Film Review - Talk to Me
Images courtesy of Maslow Entertainment.
From the madlads at RackaRacka, Daniel and Michael Philippou, comes the Aussie possession horror, Talk to Me. Continuing the recent trend of YouTubers secretly also making for awesome filmmakers, the film centres on Mia (Sophie Wilde), who, on the two-year anniversary of her mother's death, finds herself questioning her sanity after she takes part in a Bloody Mary-like party game involving an embalmed hand. The rules are simple enough to follow. Hold the hand. Let the spirit in, but for no longer than 90 seconds. Blow out the candle to close the gate. But, like all the risks we take in adolescence, it's only fun until it's not.
Talk to Me's most poignant thematic angle comes less from its focus on the ritual as a viral challenge, and more as a parable for substance addiction. Initially, I had some trepidation, given how it was being sold. As someone who went from gifted kid, to stoner dropout, to professional anxious wreck, I've seen my fair share of films that either over-romanticise the culture, or veer too far into after-school-special moralism. Not since Henenlotter's Brain Damage have I seen a horror film that manages to strike such a solid balance between insight and understanding. The circumstances that can lead to someone wanting to take a backseat in their own body, the appeal of community among peers, how the demonisation that comes with being known as the "bad influence" can lead one further down the rabbit hole, and feeling like you're losing your mind when the withdrawals kick in.
However, it's not completely without fault. A chunk of the final third veers a little too far into the grief and trauma schtick that I decried in my review of The Boogeyman - the pacing taking a bit of a hit as the story begins to err closer to established tropes, which is a shame considering the relatively fresh set-up. There are hints of the chaotic energy that the RackaRacka channel was known for, although that stuff is barely allowed on YouTube any more, so I can't completely blame them for not going the whole hog in their feature-length debut. That's not to say that what's present here is completely neutered, though - without spoiling anything, there are scenes of youth endangerment that could give Hereditary a run for its money.
The film's biggest strength ends up being its unashamed Australian roots. The very believability of partaking in the ritual almost hinges on the film taking place in the land down under and our inherent daredevil culture - how many of us can say that we didn't at least know someone who'd try something like this? There's been much talk of the Philippous following in the footsteps of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films, which I can see given the camerawork, the sprinkling of dark comedy, and the slimy, ghoulish approach to the make-up (although Talk to Me benefits greatly from advances in practical effects, resulting in a film that outclasses many of its contemporaries in spite of its budget). It's almost ironic, then, that I feel like if you could somehow blend it with this year's Evil Dead Rise, you'd get a perfect horror film.
Though the film detours slightly onto the well-worn path, it ultimately sticks the landing, snapping the narrative back to where it should be, proving that A24's sophomore Aussie feature is in the right hands. Jacked up by stellar performances from Sophie Wilde, Zoe Terakes, Miranda Otto, and Riley Bird, Talk to Me is another solid addition in the outback horror canon - a beating heart, pumping with fresh blood.
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Talk to Me is screening in cinemas from Thursday 27th July. For tickets and more info, click here.