Michael and Danny Philippou’s “Talk to Me” contains splendid nasty scares, often feeling like Australia’s answer to Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead” (or Joel Schumacher’s “Flatliners”) for the modern generation, where teens summon ghostly spirits as a party trick or newly found drug.
What’s the best way to resurrect a party? There’s plenty to choose from. It all depends on your mood and excitement at that specific time. Tequila shots can surely help, but that doesn’t do it thoroughly. So what is truly the best way to bring a party back to life? A drinking game? What about summoning ghostly spirits via an embalmed hand? That’s what Micahel and Danny Philippou, the RackaRacka duo, present to us in their film “Talk to Me.” And you better hold on, because their creation is something to be scared of. The film quickly became quite the talk of the town at the Sundance Film Festival. And deservedly so if you’d ask me.
A Riff on Teen Horror Pictures, with a Fresh Premise
The Philippou’s film treats talking to spirits via a haunted object as if it was a “party drug” or “trick” that makes the vessel for the possessed to take over go through a new kind of high. They perceive death at the tip of their fingertips. It is an interesting take on possession that hasn’t been tackled in this manner, with a coming-of-age narrative in its backbone and foreboding oozing from the shadows. Let’s look at it as “Flatliners” combined with some gruesome elements in Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead”, albeit rather colder and more distanced.
“Talk to Me” is a riff on the teen horror typicality that we see from time to time, which, in most cases, is often annoying and frustrating. This one isn’t; not even in the least. The Philippou duo’s creation is completely horrifying and creepy, containing great scares uplifted by the excellent practical effects and makeup work. The ecstasy of almost parting ways with your soul could go in many directions, most being mesmerizing. That combination will excite horror fans worldwide, as its inspirations on the aforementioned horror classics are fresh, reinvigorating a new type of tale surrounding modern horror’s pet topic: grief.
Although I’m quite tired of these genre films constantly using loss as the gateway for the character’s (and the horrors that arise) development, the way it is shaped in this surprising feat is pretty mesmerizing, yet with some restrictions arriving in its latter half. The fascinating and fresh premise with the embalmed severed hand serves as a metaphor for both substance abuse and the distance between souls — the ghosts that haunt our daily living, both from our past and present. While it might need a bit of polishing in its broader concepts and themes, “Talk to Me” still holds its place as a fascinating horror project.
An Embalmed Hand That Leads to a Horrific Ecstasy
“Talk to Me” begins with a startling opening that instantly grabs your attention. Well shot and captivating, the Philippou duo implements a bit of shock factor onto the scenery when two people already die within the first three minutes. After that introduction, we meet the protagonist of this journey, Mia (Sophie Wilde). She’s still hurting from her mother’s death. Her father is melancholic and can’t move on from the loss. Mia can’t cope with him because the grief is too intense for her to bear. Because of this, she flees into her best friend’s house, Jade (Alexandra Jensen).
To ease up her mind a bit, Jade takes her little brother, Riley (Joe Bird) and Mia to a party. It seems to be your typical teen party with a lot of smoking and drinking. But there’s a twist. Everybody is waiting for the new party trick to begin — rounding up in a circle for the festivities. Everyone’s eyes are on a kid named Hayley (Zoe Terakes), who takes out a white ceramic hand and lights a candle. He tells us that it is the embalmed hand of a psychic (or satanist). The story has changed throughout the years like a local tall tale. No matter what is the true origins of this hand, Hayley changes it to amplify the mystical myth’s horrifying status.
With it, you can summon ghostly spirits onto your vessel just by saying the keywords: talk to me. This creates a new sensation for the partiers, where they experience a kind of ecstasy. The risky highs and terrifying pleasures make them obsessed with the hand. Their addiction is getting the best of them. If you have seen horror movies about possession, you know that things will not go well for those who play with the dead. This shifts “Talk to Me” from a tale of possession to an exploration of remorse, heartache, and grief. Each of the main characters deals with a specific version of the aforementioned emotions, all relying on their parental relationships.
The Degrees of Separation Between Life and Death
There’s a specific sadness seeping from Mia’s first attempt at playing with the possessed hand. “Talk to Me” had a somewhat bright light shining on her head until that point in the film. Mia is repressing her grief and internal sorrow with a new substance that, while it may bring her some euphoria, wounds her deeply the more she comes back to it. Loss hits everyone differently. Some plunge into a hole that they never come back the same from, submerging their souls into substances to ease the pain. Others try their best to come to terms with it, accepting that the degrees of separation between life and death are, in both terms, far and near, depending on how the person’s connection with the deceased was.
These sentiments are what fuels Sophie Wilde’s performance throughout the film. She channels her character’s emotion in the various brutal scenarios with a sense of separation as she becomes more addicted to possessions and their ability to bring people to life for a couple of seconds. It is kind of tricky to do a performance that feels palpable yet with some dashes of separation — humanistic while slowly being drained from your sense of self. And Wilde manages to capture all of those feelings, even when the film is not working in its entirety. The other characters have their time to face their own ghosts and mental nuisances. But Mia is the one going through the rabbit hole of despair and solitude.
The Philippous’ Great Grasp on the Horror Genre
Seeing how these possessions play out and the way in which they achieve euphoria via supernatural experiences is fascinating. The Philippous got a good directorial grasp on the horror genre with well-shot and executed set pieces. The best example of this is Riley’s possession gone wrong. They aren’t shy about dwelling on the grotesque or surreal with blood-curdling moments filled with dread or tension. Of course, it could have gone into even more disgusting territory. Yet, they don’t want “Talk to Me” to feel exploitative or exaggeratedly provocative.
One of the reasons why the film keeps you hooked, much like the characters with their “thrill,” is because it plays with horror conventions and adds a modern twist to it. It will definitely have a great fan base of young horror fans that are aching for something similar to the ’80s teen B-movies. “Talk to Me” deserves its flowers and comparisons to some greats from that past decade, yet with some moderation. Its latter half falters somewhat because of some narrative choices that affect the character development and pacing. Just like many 80s teen horror flicks, these kids make some foolish decisions that almost made me tune off a bit for a quick second. There are some explanations for their rushed and exaggerated decisions relating to the film’s themes.
You know some of them can’t live without the effects of the hand anymore. They have grown dependent on the kick for selfish reasons, specifically Mia. She just wants some closure from the death of her mother. But Mia can’t still shake the feeling of her loss, even if quite a lengthy amount of time has already passed. The experience might shake up their lonely lives and give them a sensation that drugs can’t — feel death at close hand. And you understand Mia’s reasonings why she goes back time and time again. Yet some of the decisions she makes in the third act don’t match with what we have seen from her in the other two. It never reaches the point that contradicts her character’s development.
Sundance Film Festival concluded on January 29th, 2023. Follow us for continuing dispatches, reviews, capsules, and wrap-ups over the next few days.
