Talk To Me (2023) Dir. Danny and Michael Philippou

Talk to Me, the highly anticipated debut from director team Danny and Michael Philippou (known as RackaRacka on YouTube) is a 95-minute thrill-ride, deftly taking horror tropes and creating some genuinely creepy set pieces.

After an opening sequence that rivals David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows, the film turns its attention to Mia (Sophie Wilde). Mia is still struggling to come to terms with her mother’s death and has difficult relationships with her father and friends. When a group of teenagers start holding parties where they communicate with the dead through an embalmed hand, Mia drags Jade (Alexandra Jenson) and Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) along to take part. To the surprise of absolutely no one, this goes wrong very quickly, and the group are haunted by malevolent spirits.

When the scares start, there are some truly gruesome and unsettling moments. One scene, involving Riley, could easily rank as one of the hardest to watch in recent memory. But the script, written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, doesn’t rely on these. Much of the runtime is focused on uncovering the relationships between the characters. This isn’t a slasher film, with teenagers being lined up for the chopping block. Every character feels well-rounded, and their actions make sense – even if not all the plot points do.

Thematic anchors for the film are teased, but each of the characters have their own baggage which lends itself to the horror. Mia brings with her grief, but also a hinted-at wild streak. At several points, the gateway to the next life is shown to give the characters a high, which pushes them to do it more often and for longer. Similarly, smartphone footage of those taking part being strung out and incoherent, has many parallels with similar videos of young people too drunk, or too high to function. The sort of videos we will all seen during our time at high school or university.

Through Riley, we also get ideas of growing up too quickly. Despite being 14, he’s heavily involved with the activities of his older sister and Mia, who are both a maternal and a bad influence on him. He undoubtedly has the most difficult time in the film, dealing with things that no young teenager should have to. Thrust into an adult world too soon.

Bird’s performance is incredible. This young talent draws our empathy, even as he becomes one of the most terrifying parts of the film. He’s matched by Wilde, also making her feature debut, who grounds Mia and feels each scene with both youthful exuberance and emotional damage.

Miranda Otto, who plays Jade’s mother Sue, is another highlight. Her interactions with the teenage cast provide much needed moments of levity early in the film, but as the situation around her becomes worse, she acts as a proxy for the audience. Keeping the film grounded, even in its most outlandish moments.

The actual mechanics of the haunting are kept loose (one suspects purposefully) which enables the various themes to be placed on the film. However, it also leads to some inconsistencies and questions; questions that are never answered because Talk to Me steamrolls towards the end. There’s a neat sting in the tale, but the final ten minutes or so fail to live up to the rest of the film.

These minor gripes aside though, Talk to Me is an excellent calling card, not only for the Philippous, but for the entire young cast. The constant building of tension, exploding into impressive practical effects make this a standout debut that more than justifies the hype.

★★★★½

4.5 / 5

Matthew Tilt

Twitter @Matthew_Tilt