Talk to Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDanny Philippou
Michael Philippou
Written by
  • Danny Philippou
  • Bill Hinzman
Based onConcept
by Daley Pearson
Produced by
  • Samantha Jennings
  • Kristina Ceyton
Starring
CinematographyAaron McLisky
Edited byGeoff Lamb
Music byCornel Wilczek
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 30 October 2022 (2022-10-30) (Adelaide)
  • 27 July 2023 (2023-07-27) (Australia)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4.5 million
Box office$91.8 million

Talk to Me is a 2022 Australian supernatural horror film directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, and based on a concept by Daley Pearson. It stars Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, and Zoe Terakes. The film follows a group of teenagers who discover they are able to contact spirits using a mysterious severed and embalmed hand, only for things to go too far.

Talk to Me premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on 30 October 2022, and was released by Maslow Entertainment in Australia on 27 July 2023. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its story, direction, horror sequences, practical effects, sound design and performances, with Wilde and Bird receiving particular praise. It was a box office success, grossing approximately $91 million[2][3] worldwide against a $4.5 million budget,[4][5] becoming American distributor A24's highest-grossing horror film and second highest-grossing film overall.[6] A sequel is currently in development.

Plot

At a crowded house party in Adelaide, Cole searches for his brother Duckett. When he finds Duckett and attempts to bring him home, Duckett stabs him in the shoulder before fatally stabbing himself in the face.

Some time later, 17-year-old Mia is struggling with the second anniversary of her mother Rhea's suicide by overdose and her distant relationship with her father Max. Driving at night, Mia comes across a fatally injured kangaroo, but cannot bring herself to perform a mercy kill. Mia, her best friend Jade, and Jade's little brother Riley sneak out to one of many gatherings hosted by Hayley and Joss, where the main attraction is a severed and embalmed hand of mysterious origin. Holding the hand in a handshake position and saying "talk to me" enables someone to communicate with a deceased person's spirit, followed by saying "I let you in" to allow the spirit to possess them. In order to prevent spirits from binding themselves to that person, someone else must end the possession before 90 seconds by pulling away the embalmed hand and blowing out a candle to cut the connection. Mia volunteers to go first and is possessed by a spirit that displays a menacing focus on Riley. Joss and Hayley struggle to break the connection, only managing to do so after the time limit has been slightly exceeded.

Ecstatic over the feeling the hand brought her, Mia joins Hayley, Joss, and Jade's boyfriend Daniel at Jade's house the next night. Jade refuses to let Riley participate, but all of the others indulge, enjoying the euphoria of possession. When Jade leaves the room, Mia gives in to Riley's pleas and tells Joss and Hayley to let him take a turn as long as the possession ends before 50 seconds instead of the usual 90. Riley appears to be possessed by the spirit of Rhea, who attempts to reconcile with Mia. Stunned, Mia stops the group from ending the possession to keep talking to her mother, disregarding the time limit. Riley's body is overtaken by the spirits and they make him attempt suicide and mutilate himself; he is hospitalised in critical condition.

Mia, now haunted by visions of Rhea, is blamed for Riley's injuries and shunned by Jade and her mother Sue. Having secretly taken the embalmed hand, Mia offers Daniel a place to stay for the night at her father's house. Whilst platonically sharing a bed with Daniel, she witnesses a spirit crawl from the corner of the room and suck on Daniel's feet. When he wakes up, he instead sees Mia sucking his feet in a trance and leaves. Mia repeatedly uses the hand to contact Rhea, who insists that her death was accidental and that she needs to help Riley, who is still possessed and attempts suicide every time he returns to consciousness. Mia leaves the connection open and begins seeing her mother without the hand, causing her to lose her grasp on reality.

The friends track down Cole, who explains that a living body naturally expels invading spirits. Mia, fearing that Riley may not have time, attempts to contact him in the hospital by using the hand but is instead shown a vision of Riley being tortured by spirits in limbo. At home, Max reads Rhea's suicide note to Mia and apologises for hiding the truth from her. Rhea's spirit tells Mia that Max is lying, and Mia hallucinates that she is being violently attacked by Max, causing her to inadvertently stab the real Max in the neck with a pair of scissors.

After being told by Rhea that Riley needs to die in order to be set free from his possession, and hallucinating the injured kangaroo she earlier failed to euthanise, Mia kidnaps Riley from the hospital with the intention of putting him out of his misery. Jade sees Mia pushing Riley in a wheelchair toward the highway. Rhea attempts to convince Mia to push Riley into oncoming traffic, but when she tells Mia that the spirits will "have him forever", Mia realises that Rhea has actually been the malevolent spirit from her initial possession manipulating her all along. She steps away from the wheelchair; as Jade rushes toward them to save her brother, Mia instead falls into the oncoming traffic and lies badly injured on the road.

Mia finds herself in the hospital, where she sees a fully recovered Riley talking to Jade and Sue while Max leaves in an elevator going up. Nobody responds to her and she notices that she has no reflection in the mirror and her hands are disfigured. After becoming engulfed in darkness, she sees a hand extended over a candle in the distance. She grabs it and is suddenly summoned to a house party in Greece,[7] where a partygoer holding her hand is urged to speak and tells Mia, "I let you in."

Cast

  • Sophie Wilde as Mia
  • Alexandra Jensen as Jade
  • Joe Bird as Riley
  • Otis Dhanji as Daniel
  • Miranda Otto as Sue
  • Zoe Terakes as Hayley
  • Chris Alosio as Joss
  • Marcus Johnson as Max
  • Alexandria Steffensen as Rhea
  • Sunny Johnson as Duckett
  • Ari McCarthy as Cole

Production

Talk to Me is a co-production of Causeway Films, Bankside Films, and Talk to Me Holdings, and is a presentation of Screen Australia in association with the South Australian Film Corporation, Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, Head Gear Films, and Metrol Technology.[8][9] Directors Danny and Michael Philippou worked closely with producer Samantha Jennings, one of the co-founders of production company Causeway Films, who is familiar with Adelaide. They knew her from working with her on The Babadook (2014), another Causeway Films production, and credit her with keeping them grounded and helping to shape the film.[10]

The film is set in the Philippou brothers' hometown of Adelaide.[11] The Philippou brothers have said that they are committed to filming, or at least doing post production, in Australia for all future projects.[10] In what is presumably a reference to the Philippou brothers' Greek heritage, the final scene of the film takes place in Greece and features characters who speak Greek before one of them switches to English to converse with the protagonist.[7]

Release

Talk to Me sold to numerous international distributors at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[12] It had its debut in a preview screening at the Adelaide Film Festival on 30 October 2022, the closing night of the festival.[13][14]

The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in its midnight lineup.[15] After the premiere spurred a bidding war with Universal Pictures and others, A24 won and acquired the rights to distribute the film in the United States.[16][17] Maslow Entertainment, Umbrella Entertainment and Ahi Films were confirmed to be co-distributing the film in Australia and New Zealand.[18]

The film had its European premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and also screened in the United States at South by Southwest (SXSW) that the same year.[19][20][21][22] The film also had its Canadian premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on 23 July 2023.[23][24]

Talk to Me was theatrically released in Australia on 27 July 2023,[25] before releasing on the following day in the United States and Canada,[26][27][28] the United Kingdom and internationally.[29][10] In Kuwait, however, the film was banned from the theatrical release, reportedly for featuring a transgender actor, Zoe Terakes. The reports came despite the fact that the film was screening in other parts of the conservative Gulf region.[30][31] Terakes expressed their disappointment about the news on social media.[31] On 9 August, the Kuwaiti authority formally announced the ban of both Talk to Me and American comedy film Barbie (which has an underlying feminist theme), claiming that it was to protect "public ethics and social traditions".[32]

Talk to Me was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on 3 October 2023,[33] and in Australia on 25 October 2023.

Reception

Box office

As of October 27, 2023, Talk to Me has grossed $48.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $42.2 million in other countries and territories, for a worldwide total of $90.5 million.[2][3]

In the United States and Canada, Talk to Me was released alongside Haunted Mansion, and was originally projected to gross $4–5 million from 2,340 theaters in its opening weekend.[34] After making $4.2 million on its first day (including $1.3 million from Thursday night previews), weekend estimates were increased to $10 million. It ended up debuting to $10.4 million and finished in fifth, marking the best start for an A24 film since Midsommar in July 2019.[35] The film made $6.3 million in its second weekend (a drop of 40%, better than average for a horror film).[36] The film remained in the top 10 over its first six weeks, and on September 3 surpassed Hereditary as A24's highest-grossing horror film domestically with a running total of $44.5 million.[37]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 281 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "With a gripping story and impressive practical effects, Talk to Me spins a terrifically creepy 21st-century horror yarn built on classic foundations."[38] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[39] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[35]

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote, "Distinguished by wonderfully gooey practical effects and deeply distressing visual jolts (especially when young Riley falls under the hand's malignant influence), Talk to Me has a hurtling energy that's often violent but never purposefully cruel." She also applauded Wilde and Bird's performances, saying the film "owes much of its potency to Sophie Wilde's continually evolving lead performance" and "a remarkable Joe Bird."[40] Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times also praised Bird and Wilde's performances, writing, "Joe Bird, in a superb and surprising performance," and, "But even when Talk to Me flirts with incoherence, Wilde pulls it back from the brink. More than just a great scream queen, she makes vivid sense of Mia's ravaged emotions, revealing her to be a captive less to the spirit realm than to her own inconsolable grief."[41]

Jake Wilson of The Sydney Morning Herald gave the film 3½ out of 4 stars, writing, "The grim prologue leaves little doubt that horrible things are going to happen to people we're asked to care about – and while the ending may not fully satisfy the emotional expectations that have been built up, better too few comforting explanations than too many."[42] Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gave the film three out of four stars, saying the story had "shaky logic" but also "a rock-solid sense of instilling dread with a minimum of special effects and a sound design that turns the chill up to 11."[43] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, saying that it "deftly stitches its deepest fears around the idea that grief and trauma can be open invitations to predatory forces from the great beyond. It marks a welcome splash of new blood on the horror landscape." Rooney also applauded the performances, writing, "While the predominantly young cast is solid, especially Bird as Riley, talented newcomer Wilde does the heaviest dramatic lifting."[44]

Future

Prequel

In August 2023, Danny and Michael Philippou revealed that they had already completed principal photography on a prequel film, with the story exploring Duckett's backstory which leads into the character's introduction in the original movie. Production was completed consecutively, from the perspective of screenlife storytelling through mobile phones and social media. Sunny Johnson features as Duckett. The filmmakers stated that they intend to release this project in the future.[45][46] Later that month, the filmmakers revealed that sequences from the project were released by anonymously uploading them online as a means of marketing for Talk to Me. These sequences were removed from the internet due to complaints and concerns, about their content. The sequences will be officially released at a future date.[47][48]

Sequel

In August 2023, the Philippous confirmed plans to develop a sequel, stating that they've already written sequences for the project.[45][46] Later that month, A24 announced that a sequel titled Talk 2 Me was in development; with the studio releasing the sequel’s official logo at that same time.[49] Danny and Michael Philippou will return as co-directors, from a script written by returning writers Danny and Bill Hinzman.[50][49]

References

  1. ↑ "Talk to Me (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 12 June 2023. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Talk to Me". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Talk to Me". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  4. ↑ Lee, Chris (17 July 2023). "From Blowing Up Toasters to a Seven-Figure A24 Deal". Vulture. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  5. ↑ Rapold, Nicolas (20 July 2023). "The Philippou brothers: from YouTube videos to Sundance horror hit Talk To Me". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Burke, Kelly (4 August 2023). "Australian horror film Talk to Me a surprise US box office hit". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  7. 1 2 Though it is never explicitly stated that the party is in Greece, the actors in the scene are credited as "Stranger in Greece", "Young Man in Greece", and "Men in Greece".
  8. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (22 January 2023). "'Talk to Me' Review: Entertaining Aussie Horror Shows It's Best Not to Chat Up the Dead". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "Talk to Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Debelle, Penelope (27 July 2023). "Be afraid: The wild ride of YouTubers turned filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou". CityMag. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023. This article is republished from InReview under a Creative Commons licence.
  11. ↑ Philippou, Danny; Philippou, Michael (25 July 2023). "Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou (aka RackaRacka) on their new A24 Aussie horror flick". ABC Everyday (Interview). Interviewed by Rasker, Rachel. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  12. ↑ Tabbara, Mona. "Bankside Films scores slew of deals on Cannes slate (exclusive)". Screen. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  13. ↑ "First look at Talk to Me, upcoming horror feature by Youtube sensation RackaRacka". Adelaide Film Festival. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  14. ↑ Smith, Matthew (7 October 2022). "RackaRacka brothers to release debut film Talk to Me at Adelaide Film Festival". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  15. ↑ Kroll, Justin (24 January 2023). "'Talk To Me' Directing Duo Danny & Michael Philippou Sign With WME Following Film's Midnight Premiere At Sundance". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  16. ↑ Murphy, J. Kim; Setoodeh, Ramin; Setoodeh, Ramin (25 January 2023). "A24 Closing on Deal for Sundance Midnight Breakout 'Talk to Me' (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  17. ↑ Couch, Aaron (25 January 2023). "A24 Nabbing Sundance Horror Movie 'Talk to Me'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 26 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  18. ↑ Dalton, Ben (8 March 2023). "'Talk To Me' sells out worldwide for Bankside Films (exclusive)". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  19. ↑ Keast, Jackie (15 January 2023). "'Talk to Me', 'Marungka Tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black)' off to Berlin". IF Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  20. ↑ "Talk to Me". www.berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  21. ↑ "SXSW – 'Evil Dead Rise', 'The Wrath of Becky', & 'Late Night With the Devil' to World Premiere! [Images]". Bloody Disgusting. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "Talk To Me". South by Southwest. SXSW, LLC. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  23. ↑ "Fantasia Festival Talk To Me". Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  24. ↑ Navarro, Meagan (8 June 2023). "Fantasia Film Festival Second Wave Announces Serial Killer 'Red Rooms' As Opening Film, 'Talk to Me,' and More". Bloody Disgusting!. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  25. ↑ "How to watch Talk to Me in Australia". flicks.com.au. 21 July 2023. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  26. ↑ Dalton, Ben (8 March 2023). "'Talk To Me' sells out worldwide for Bankside Films (exclusive)". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  27. ↑ "Talk to Me A24". a24films.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  28. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (7 March 2023). "A24 Dates Three For Summer: 'You Hurt My Feelings', 'Past Lives' & 'Talk To Me'". Deadline. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  29. ↑ "Talk to Me (2023)". Flicks. 11 March 2023. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  30. ↑ Ritman, Alex (4 August 2023). "'Talk to Me' Banned in Kuwait Over Inclusion of Trans Actor". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  31. 1 2 "Kuwait Bans Horror Film Featuring Trans Actor". Agence France-Presse. 7 August 2023. Archived from the original on 7 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Barron's.
  32. ↑ Bassam, Laila; Gebeily, Maya (9 August 2023). Chopra, Toby; Macfie, Nick; Navaratnam, Shri (eds.). "Lebanon moves to ban 'Barbie' film for 'promoting homosexuality'". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  33. ↑ "Talk to Me DVD Release Date October 3, 2023". Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  34. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (26 July 2023). "Box Office: Disney's 'Haunted Mansion' Eyes $30 Million Debut, 'Barbenheimer' to Remain on Top". Variety. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  35. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (28 July 2023). "'Barbie' Dreamy $90M-$94M Second Weekend, 'Oppenheimer' $46M; 'Haunted Mansion' Eyes $25M Opening – Late Night Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  36. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (4 August 2023). "'Barbie' Crosses $400M, 'Oppenheimer' Nears $200M, 'Turtles' 2-Day $15M, 'Meg 2' Previews $3M+ – August Box Office Fires Up". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  37. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (3 September 2023). "'Equalizer 3' Notches Second-Best Opening Ever At Labor Day Box Office With $42M; Summer Clicks Past $4 Billion". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  38. ↑ "Talk to Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  39. ↑ "Talk to Me". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  40. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (27 July 2023). "'Talk to Me' Review: Letting the Wrong One In". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  41. ↑ Chang, Justin (27 July 2023). "Review: You have to hand it to 'Talk to Me,' a gripping thriller about love and loss". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  42. ↑ Wilson, Jake (26 July 2023). "A shrewdly crafted, powerful feature debut from Aussie YouTubers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 August 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  43. ↑ Howell, Peter (8 June 2023). "Opinion | The best summer 2023 movies list is here — our critic picks the top 10 you can't miss". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  44. ↑ Rooney, David (21 February 2023). "'Talk to Me' Review: Mingling With the Spirit World Brings Bone-Chilling Shocks in Australian Horror Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  45. 1 2 Davids, Brian (3 August 2023). "'Talk To Me' Filmmakers on Their Breakout Horror Hit and the Prequel They've Already Shot". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  46. 1 2 Squires, John (3 August 2023). "MOVIES: 'Talk to Me' Filmmakers Already Shot "an Entire Prequel" Based on the Film's Opening Sequence". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  47. ↑ Shaw-Williams, Hannah (30 August 2023). "Talk To Me Prequel Clips Were Released Online But Removed For 'Violence And Bullying'". Slash Film. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  48. ↑ Schreur, Brandon (30 August 2023). "Talk to Me: Why Prequel Clips for A24 Horror Movie Were Removed Online". Coming Soon. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  49. 1 2 Squires, John (8 August 2023). "'Talk to Me 2' – A24 Has Ordered a Sequel to Hit Horror Movie!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  50. ↑ Etan Vlessing (8 August 2023). "Talk to Me' Sequel in the Works From A24, Danny and Michael Philippou". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
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