In light of the upcoming release of Danny and Michael Philippou’s sophomore feature Bring Her Back, Second Sight have released a limited 4K/Blu Ray edition of Talk To Me – their directorial debut that put them on the map. It’s a film that I lump in with other recent horrors like Smile and Ti West’s X trilogy as they were released at a similar time, and they all sought to deliver popcorn horror in exciting and thrilling ways. Yet as much as I like those films, I’ve always found it hard to really connect with the characters, for example as fantastic as Mia Goth is in the X trilogy (especially in the tour-de-force that is Pearl), the characters she plays aren’t particularly real.
Talk To Me does a great job of selling us on its characters, especially as it’s not initially clear who the protagonist is, but as the discovery of an embalmed hand that allows for communication with spirits is a collective experience we soon realise that Mia (Sophie Wilde), is the main player. Although interactions with supernatural beings leading to mental breakdowns is nothing new, Wilde is terrific throughout Talk To Me, and Mia is a really well-rounded character who, importantly for a film like this, actually feels real.
There’s not too much depth to the supporting cast, but there’s still enough to get behind them and make some of the more traumatic events resonate on an emotional level. One moment about halfway through is particularly shocking, not only because of the direction and wince-inducingly violent details, but also for the aftermath. We see the physical toll, and it’s up to the cast to explore the emotional and psychological ramifications of the events.
That’s another thing about Talk To Me that’s done really well – it’s visceral and wants to scare and shock you, doing everything in its power to do so.
That’s another thing about Talk To Me that’s done really well – it’s visceral and wants to scare and shock you, doing everything in its power to do so. The scene mentioned earlier really changes the mood, and from then on the second half of the story is consistently dark and involving. For as bleak and unsettling as it gets though, the film never feels needlessly nasty, remaining good fun despite the tragedies and the exploration of psychological trauma that are especially prevalent in the third act.
Something that I didn’t know was that Talk To Me is yet another horror film released by A24, which I bring up because compared to some of the other horror projects they pick up, it sticks out as a more mainstream piece – especially given their fondness for the elevated (The Witch, Hereditary, Midsommar), and the experimental (I Saw The TV Glow, The Killing of A Sacred Deer, Men). The focus on teenagers getting into supernatural predicaments that severely affects them all feels reminiscent of Final Destination, Ginger Snaps, and other teen horror movies from the Y2K era. What Talk To Me does is take the elements present within those films and make them more grounded and modern – which is very well-appreciated.
Of course Talk To Me has a different setting than those American horror movies as this takes place in Adelaide, Australia, and the directors and most of the cast are Australian. It doesn’t lead to anything drastically different in terms of outcomes, but it’s nice to see another well-liked horror come from down under.
Talk To Me is a tight 95 minutes, but the first third is a bit slow – even though there’s a fantastic opening scene and it takes a while to show the embalmed hand. Once that appears it’s brilliant, with a well-executed conceit that’s almost playful in the early scenes featuring the hand, and as the characters dare one another to try it, once possessed, they begin speaking in harsh, sinister voices.
There was a horror film called Baghead released at the start of last year, that involved an entity hidden in the basement of an old pub that could transform into a lost loved one. It’s interesting to think that both films were released around the same time, but watching Talk To Me after Baghead really alerted me to the failures of the latter. Baghead is not that scary and feels too safe, while Talk To Me (once it gets going), is unafraid to shock and delight. It also doesn’t overcomplicate things in the way that Baghead does, and though the ending seems to coast a bit on ambiguity for my tastes, it’s very well-directed – even though I’m unsure about how much the film is playing by the rules it set for itself.
Talk To Me isn’t a perfect film, but it does a fantastic job as Danny and Michael Philippou have found their own style and made a fresh, teen-focused horror. I’m interested to see what’s in store for the sequel currently in development, and if they continue in this vein with Bring Her Back, but one thing’s for sure – Talk To Me is a damn fine first impression.
Being a Second Sight Films release, you can be sure that Talk To Me is absolutely packed with extras ready for those wanting to dig deeper into the movie and its numerous themes. There are multiple commentary tracks, and interviews with the Philippou Brothers – and their producer and cinematographer too. A new video essay from film critic, Kat Ellinger, called Contagion, as well as the usual behind the scenes featurette’s and deleted scenes. Inside the 120 page book, there’s some familiar names and friends of the Geek Show: Kat Hughes (Host of All of Us are Lost), Rebecca Sayce and Amber T – amongst more. For fans of Talk to Me, this is about as complete a release as you are ever likely to get.
The Limited Edition 4K/Blu Ray of Talk To Me is available now from Second Sight
