TALK TO ME : Tuesday 8th August 2023.

I saw the MA15+ rated 'TALK TO ME' this week, and this Australian supernatural horror film is Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou and Co-Written by Danny Philippou in their feature film making debut. The film saw its Preview Screening at last years Adelaide Film Festival as the Closing Night Film and had its World Premiere showcasing at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, before its release in the US, the UK and here in Australia from the end of July. It has so far grossed US$26M off the back of a production budget of US$4.5M and has garnered generally favourable reviews. Earlier this month Danny and Michael Philippou revealed that they had already completed principal photography on a prequel film and that they intend to release this project in the future. Additionally, the Philippou's confirmed plans to develop a sequel, stating that they've already written sequences for the project.

Our film opens up with a man, Cole (Ari McCarthy) stumbling through a crowded house party as he attempts to track down his brother Duckett (Sunny Johnson), who has locked himself in a bedroom. Cole shoulder barges the door to gain entry and retrieves an injured Duckett who has deep cuts to his back, before taking him into the kitchen and then outdoors where all the partygoers are recording the unfolding antics on their mobile phones. Duckett stabs his brother in the chest with a large kitchen knife and then himself in the face, killing himself in front of the house guests.

In the meantime 17-year-old Mia (Sophie Wilde) is struggling with the anniversary of her mother Rhea’s suicide and her strained relationship with her father, Max (Marcus Johnson). Mia, has been staying at her best friend Jade's (Alexandra Jensen) house with the blessing of Jade's mother Sue (Miranda Otto). One night Mia, Jade and Jade's younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) sneak out to a house party hosted by Hayley (Zoe Terakes) and Joss (Chris Alosio) where the main attraction is the severed, embalmed and inscribed hand of a satanist or powerful medium, which they use to conjure spirits by lighting a candle and speaking the words 'talk to me', before saying 'I let you in' for full possession. The candle must then be blown out before ninety seconds has lapsed otherwise the spirits crossover into our world. Mia volunteers to go first, and is possessed by a spirit that threatens Riley before Joss and Hayley rip the hand away and blow out the candle, bringing Mia back to her usual self.

Mia, has a sense of euphoria over the sensations the hand brought her, along with Hayley, Joss and Jade’s boyfriend Daniel all gather at Jade’s house the next night while Sue is out working. Riley repeatedly asks to be allowed to play the game but Jade refuses, and she leaves the room. Riley asks again and Mia agrees to allow him to play but only for a maximum of fifty seconds. 

And so Riley volunteers, only to be possessed by Rhea’s spirit (Alexandria Steffensen), who attempts to reconcile with Mia. The time limit is exceeded and Riley’s body is overtaken by the spirits, who cause the young lad to try to gouge out his own eye and then repeatedly smash his face against the edge of the table and cupboard causing him to be hospitalised. Jade returns to the room to witness Riley's intense acts of self-harm. Mia, is now haunted by visions of of her mother, and is rebuked by Jade and her mother, who blame her for Riley’s severe facial injuries.

Mia seeks comfort from her former boyfriend Daniel (Otis Dhanji) who is now with Jade, and invites him to sleepover as she doesn't want to be alone. Daniel is at first reluctant saying that it would be weird, but then accepts the invitation feeling sorry for Mia. She then assaults him while he sleeps by sucking on his foot after she’s possessed by a spirit, causing Daniel to wake horrified and leave in disgust. Mia realises that the spirits have followed them. Having secretly taken the embalmed hand from Jade’s house, Mia uses it to contact her mother, who tells her that her death was purely accidental and that she needs to help Riley, who is seemingly still possessed. While Jade is gently bathing Riley at the hospital he attacks her and falls to the tiled floor, then proceeds to violently and repeatedly bash his head against the tiled wall behind and then licks up his blood in front of her. 

Mia, Jade, Daniel, Hayley and Joss track down Cole (who survived the stabbing incident), who tells them that Joss was the one to give Duckett the hand which led to his death, and that Riley’s body will eventually reject the spirits and kick them out. Mia deduces that they need to complete the ritual by blowing out the candle, which they failed to do the first time, to save Riley. In the hospital by Riley's bedside Mia pulls out the hand and holds Riley's hand to it, and says 'Talk to Him', but nothing happens. Mia then holds the hand and she connects with the spirit of a little girl who shows her a vision of Riley being tortured in the netherworld. 

Afterwards Mia returns home, where Max reveals that Rhea’s death was no accident, and reads her a suicide note that he had hidden from her to prevent her from blaming herself. Mia retreats to her bedroom where Rhea’s spirit tells her that Max is lying before she is attacked by an evil spirit in the form of her father. Hearing the commotion, Max investigates and arrives just as the spirit disappears, and Mia inadvertently stabs her father in the neck with a pair of scissors.

The spirit of Rhea tells Mia that Riley needs to die in order to be set free, and so Mia tricks Jade and Sue into leaving the hospital. Mia goes to the hospital and enters Riley’s room, where he takes on the appearance of a rotting aged spirit, but she is unable to kill him. Jade meanwhile arrives at Mia’s house where she finds Max bleeding out before returning to the hospital just as Mia is seen pushing Riley in a wheelchair toward the highway. The spirits attempt to convince Mia to push Riley into oncoming traffic, but coming to her senses and realising this would hand him over to the spirit realm completely, Mia instead jumps in front of a car herself, saving Riley who is rescued by Jade.

An injured and bloodied Mia gets up off the highway and is suddenly transported to the hospital in which she sees a fully healed Riley, accompanied by Jade and Sue, and Max leaving. As she attempts to reach her father, she is transported into a black landscape with a circle of white light at the end, which she walks toward. Emerging, she finds herself on the side of the embalmed hand while other partygoers play the game, showing that she died saving Riley and is now herself, a spirit.

I have to say that I didn't find 'Talk to Me' to be that scary or horrific, especially given that it had been touted as the horror film of the year, but that said, the Philippou brothers for their feature debut have here crafted a solid and entertaining supernatural thrill ride that marks their firm entry into the genre. The young cast are all standouts, particularly Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird, who all carry off their characters convincingly, aided by a strong script, top notch practical effects and a sound design that helps levitate the tension beyond the ordinary. The Director's here have sacrificed the all too often over utilised jump scares for a story that creates a strong sense of atmosphere, fear, dread, grief and excitement by tapping into this otherworld of nefarious spirits for their teenage characters kicks, and in this respect the film delivers, and then some. In addition, at a run time of a lean 95 minutes this film does not outstay its welcome.

'Talk to Me' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-