I’m not usually one for teen driven supernatural horror films. You know the kind, dumb kids conjuring evil spirits because they think it’s fun and then one of them gets possessed, or something like that. So, when I saw the trailers for Talk To Me I immediately gave it a pass. But then the reviews started trickling through for it and I was genuinely surprised that it was getting as much fanfare as it did. My interest piqued, I took a gamble and decided to see what all the fuss was about, and much to my surprise I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
Mia (Sophie Wilde) is struggling with the grief she feels from her mother’s death two years ago, using her friend Jade’s (Alexandra Jensen) family as support. When Mia, Jade, and Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) sneak out to a party one night, they are confronted by an embalmed hand that can supposedly conjure spirits when the phrase ‘talk to me’ is uttered whilst holding it. As the teens abuse this supernatural power, they unwittingly allow a spirit to cross over for too long, and it becomes a race against time to try and send it back to the spirit world before this spirit kills.
Mia (Sophie Wilde) is struggling with the grief she feels from her mother’s death two years ago, using her friend Jade’s (Alexandra Jensen) family as support. When Mia, Jade, and Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) sneak out to a party one night, they are confronted by an embalmed hand that can supposedly conjure spirits when the phrase ‘talk to me’ is uttered whilst holding it. As the teens abuse this supernatural power, they unwittingly allow a spirit to cross over for too long, and it becomes a race against time to try and send it back to the spirit world before this spirit kills.
I think most teens went through a Ouija board phase, if never having played it then at least knowing the urban legend that playing the board game will summon spirits. Talk To Me takes that basic concept of a party game conjuring spirits, but puts this new spin on it with one person making a direct link to a spirit, allowing it to possess their body temporarily, whilst the others around them break the connection to send the spirit back before the spirit can totally possess the body of the player. It’s not a new concept, but it is a fresh take on it to make it feel like it’s more original than it actually is, which for a genre as done to death as this is impressive.
It's also genuinely scary. A lot of films of this kind rely on assaulting you with jump scare after jump scare, but Talk To Me rarely ever offers up jump scares, instead the terror that’ll last with you comes from the disturbing story, the great practical effects, and the incredible sound design. There was one moment where I was genuinely squirming in my seat because of how uncomfortable I was, and there were numerous times where I felt as though someone was breathing down my neck or whispering in my ear because of the way the sound has been crafted.
The main focus of the plot is grief, particularly the loss of a loved one. Mia is desperately trying to reconnect with her mother using the hand, to try to understand her death, and hoping it’ll give her some kind of closure. But the more she uses it the more damage it does. This all-consuming grief is destroying the relationship with her family and friends, as well as disconnecting her from reality, and I would love to have seen it explored further with a longer runtime.
The parallels drawn to dug addiction is also really cool. Once you start using the hand to talk to the dead it becomes difficult to stop, and like all drug abuse it comes with negative health affects…just that this time it’s evil spirits trying to kill you.
The performances are generally solid all-round. Wilde steals the show, but there’s also great performances from Miranda Otto as Jade’s mum, Sue, and Zoe Terakes as Mia & Jade’s friend, Hayley. These performances go a long way to selling us on the characters, and although I did find Sue to be a generally quite harsh character, I found that Otto’s performance gave her this extra depth that I feel the script didn’t allow. Otto transformed her from this nasty bitch who’s constantly disappointed in her kids, to a mother who’s failing to connect with her kids because she’s so scared of losing them.
It's also genuinely scary. A lot of films of this kind rely on assaulting you with jump scare after jump scare, but Talk To Me rarely ever offers up jump scares, instead the terror that’ll last with you comes from the disturbing story, the great practical effects, and the incredible sound design. There was one moment where I was genuinely squirming in my seat because of how uncomfortable I was, and there were numerous times where I felt as though someone was breathing down my neck or whispering in my ear because of the way the sound has been crafted.
The main focus of the plot is grief, particularly the loss of a loved one. Mia is desperately trying to reconnect with her mother using the hand, to try to understand her death, and hoping it’ll give her some kind of closure. But the more she uses it the more damage it does. This all-consuming grief is destroying the relationship with her family and friends, as well as disconnecting her from reality, and I would love to have seen it explored further with a longer runtime.
The parallels drawn to dug addiction is also really cool. Once you start using the hand to talk to the dead it becomes difficult to stop, and like all drug abuse it comes with negative health affects…just that this time it’s evil spirits trying to kill you.
The performances are generally solid all-round. Wilde steals the show, but there’s also great performances from Miranda Otto as Jade’s mum, Sue, and Zoe Terakes as Mia & Jade’s friend, Hayley. These performances go a long way to selling us on the characters, and although I did find Sue to be a generally quite harsh character, I found that Otto’s performance gave her this extra depth that I feel the script didn’t allow. Otto transformed her from this nasty bitch who’s constantly disappointed in her kids, to a mother who’s failing to connect with her kids because she’s so scared of losing them.
It's the sound design that really won me over in Talk To Me though. I’ve already mentioned how there were a number of times where I felt like someone had come up behind me to whisper in my ear and screw with me, only for me to turn around and see nobody there. There were only three or four other people in the screening with me, and I definitely noticed them do it a couple of times too. It really put me on edge and sucked me into the world of the film because the sound made me feel like I was actually there.
Aaron McLisky’s cinematography was also really strong here, managing to make any environment feel claustrophobic and dangerous just through camera placement and depth of field. With a budget of just $4.5 million, directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou spent it very wisely, with it looking and sounding like a far higher budget production than it actually is.
I’m really glad I fought my instincts and went to watch Talk To Me. It’s a far better film than I was expecting it to be, and I loved the way it subverted genre tropes to feel like a fresh take on the teen supernatural horror. If you do get a chance to watch Talk To Me in a cinema then I couldn’t recommend it enough because the sound design is the best part of the experience, and unless you have a very sophisticated home theatre system you just won’t get that same spine-chilling effect.
It's without a doubt one of the best horror films of the year, and whilst I would have liked it to be a bit longer and given the ending some more clarity, overall if you’re a horror fan then Talk To Me should be on your radar.
Aaron McLisky’s cinematography was also really strong here, managing to make any environment feel claustrophobic and dangerous just through camera placement and depth of field. With a budget of just $4.5 million, directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou spent it very wisely, with it looking and sounding like a far higher budget production than it actually is.
I’m really glad I fought my instincts and went to watch Talk To Me. It’s a far better film than I was expecting it to be, and I loved the way it subverted genre tropes to feel like a fresh take on the teen supernatural horror. If you do get a chance to watch Talk To Me in a cinema then I couldn’t recommend it enough because the sound design is the best part of the experience, and unless you have a very sophisticated home theatre system you just won’t get that same spine-chilling effect.
It's without a doubt one of the best horror films of the year, and whilst I would have liked it to be a bit longer and given the ending some more clarity, overall if you’re a horror fan then Talk To Me should be on your radar.