Talk To Me
Australia | English
2023 | 95 Minutes
Director: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Cast: Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Alexandra Jensen, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes, Sophie Wilde
Sometimes a film comes to a festival such as Fantasia festival with a headful of steam, fueled by the hype train, and sometimes the hype behind the film is warranted. Talk To Me is a film that has had a whole lot of hype behind it since it showed at Sundance film festival back in January – and let me just say that the hype was for a reason.
This is the feature debut from Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, who come across as seasoned industry veterans. With a stellar cast that could well contain several faces that we’ll be seeing for years to come – especially with Sophie Wilde, who plays the lead and pivotal role of 17-year-old Mia.
See Also: Shin Kamen Rider at Fantasia Festival 2023
Wracked with grief over her mother’s death and unable to handle watching her father languish in depression, Mia (Sophie Wilde) begins to stay at her best friend’s house. A Snapchat video of a demonic possession goes viral in their school, capturing the fascination of everyone in Mia’s orbit, leading them to explore conjuring’s around an embalmed ceramic hand made from the severed arm of a psychic.
Through holding hands with it and uttering the phrase “talk to me”, a user can rip the high of a lifetime by allowing themselves to become temporarily possessed, tripping in ecstasy as otherworldly forces invade their body. The only rule is to never, under any circumstances, be left to hold the grip longer than 90 seconds. The rush is unbelievable. Indescribable. Mia becomes hooked. Soon, doors into the spirit world will be opened that can’t be closed.
Slight spoilers may possibly be found from this point on. Beware.
I know what you’re thinking – this has been done before. Many times. One Missed Call, Ju-On, Shutter and so on and so but hold up a second now, and take my word for it; you’ve never seen anything quite like this before. Not on your nelly.
Sure, it does at times rely on jump scares, of which I am not a fan, but they’re well done here and not over-used. Instead Talk To Me builds its characters to the point where the audience cares what happens to them – something so many modern films fail at, and has some comical moments leading up towards the gruesome and the otherworldly torrent that is about to be unleashed.
At some point, I’d wager that almost everyone has found themselves at least intrigued by the idea of a Ouija board, or other methods used to attempt contacting the dead, and Talk To Me plays on that fact but replaces the Ouija board with a severed arm encased in ceramic. A pathway to the other side; the unknown. Presented here like a drug that our cast can’t get enough of, and like with hard drug abuse – something is always just minutes from going terribly, terribly wrong.
Things do go wrong – and without giving too much away, causes strife and leads the film into its second act. From here on in, the film switches from the teenage party-like scenes to that of panic, despair and desperation. Lives are at stake and a plot twist is about to unravel the story and reveal a deeper story arc. The rest of the film follows Mia’s tumble into insanity, as she begins to see things and communicate with the dead, who fill her head with thoughts and ideas, until it all comes crashing down. Hard.
Read More:
>> Fantasia Festival really is the cat’s meow!
>> Ten films to see at Fantasia 2023
>> Shin Ultraman has its North American premier at Fantasia this week
The ending is abrupt and harsh, mean and cold and pulls the whole work together as it comes full circle. Perhaps a tad on the obvious side for grizzled, seasoned veterans of the horror genre but still manages to save a little surprise for its audience. As Fantasia festival host Mitch Davis said to the sold out crowd before the film aired, he couldn’t wait to share this film with this audience and as usual – he was right. What crazy and fun experience it was to have viewed this at Fantasia! Talk To Me is a smart and creepy film that deserves to be seen.
Talk To Me hits theatres on July 28th everywhere.
