Talk to Me - Movie Review
1"Talk to Me" (2022) directed by Danny & Michael Philippou is an A24 Australian horror film which does not rely on jump scares to terrify it's audience. I'm happy to report it was actually really good.
A group of teens play a party game involving a preserved dead human hand. The hand belonged to a medium who could commune with the dead. Their twisted little game results in them being temporarily possessed and acting in strange and volatile ways. The youngest teen among them, Riley (Joe Bird), attempts to take his own life after playing the game and becomes permanently hospitalized unless Mia (Sophie Wilde) and the rest of the gang can sever the evil spirits' grasp on the boy.
Talk to Me is an effective horror that will certainly make you uncomfortable, but in a good way. It was quite unique too and did not feel generic like a lot of modern movies releasing nowadays. The cast do an excellent job and Sophie Wilde particularly carried the film as she spends a large amount crying and terrified in believable scenes. I appreciated that the film was focused on it's primary point and did not worry about establishing a full on universe like "Insidious" (2010) or "The Conjuring" (2013).
As good as Talk to Me is, like most movies, it is obviously not perfect. I felt the small love triangle involving Mia, Jade (Alexandra Jensen) & Daniel (Otis Dhanji) was an unnecessary and distracting attempt at drama when the film was already more than tense and exciting enough already without that stuff. Now I was able to understand it and follow along alright due to my knowledge of this genre and it's hidden "ruleset," but I would argue that the film could be potentially difficult to fully understand for less seasoned viewers. I also personally liked the soundtrack because they were some pretty great songs, but I think it would be difficult to argue that they are thematically appropriate; for example when the film ends it starts playing an upbeat badass UK rap song which basically immediately reverses the vibe and feeling you just received from the impactful and revelation-filled ending.
Talk to Me is pretty unique and very strong in it's genre. I definitely recommend giving it a shot as long as you are willing to be a little bit confused and strung along throughout.
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