Movie Review: ‘Talk To Me’

Director: Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou

Cast: Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes, Chris Alosio

Plot: Mia and Jade, along with Jade’s younger brother Riley, start attending parties where other teens are using a mysterious ceramic hand to dabble in spiritual possession. The more they delve into this thrilling new world the more the door to the other side is opened.

Review: Damn, YouTubers…when it comes to horror these are the creators who are delivering the goods in the world of horror. Without even touching on the Analog Horror genre that has grown on the platform, the most interesting new movies seem to be cutting their teeth on the streaming platform. The latest are the Philippou twins from South Australia who have turned out a pitch-perfect, engaging and deeply intense first feature film.

The movie follows a small group of school-aged teenagers in SA, and right off the bat the characters and setting hammer home the realism. Anyone who’s been to a high-school house party in Australia will find some scenes of this movie weirdly relatable, especially the one-shot track through a party in the opening scene. The actors all appear age appropriate, which is already unusual, but they all capture the balance of bravado and insecurity that often characterises people of this age. Through social media, our main characters learn of parties where people are undergoing possession with excitable videos of people’s odd behaviour piquing their interest.

Mia (Wilde) has been traumatised by her mother’s recent death, and she’s been struggling to be alone. She relies on her best friend Jade (Jensen) and her family, with whom she spends most of her time. Younger brother Riley (Bird) and their mother Sue (Otto) have unofficially adopted her, and Mia very much provides an older sibling role to Riley. At the party they meet Hayley and Joss (Terakes and Alosio) who have obtained a ceramic hand that allows people to connect with the spirit world. Initially only Mia indulges, enjoying the experience in spite of the terrifying reactions she exhibited during the brief possession. Before long everyone is taking a turn, with the group increasingly pushing against the limitations imposed on them by the hands previous owner.

When Mia decides to allow Riley a turn despite Jade considering him to young she realises that he has been possessed by her dead mother. Not wanting to lose the connected, Mia extends the experience and gives the spirits an opening to capture Riley’s spirit. Torn between the (incredibly visceral) physical and emotional pain caused by her actions and the opportunity to have her mother back in her life, Mia spirals further into experimentation with the hand and possession. As she loses self-control it becomes difficult for her to discern who is manipulating who.

On the surface this doesn’t sound like an especially original horror concept but the attention to detail and technique elevates it to become one of the best horror movies of the year. We’d love to get our hands on one of the ceramic hand props so we can read all the graffiti and notes that have been added to it over the years. There’s no scene that doesn’t feel as though every tiny part of the space, costumes and characters have been given full consideration as part of a larger story. This approach contributes to the grounded realism of the film. The high school party scenes and the interactions between the characters feels very authentic, looking and feeling like another world from the typical Hollywood teen party.

Being a debut feature with a largely unknown cast, it’s impressive how much the young performers throw themselves into the roles. Everyone feels like they have a backstory that we’re not exploring here and they all seem to be close in age to the high-school characters. The twisting and snarling that comes from demonic possession could easily feel cheesy but manages to maintain an extreme feeling of discomfort for the viewer.

This is a smart and impactful supernatural horror movie that is going to stand out as one of the years best. It may not push the concept of possession much further than we’ve seen previously, and some of the ideas and visuals start to repeat themselves, but it’s atmospheric and full of interesting characters. Great stuff all round.

Rating: EIGHT out of TEN