Talk To Me 🤚 REVIEW:

When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Australian YouTubers turned first time directors Danny and Michael Philippou make a mere 4.5 million dollar budget look like a 30 million dollar studio horror film that does just about everything better than a vast majority of mainstream commercial Hollywood horror movies. These brothers are known for their YouTube channel “RackaRacka” in which they produce low budget horror comedy videos, and if someone were to tell me that Talk To Me was directed by a well known veteran horror director, I’d be convinced of it. We have seen far too many of these supernatural horror movies involving a McGuffin that awakens some sort of evil spirit for the main characters to mess around with. However, the difference between the average Hollywoodized version and Talk To Me, is that the themes of addiction, depression, and grief feel a lot more raw and less sanitized than most recent mainstream horror flicks.

For starters, the very opening scene of the movie sets the tone perfectly, as we the viewer are treated to an intense incident that occurs at a house party. I’d like to warn the reader that the subject matter of suicide and depression are front and center elements in this film, so it’s definitely not for the faint of heart or overly sensitive individuals. The cast is chock full of no name actors with a few somewhat familiar faces sprinkled in the mix. Sophie Wilde plays Mia, a high schooler who is struggling with the second anniversary of her mother’s suicide and has rather cold and distant relations with her father. Wilde is genuinely great as Mia and so is Alexandra Jensen as Mia’s best friend Jade. Their friendship feels real and the teenager activities of sneaking out at night and doing crazy stuff to impress friends is something just about everyone who was a teenager can relate to. Once the naïve teenagers start to play with the mysterious severed hand, things get well, out of hand. What really works about this whole thing is that the hauntingly grotesque visuals and sudden violence aren’t played for mindless shock value like in other horror flicks, but rather as an effective tool to further the story and shake up the relationships between characters. When deaths or insanely gruesome injuries occur, they actually induce change and progression to the narrative.

There is one absolutely devastating sequence in the middle portion of the film involving Jade’s younger brother Riley that genuinely shook me to my core. All of the young actors truly sell the scenes in which they are possessed and it never feels over the top or too dramatized. It’s not overly reliant on jump scares but rather the traumas and weaknesses of the main characters to create terror and mounting suspense. As opposed to so many recent failed attempts at spotlighting Gen Z lead characters, the Philippou brothers make Mia, Jade and their friend group feel like real modern teenagers, not annoying caricatures of what TikTokers imagine them to be. The cinematography, lighting, sound design, and editing are exceptional for first time directors, giving off a fittingly dark and foreboding vibe.

There are a few components I wish were better explained, it has your typical “character makes dumb decisions to move the story along” issues in the third act, and some of the key concepts with the “hand” could’ve been explored even deeper. Then again, it’s incredibly refreshing to see such redundantly familiar horror elements be given a somewhat refreshing spin. Overall, taking an overused concept in "connecting with spirits via McGuffin" and turning it on its head (or hand), YouTubers turned first time directors Danny and Michael Philippou craft an effectively unsettling indie horror film that touches on grief, addiction, and depression in far more inventive ways than a vast majority of mainstream Hollywood efforts. Talk To Me may not be fully rid of genre cliches or tropes, but its strong performances from a mainly unknown cast and tension filled execution make this a disturbing must watch for horror buffs. I believe the Philippou brothers have crafted a cult horror hit and that this is a promising start to their filmography.