When I was a kid, I would always hear about a select few horror films. Whispered to me in the gym and on the playground, I learned how horrifying they truly were. Kids passed out from watching them. My best friend’s cousin’s stepbrother saw it once, and he was never the same. Just the idea of them terrified me to the core.
2023’s “Talk to Me” is bound to become one of those flicks. I can already picture countless slumber parties where an illicit viewing of the movie is the main highlight. With a combination of classic horror and new terror, the film is a must-watch for every horror movie addict.
“Talk to Me” follows Mia, a teenager whose mother recently died. At a party, she gets hooked on communing with and being possessed by the dead using an embalmed hand. As she and her friends delve deeper into the afterlife, things – big shocker – start to get deadly.
The film is directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, Australian YouTubers who gained fame under the name RackaRacka. Though they have plenty of experience on YouTube, “Talk to Me” is their first feature film.
The directing is definitely one of the highlights of the film. There are some absolutely beautiful shots and the way the directors used the camera makes the brutality so much more brutal. I was happy to see such competency and creativity from a pair of new indie directors.
The film elevates what I see as a played-out concept – stupid young people summon forces beyond their understanding – into a new and exciting tale. For one, it incorporates the internet in an interesting way. Many people I know – I won’t name names – would get possessed for a banger Snapchat story.
Despite its thoroughly modern stylings, “Talk to Me” follows the most sacred of horror traditions: stupid teenagers. Let’s stay in this abandoned cabin for vacation! Let’s work for the summer at Camp Blood! Let’s use this embalmed hand to get high at parties and post it online! What can go wrong?
Some of the film suffers from the typical growing pains of debut writer/directors. For one, there were multiple characters who didn’t end up contributing to the plot at all, including the brother’s friend and the characters from the cold open. They add a bit too much fat onto the story and I ended up confused as to why they were included in the first place.
However, it’s an enjoyable enough ride that you can overlook it. I didn’t find the film particularly scary, but it was insanely fun. There were some ruthless gore scenes and completely out of pocket moments that had my friend and I losing our minds in the theater.
The film is a nice change of pace compared to similar recent elevated horror flicks. “Talk to Me” has a theme, and a strong one at that. I didn’t feel like I was having a moral pushed onto me, though – I could just enjoy the film for what it was and then analyze it afterwards.
The theme is exceptionally clear through Sophie Wilde, who plays Mia. Her acting has been praised all over the internet – for good reason. Despite “Talk to Me” making up one fifth of her IMDb credits, Wilde was absolutely outstanding. She can do it all, from terror to pain to joy to numbness.
“Talk to Me” was an outstanding experience, particularly for a debut film with mostly unknown actors. I can’t wait to see where all of these creatives go next. So go out to see “Talk to Me,” especially if you’re with a few friends, and give these filmmakers a big hand.
