Talk To Me

TALK TO ME (TIFF Review)

It’s official. A24, a studio that has marked its territory in the dark and weird, has another hit on its hands with TALK TO ME.

The film has earned a lot of buzz, and for good reason. Sophie Wilde (who plays the role of Mia), is in the spotlight with an unnerving performance — supported by cast members Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Miranda Otto, Otis Dhanji, and Hamish Phillips. Based on a concept by Daley Pearson, and with Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou serving as an energetic directing duo, Talk to Me takes its audience on an unpredictably dark ride.

While teenagers making painfully poor choices in horror movies is nothing new — hell, it’s half of what the genre is built on — it’s also part of what many audiences love of the genre, but Talk To Me offers a fresh take. Indicative of supernatural games like “light as a feather” or a Ouija board, the teens in Talk to Me find a way to contact the dead — not via a game board, but, chillingly, through a dismembered limb — a hand of a dead medium, to be exact.

Differing from films where a single person becomes possessed, in Talk to Me, each friend has their own turbulent experience with a different — seemingly sinister force — when it’s their turn to touch the hand. What begins as a game for creepy laughs, takes a deeper hold on the group of friends each time they play. The teens fall deeper into the world of spirits, slowly spiraling and questioning reality. Strains fraction the tight-knit group, as personalities clash over just how far the game should go.

There is also a very human element, that most of us face everyday - who in our lives is trustworthy? There’s an old saying that roughly states ‘only those close to us have the ability to truly hurt us’. These factors of family, friends, and what lies in between the worlds of the living and dead, not only adds fear, but a very tense set of choices that the characters are faced with.

We’ve all felt that lingering question at some point — are the ones we love honest with us? The question posed in this horror film hits a very human nerve… do you trust the people you know, or do you trust information that seems to be coming from a more omniscient point of view? For centuries, humans have questioned if there is something bigger in the universe, and if so, what that “something bigger” entails. Watching Talk to Me from that perspective, one can grasp why the teens make some of the decisions they make. We can even relate to the feeling of wanting answers, no matter how unfair and scary they may be, even if it may be best to not know.

But once those answers are spoken, another question takes hold — can even the dead have ulterior motives?

In life, and in horror, every choice has a consequence. That’s a reality the films characters fundamentally ignore. Mia, in particular, starts her journey already in a broken space of grief, and finds herself more vulnerable to doing things that will keep her dark connection to the other side open.

Talk to Me is a fun, terrifying watch, with a bold new take on classic themes. The ending is a shocking, shattering surprise that no one will see coming — a rare achievement in horror. Original, gory, and wonderful. Highly recommend to anyone looking to add a little jolt to their night.