Talk to the hand...
A ReidsonFilm exclusive
Talk to me
Director Danny & Michael Philippou (2022)
Burnishing his critical credentials one of ReidsonFilm was invited to an advanced screening of Talk to Me (2023) by Danny and Michael Philippou. This film is the latest in a string of what we affectionately refer to as ‘zoomer-horrors’ combining adult themes with Tik-Tok teens and tapping into Gen-Z’s new found love of the Horror genre that we’ve seen with recent films like Halina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), M3GAN (2022) and Scream VI (2023).
zoomer: a member of Generation Z (born in the late 1990s or the early 21st century), and familiar with the use of digital technology, the internet, and social media from a very young age - S (Gen X, apparently)
Talk to Me begins with a cold open where a strange and gruesome event takes place at an Australian house party (filmed, of course, by a crowd of iPhone-wielding adolescents). We are then introduced to the main characters Mia (Sophie Wilde) and Jade (Alexandra Jensen), two friends who are close as family - particularly after the death of Mia’s Mum just two years prior. One evening, they decide to take part in a seance using an embalmed hand to conjure spirits and…talk to them. It starts off, like all good seances do - as a bit of a laugh. Unlike many horror films, the characters actually seem to behave fairly responsibly with the cursed demonic object which allows spirits to possess the user. They make rules (no longer than 90 seconds at a time) and take precautions to ensure nothing terrible happens (restraints for the possessee) … however, this safety doesn’t last, after an evening where the spirits start to become a little too real for some members of the group - and things begin to escalate rather quickly…
What makes Talk to Me such an engaging watch is the way it grounds itself in realism. So much of the characters' behaviour feels familiar: arranging parties for when your parents are out, filming each other doing stupid things, fighting over boys. According to the directors: “our starting point is to create a completely believable world - teenagers can sniff out artifice and posturing. We have cast teenagers who speak and act like teenagers, and not adults acting young.”
Coupled with the authenticity of the characters are the stunts and practical effects used throughout the film. With as little digital manipulation as possible, you feel the gritty realism of every snap, crackle and pop in the film (which in the age of visual effects excess really makes a difference). The film is not particularly gory, but whenever you see blood, it really does make you squirm in your seat. While the directors have put the occasional jump-scare here and there, the realism is where the film draws most of its horror.
Talk to Me is the directorial debut of Danny and Michael Philippou, who enter feature-filmmaking off the back of an accomplished YouTube career making satirical action shorts on their RackaRacka channel with over 1.5 billion views. There is a sense of energy injected into every scene of Talk to Me which no doubt comes from their experience with fast-paced online content. The film does an excellent job of pacing and building tension during the possession sequences - even at moments where the outcome is inevitable or predictable, the sheer intensity of the film will still have you digging your nails into armrests. Credit here is also due to the sound designer (Emma Bortignon) and the deeply textural score by Cornel Wilczek, filled with hair-raising scratches and plucks which amplify the tension at critical moments.
Talk to Me is currently sitting comfortably on a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, and was rightly a much talked-about film at Sundance this year (before being swiftly acquired by A24). It goes beyond the typically drab themes you find in teen horror plots by drawing interesting parallels between teenage angst and the supernatural world; what begins as a means of excitement and escape quickly evolves into a resurgence of personal traumas. The film also asks questions of viral video culture and the culpability of the onlookers both in the film and the audience. These ideas develop naturally throughout the film without feeling tacked-on. The film reaches a thrilling but bleak conclusion which feels satisfying but haunting enough to keep you mulling it over before bedtime.
Talk to Me hits cinemas next month, and we have no doubt this will be a summer hit, not just for zoomers, but horror lovers of all ages. It’s fresh, it’s fun and it may well give you nightmares…
Reids’ Results (out of 100)
C - 72
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