Directors – Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou, Screenplay – Bill Hinzman & Danny Philippou, Based on a Concept by Danny Pearson, Producers – Kristina Ceyton & Samantha Jennings, Photography – Aaron McLisky, Music – Cornel Wilczek, Visual Effects Supervisor – Marty Pepper, Makeup Effects – Make-Up Effects Group (Supervisors – Paul Katte & Mark Nicolaou), Production Design – Bethany Ryan. Production Company – Screen Australia/South Australia Film Corporation/Adelaide Film Festival/Headgear Films/Metrol Technology/Bankside Films/Causeway Films.
Cast
Sophie Wilde (Mia), Alexandra Jensen (Jade), Miranda Otto (Sue), Joe Bird (Riley), Otis Dhanji (Daniel), James Oliver (James), Zoe Terakes (Hayley), Chris Alosio (Joss), Marcus Johnson (Max), Ari McCarthy (Cole), Sunny Johnson (Duckett), Alexandria Steffensen (Rhea)
Plot
Teenager Mia is dealing with the grief of her mother’s suicide. She staying over with and spending much time with her best friend Jade. Mia and Jade sneak off to a party where Jade’s fifteen year-old brother Riley insists on coming. There others bring out a ceramic hand that they say was taken from the body of a medium. People are asked to play a game where they hold the hand and say “talk to me” and then invite the spirit into them, although the link must be severed within ninety seconds by blowing the candle out. Mia tries it out and is briefly taken over by a spirit. Riley insists on trying and Mia lets him – however, he then begins to channel her mother. Something goes wrong and Riley begins to violently batter himself and has to be taken to hospital. Blamed for this, Mia sees that Riley is still possessed and seeks to find a way to save him.
Talk to Me became a sleeper box-office hit, earning great word of mouth and some $68 million worldwide. It was a debut film for twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou who hail from Adelaide, Australia. The Philippous had gained throughout the 2010s with their YouTube stunts videos that they began making while in their teens and then found a high profile with the RackaRacka channel that specialised in horror comedy, which ran between 2013-6. The two had previously worked as production assistants on the films The Babadook (2014) and Inner Demon (2014).
In their feature-length debut, the Philippou Brothers demonstrate an assurance that propels them head and shoulders above their contemporaries. The opening scene where Ari McCarthy goes to see what is up with brother Sunny Johnson before Sunny pulls a knife really wakes the system up within the opening moments and makes you pay attention to what is to follow. Then come the scene where Sophie Wilde tries out the hand and is taken over. The scenes with her suddenly developing big black eyes, speaking in a deep voice and the door abruptly slamming open has an undeniable effect. This is followed the scenes where Joe Bird insists on trying and things start to go really wrong.
Sophie Wilde takes hold of the hand
There have been a lot of similar films like this where teenagers raise a spirit of enact some type of curse – think of the likes of Final Destination (2000) and sequels, Darkness Falls (2003), Truth of Dare (2018), Countdown (2019), Polaroid (2019) and Smile (2022), along a host of others. I was reminded somewhat of the wholly anodyne Blumhouse Ouija (2014). Strip Talk to Me down to a plot description and the hand could be no different to the occult artefact or curse that appears in one of these.
However, it is the directorial élan of the Philippou Brothers that elevates the material to something next level. It is a film where the Philippous demonstrate an astute grasp of the essence of the horror film – creating mood, unexpected jumps and out there moments, and harnessing performances in the service of it. Not to mention their rooting a horror story in a world where teenagers filming a possession for a YouTube/TikTok video is second nature to them. There is a little too much running around in the latter half and not quite enough of the jolts that make their earlier sections memorable. That said, the Philippou Brothers do bring the film to a memorably chill and perfectly logical ending.
With the success of Talk to Me, a sequel is projected.
