94 min.
Director: Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou
Cast: Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Zoe Terakes, Chris Alosio, Otis Dhanji, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen, Ari McCarthy and Miranda Otto

A24 and the horror genre go together like Ke Huy Quan and an Oscar. There’s a magic to the studio’s projects, which, more often than not, are helmed by artists who have the creative cinematic landscape to get as weird, wild and disturbing as they want. And for the super-talented Australian twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, it couldn’t be more true.

Talk to Me is dead set going to be the talk of the internet, and for a good reason. Masterfully crafted with sustained tension-building technique and a perfect storm of young on-screen talent, this terror is an absolute nerve cooker that breathes down the back of your neck with genuine, artfully done frights. It’s a daring game I’d be happy to play again and again.

Right out of the gate, it’s clear Talk to Me is special. It drops us into a terrifying reality of party games, viral videos and one wicked connection to the spirit world. And what is a horror movie without an opening scene to make you sweat and feel a certain tightness in your stomach? Trust me; it leaves a cold touch that lingers.

Talk to Me involves a group of teen friends (including Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird and Alexandra Jensen) who summon spirits using an ancient embalmed hand. All one needs to do to unlock the fun is strap yourself into a chair, light a candle, grab said hand and say, “talk to me.” From there, a random, often disgusting-looking spirit appears across from you (invisible to everyone else but the summoner).

Start the timer for 90 seconds and get ready to welcome the entity into your body as you go on an Urban Cowboy ride to reach a demonic, drug-like high. (Think Flatliners meets The Sixth Sense.) However, don’t slip past your suggested time, as it has proven to lead to brutal and bloody results.

Throughout the film, you can snap your finger and point, Leonardo DiCaprio style, at all the film’s influences, such as The Exorcist, The Shining, Hereditary and Get Out. You can also smell the teen spirit of ‘90s hangout horror like Urban Legend and Scream. And while these elements are detectable, Talk to Me remains its own beast that can flip the switch from fun and smiles to nightmares and oh-God-nos on a dime. Brace yourself for an ending that is truly one of the most excitingly original conclusions in some time. You can hear the air get sucked out of the room; it’s that good.

All the filmmaking departments of the film deserve a place in the spotlight. Aaron McLisky’s camera work feels simultaneously calculated and loose. Parts of the frame will embrace the haziness within the cerebral walls of its characters, highlighting a lack of control of what’s about to happen or is happening. But then other scenes will show smooth camera operation to show how there’s no stopping what’s coming. It’s effective and worth the price of admission alone.

Then, there are the wonderfully committed performances. I cannot imagine being in a headspace occupied by those from the other side. They’re not all Caspers; I’ll tell you that. Whether it’s the descent into hell that’s read on the summoners’ faces or this raw state of confusion after a horrible event (that’s equivalent to the infamous car scene from Hereditary), these characters nestle into your brain – especially Wilde, who is a talent to follow.

Talk to Me is a very well-accomplished feature debut from the Philippou brothers. It’s an exemplary mood piece that will be remembered and celebrated.

Grade: A

Talk to Me held its Texas premiere at the South by Southwest on Mar. 10. It will have an encore screening at the Austin-TX film festival on Mar. 15. Visit SXSW.com for details. A24 will release the film theatrically on July 28.

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