⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Let me cut to the chase – this is the best horror of the year so far, and when you know where it’s going it’s horrifically, soul-destroyingly bleak. Taut and nightmarish, Talk to Me is the directorial feature debut from Australian Youtube brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, and what an incredible calling card it is.
This is the type of horror film whose effectiveness arises from the purity of its central idea and clarity of vision. The premise: what if fratty teenagers got ahold of an object that let them be possessed by the dead in safety for 90 seconds at a time? The answer, obviously, is to go wild with it on TikTok via a bunch of must-attend possession house parties. What happens when these kids exceed the 90 second time limit? The answer to that is a nightmare of horrific proportions.
The result: Talk To Me is the kind of movie where you won’t want to go to bed straight away, that’s for sure. In large part that’s thanks to lead actor Sophie Wilde, who gives an incredible performance and a young woman pushes to her mental and spiritual limits – if there’s any justice this has to be a star-making performance.
I think Talk To Me might actually have an all-time horror movie ending. For sure one of the best horrors of the current era, run, don’t walk to your nearest cinema when this hits town.
Talk To Me played at SXSW and has been picked up by A24 for release later in 2023
Whitlock&Pope 