Talk to Me (2022)


Danny and Michael Philippou are twin brothers from Adelaide, South Australia who began making YouTube videos together with a channel called RackaRacka.  They had been crew on The Babadook, and used what they had learned as well as other skills they were developing in directing and special effects to make a series of short films, but much of what they did were stunts.  Their videos were paid for by odd jobs and volunteering for medical trials prior to their channel being monetized.  While often it sounds like they were an overnight success, going from YouTube to directing their first movie, it was in fact 9 years from the start of their channel to their first feature, Talk to Me, being released.  

Mia (Sophie Wilde) is an introverted teenager still reeling from her mother's suicide.  She is estranged from her dad (Marcus Johnson) and spends most of her time at the home of her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) as well as taking care of Jade's younger brother Riley (Joe Bird).  One night at a party they are introduced to a new game as Jade's friends Hayley (Zoe Terakes) and Joss (Chris Alosio) pull out a severed hand encased in plaster.  If one grips the hand and says, "Talk to me," it allows them to see and communicate with a spirit.  Adding "I let you in" allows the entity to possess their body.  However, they have to break the connection within 90 seconds or the possession may become permanent.

Soon the group of friends begin to use the hand on a regular basis as the rush from being possessed becomes addictive.  However, when Mia lets Riley have a go against Jade's objections, it is her mother that comes through.  While only supposed to allow 50 seconds she lets the possession go to two minutes, which results in a spirit taking over Riley that does self-harm to him.  He is rushed to the hospital barely alive, with his mother Sue (Miranda Otto) and Jade blaming Mia for what happened.  Mia, without use of the hand, begins to get visitations from her mother and, as reality begins to blur for her as she discovers the only way to save Riley is through a major sacrifice. 

I saw Bring Her Back before watching Talk to Me and that is what got me curious.  Both movies I have a lot of praise for, from the directing to the acting to some surprises in the plots.  Talk to Me has a bit more of an original idea going for it as, though it does rely on some supernatural tropes, just using a hand instead of a Ouija board, it doesn't seem as derivative as Bring Her Back.  That said, the style of both films is quite different, with their newer film having an artfully tense atmosphere, while Talk to Me does feel like the brothers are making the leap from short videos to a feature film.  

That they do it successfully is credit to a couple guys that come across in many of their older videos as a couple of Jackass wannabes.  The time on a real movie set helped, but it is also obvious that they have a real love for older horror and a knack for interpreting it in new ways.  Some of the more stylized and contemplative filming that is hallmark of Bring Her Back is present here already, as is the willingness to disturb the audience.  Riley's possession is quite shocking, as are scenes of what is happening to his spirit, which appears to have been influenced by Event Horizon. 

Horror movies are a genre that needed a change.  Too often they get stuck in a rut once a new genre pops up or are too preoccupied with visiting the past genres and trying to emulate or comment on what was good.  I am enjoying the newer films like this that are more concerned with telling a story than with just scaring an audience but also remember that why people enjoy the movies in the first place.  The Philippous are still early enough in their career and I hope that as they go along the movies become more original. 

Talk to Me (2022)
Time: 95 minutes
Starring: Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird 
Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

 

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