Talk to Me: A24’s latest horror lets spirits into our world but without suspense
A group of friends play with spirits roaming around in the netherworld and invite them into the human world. In Talk to Me, teenage fun lets in something sinister.
Starring: Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes
A group of teenagers play with a ceramic hand that is a portal to the world of spirits. What could go wrong?
Directed by twins Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou, Talk to Me is a hair-raising Australian horror flick that allows the spirits roaming in the limbo of the netherworld a peek into our world.
A group of friends come across a cursed object that lets them talk to dead people and even invite them into their bodies. What was supposed to be an evening full of fun with the kids taking selfies and recording videos of supernatural encounters takes a dark turn when one of the friends, Mia (Sophia Wilde), allows her younger brother, Riley (Joe Bird), to invite the spirits in.
Talk to Me plays on the same trope as messing around with the Ouija board. But while the board lets sinister entities into the realm of humans, in the movie, it’s the long-lost spirits of loved ones who play the devil.
A witch’s brew of suspense and gore awaits the viewers as the group of friends lose control and it’s the spirits who pull the strings. The movie succeeds in giving you the creeps and makes one shift uncomfortably in the seat as you can almost feel the spirits breathing down the neck.
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However, it falters in keeping the suspense alive. The spirits are supposed to feel morose, but they are almost friendly, even if sinister. It is far too easy to contact spirits and feels almost unbelievable that all it takes is a handshake and a couple of words for one to get possessed by your neighbourhood spirit.
Sophia Wilde carries nearly the entire movie through to the end. She is a natural at being a teenager with FOMO, who succumbs to peer pressure and goes about talking to spirits as if they are her long-lost friends. She also gives you goosebumps when she’s possessed, with her eyes blackened and her soul lost, speaking a tongue she cannot understand.
Talk to Me is another horror flick by A24 which holds the movie’s distribution rights. The independent production house has quite an experience with the genre. Some of its highest-grossing movies—Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Witch—have been skin crawlers, growing into you with each passing moment and leaving you with a sense of unease.
However, Talk to Me is A24’s most conventional horror release. While it entertains, it's hard to find depth in the narrative as friends go on Instagram, recording possessions and even smoking through the ceramic hand. It doesn’t have the disquiet of Hereditary, the obtuse situation of Midsommar, or the ill omen of The Witch.
While the movie may not always keep you on the edge of the seat, the upfront scares don’t disappoint either. The gore is not too gory, and that is always better.
A24 is coming from a high. It took home the Academy Award for Best Picture earlier this year for Everything Everywhere All At Once—its second win after Moonlight. The production house has been carefully crafting its portfolio, picking one gem after another and telling stories like Lady Bird, Ex Machina, Uncut Gems, and Aftersun.
With such a brilliant portfolio of movies crafted over just a decade, one can safely rely on the entertainment company’s curation that leaves you with something to think about.
It did just that with Talk to Me.
Rating: 3/5
Edited by Kanishk Singh