TALK TO ME |
★★★★☆
27 July 2023
A movie review of TALK TO ME.
|
Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou.
Starring: Sophie Wilde, Miranda Otto, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Djanji, Marcus Johnson, Chris Alosio, Zoe Terakes.
“We went a bit over,” Hayley (Zoe Terakes)
Grief and horror can be a potent mix; if bereavement is handled with sensitivity and the fright genre is handled with skill.
How many scary movies have us eye-rolling at the characters walking into peril? If the film hasn’t lost you at that point, the audience would be screaming to avoid whatever path the cannon fodder is on. The protagonists and supporting players should not be inevitably headed to the meat grinder. Most importantly, if danger is not thrust on them inadvertently, then their decisions must be understandable. If we buy their choices, they cease being expendable. That thrill lasts a movie not a moment.
Starring: Sophie Wilde, Miranda Otto, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Djanji, Marcus Johnson, Chris Alosio, Zoe Terakes.
“We went a bit over,” Hayley (Zoe Terakes)
Grief and horror can be a potent mix; if bereavement is handled with sensitivity and the fright genre is handled with skill.
How many scary movies have us eye-rolling at the characters walking into peril? If the film hasn’t lost you at that point, the audience would be screaming to avoid whatever path the cannon fodder is on. The protagonists and supporting players should not be inevitably headed to the meat grinder. Most importantly, if danger is not thrust on them inadvertently, then their decisions must be understandable. If we buy their choices, they cease being expendable. That thrill lasts a movie not a moment.
TALK TO ME [2023] (not to be confused with the Don Cheadle/Chiwetel Ejiofor 2007 movie of the same name) does not waste time. A tight 95 minutes. Doesn’t prolong, doesn’t outstay welcome. The opening chucks the audience straight in. A house party with immediate unease as a sibling searches frantically room by room for his younger brother. The scene does not end well. It takes a catalogue of repercussions to realise where the sequence fits in with the main plot. The viewer is not looked down on.
The focus is a group of teenagers where viral social media possession shenanigans have originated at their school. TALK TO ME touches on standing, peer pressure, unrequited love, and neglect as motivators. What drives the lead is something different.
There is a hand and forearm of a medium embalmed and encased in ceramic. This unnerving object opens the door to a demon realm if an incantation is spoken. The person that holds the hand becomes a vessel for an unknown entity who is clearly not benign. (The instant clue is the eyes going black. To me that would be enough to not volunteer.) A malevolent spirit remains if the door is not closed before 90 seconds are up.
The ritual becomes a test of endurance for anyone brave/reckless enough. (Perhaps the same sort of irresponsibility that leads people to consume bleach based on a social media trend?) The hand made me think of a cross between the Monkey’s Paw (from the short story by W. W. Jacobs) and a Palantír (from J. R. R. Tolkein’s famous trilogy).
The audience gets invested in the characters. Horrific stuff happens.
Ending a quality horror movie is hard. THE BOOGEYMAN [2023], for instance, fumbled the postscript. The most merciless of fright flicks leave you with the feeling of never-ending dread, without the nod to a sequel (e.g., IT FOLLOWS [2014]. A narrative tightrope. TALK TO ME parts with a doozy of a scene. I can see the directing brothers being in demand after this film.