VOD film review: Talk to Me
Review Overview
Concept
9Cast
9Camerawork
9David Farnor | On 31, Oct 2023
Director: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Cast: Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto
Certificate: 15
Don’t go outside. Don’t wander off alone. Don’t grab hold of the spooky hand. It’s almost impossible not to shout at all the bad decisions made by a character in a horror movie. Talk to Me brings the genre into the modern day with a thrilling rush – and also finds in this digital age a chillingly believable reason for people to make bad decisions.
The film introduces us to Mia (Sophie Wilde), a 17-year-old who is still struggling to come to terms with the loss of her mum two years ago. So when the opportunity arises to potentially communicate with spirits on the other side, she’s immediately intrigued. But her journey through grief and trauma is unfolding amid another force that’s at work among the teens in her town: an embalmed hand that apparently conjures spirits.
The hand itself is scary enough, as all-too-real practical effects create gruesomely physical presences that gurgle, moan and stare at each eager teen from across the dining table. But the unsettling twist that gives Talk to Me its edge is that rather than run away from every nasty apparition that emerges, they simply sit back and film it on their phones, laughing at the eerie spectacle. The result is a viral trend that brings more and more young people flocking to the hand to try the sensation for themselves.
It’s perhaps no surprise that debut helmers Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou are YouTube veterans, but they and DoP Aaron McLisky put that experience to vividly arresting effect – like Sam Raimi decades before them, they have a knack for throwing the camera every which way to jolt you out of your seat, capturing the harrowing rollercoaster ride of possession that these characters are so entertained by.
Needless to say, this ride doesn’t go well, and Mia finds her own grief clouding her judgement and behaviour. That puts those around her at risk, from her withdrawn dad (Marcus Johnson) and her concerned best friend, Jade (Alexandra Jensen), to Jade’s naive younger brother, Riley (Joe Bird), and Jade’s alarmed mum, Sue (Miranda Otto). With a cast that plays everything straight enough to sell the viral shenanigans, anchored by Wilde’s moving central turn, the result is a frenetic and frequently disturbing trip. This is an impressive, distinctive debut with energy and ideas to spare.