Movie Review: TALK TO ME

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: July 28th, 2023 / 07:43 AM

Rating: R
Stars: Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen, Zoe Terakes, Chris Alosio, Ari McCarthy, Sunny Johnson, Sarah Brokensha
Writers: Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman, story by Daley Pearson
Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Distributor: A24
Release Date: July 28, 2023

The new release TALK TO ME is not to be confused with the 2007 fact-based drama about Ralph “Petey” Greene (although one can imagine what an astonishing mashup they would make).

Instead, this TALK TO ME is a proudly Australian horror movie, set Down Under rather than just shot there and pretending to be somewhere else. This gives it points before we even get going.

We’re in the subgenre of teens messing around with objects better left alone. Here, rather than a Ouija board or a Tibetan Book of the Dead, it’s the cut-off and embalmed hand of a psychic.

After an opening that supplies quite a jolt (and arguably ought to scare off anybody from further interaction with the hand), we meet our protagonists. Mia (Sophie Wilde) is still reeling from the death of her mother (Alexandria Steffensen), apparently from an accidental overdose of sedatives.

Mia is sure her father Max (Marcus Johnson) is lying to her about some aspect of this. Consequently, she avoids being in her own home, preferring to stay over with her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird).

Jade and Riley’s mother Sue is supportive of Mia, though worried that the teen may become involved with drugs again. (There was a past incident, though Mia insists it was a one-time thing.)

Jade, meanwhile, is head-over-heels about boyfriend Daniel (Otis Dhanji), who once kinda/sorta dated Mia. Their larger friend group includes Hayley (Zoe Terakes), Fiona (Sarah Brokensha), and Joss (Chris Alosio), who is the current owner of the hand.

There’s a party game that goes with the talisman. However, Joss and company pride themselves on doing this safely. Each round lasts for only ninety seconds, strictly timed.

Directors Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou, working from a screenplay by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman from a story by Daley Pearson, successfully convey to us the high that these youths get from “playing.” When it goes well, one of the group likens it to glowing, while the others are incredibly entertained by what happens during those ninety seconds.

And then something goes wrong.

The filmmakers and the cast are all adept at conveying the nuances of social and sexual pressure that come to bear. Sometimes in this subgenre, we wonder why characters continue on a clearly dangerous course, and/or misinterpret or ignore warnings. Here, it’s all easy to comprehend.

For all that TALK TO ME makes it crystal clear that the events are supernatural and not chemical, the drug metaphor is evident. The hand could almost be swapped out for various substances, and the story would still hit many of the same beats. It works dramatically, but this approach sometimes dissipates the tension.

That said, there are some solid scares and also moments of impressive weirdness (there’s a bit in a hospital room that’s hard to forget).

Wilde, Bird, and Jensen give particularly committed performances. Otto imbues Sue with the right balance of motherly warmth and sternness.

It’s also nice to see a nonbinary major supporting character whose gender identity is never mentioned; they are simply accepted and seen alternately as judgmental, caring, and fearful as circumstances change.

Overall, TALK TO ME is a good movie that both serves its horror core and has intelligent observations about high school behavior.

A mild spoiler for potential viewers who are made wary by the trailer: no, nothing bad happens to the dog. The same cannot be said for all of the humans.

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