"Talk To Me" begins with a boy leaving a party nearly unconscious while all attendees, rather than helping, form a horde of cell phones to record. This numb relationship with reality is the film's foundation, in which a group of youngsters engages in macabre rituals to receive and embody spirits with absolutely no ceremony, as a stimulating and numbing practice. The game involves a viewing audience, and the tradition is to record the rite and post it on social networks. All of this could sound like a bad Black Mirror episode about our relationship with technology and entertainment. However, director duo Michael and Danny Philippou have too much respect for their protagonists—and the story they tell—to let them fall into cliché criticism.
Australian twin brothers who came from a YouTube channel aimed at a young audience, the Philippous know very well who and what they are talking about and create connections with the characters they portray because they focus on their pains. See, it's not that the group's disdain for the absurdity of what happens in each ritual isn't eyebrow-raising. But it is admirable how gently "Talk To Me" portrays its charismatic and reckless characters. They are not disposable, ridiculous, or out of place, as they might be in the horror genre. "Talk To Me" doesn't want to dismiss them—it wants to understand them.
Leading this surprisingly emotional journey is Mia, haunted by her mother's recent death and the lack of dialogue with her father. She definitely isn't the most popular girl in school and seeks comfort in the family of a best friend who even seems bothered by her presence. While trying to connect with Jade's family—her younger brother Riley and her mother, Sue—, Mia only finds a genuine bond with the sinister hand that stars in the ritual, triggered by the symbolic words “talk to me.”
Of course, the initiation leads Mia to an emotional breakdown that's hard to watch, driven by a disturbing ritual that goes horribly wrong and permanently affects not only her but also Jade, Riley, Sue, and so on. Groping in a new universe marked by the slow resurgence of her mother's figure, Mia moves from the misunderstood youth spot to a journey of disconnection and loss—and "Talk To Me" builds an inversion of its characters organically, making us empathetic witnesses to all the wrong happening on screen.
What initially seemed like teenage horror anchored in trauma now carries much more weight, violence, and blood than initially assumed. As we delve into this universe and accept the ritual rules, "Talk To Me" also unfolds as a horror full of interpretations, allowing different theories. The portrayal of the collective ritualistic experience also draws attention to the need for sharing, one that distracts all our characters from the actual connection potential offered by the ceremony.
All of this sounds dramatic, but the end result of "Talk To Me" is what leaves this taste, because the Philippous' horror development is engaging, fun, and bizarrely intense. It's the kind of horror that keeps you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, and rooting for Mia, even as she makes many wrong decisions. The feeling is familiar in horror, of course, but "Talk To Me" triggers it through empathy and understanding, not just charisma: Mia makes bad decisions, but never dumb ones—so standing by her side is a tough but inevitable choice.
While the Philippous' direction isn't really aimed at drawing attention to stylization, the duo knows how to leave their mark here and there, in shots that provoke by breaking expectations, and in the use of a soundtrack and sound design that very well composes the overall result of "Talk To Me." More than that, it's no exaggeration to say the brothers create an instantly iconic horror, with a creepy hand hard to forget and a striking visual for each spirit that appears on screen. In this complete work, beyond the built narrative, it's also important to highlight the performance of Sophie Wilde, who knows how to have fun in possession moments while also adding weight and rhythm to Mia's decline.
It's hard to escape the expectations of "Talk To Me." Not only was there a buzz from glowing foreign reviews long before its premiere here, but the hype grows as news of planned prequels and already confirmed sequels arrive. Even though this creates a big promise to uphold, it's bizarre that "Talk To Me" remains surprising. But this new horror is as original as it is classic, different, and fun to watch.
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