Talk to Me is a 2022 Australian supernatural horror film directed by Danny and Michael Philippou and written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, based on a concept by Daley Pearson. It stars Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes, Chris Alosio, Marcus Johnson, and Alexandria Steffensen. The film follows a group of teenagers who discover they are able to contact spirits using a mysterious embalmed hand, only for things to go too far.
Plot[]
At a crowded house party, Cole searches for his brother Duckett. When Cole finds Duckett and attempts to bring him home, Duckett stabs his brother before fatally stabbing himself in the face.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Mia is struggling with the second anniversary of her mother Rhea's death by overdose and her distant relationship with her father Max. Driving at night, she comes across a fatally injured kangaroo, but cannot bring herself to put it out of its misery. 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, embalmed hand of mysterious origin. Holding the hand and saying "Talk to me" allows a person to commune with a spirit, followed by saying "I let you in", enabling the spirit to possess them. The connection must be severed before ninety seconds in order to prevent the spirits from binding themselves to that person. Mia volunteers to go first and is possessed by a spirit that displays a menacing focus on Riley. Joss and Hayley manage to break the connection, but only after the time limit is exceeded slightly.
Mia, ecstatic over the feeling the hand brought her, along with Hayley, Joss, and Jade's boyfriend Daniel all gather 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 and lets Riley take a turn. Riley appears to be possessed by Rhea's spirit, who attempts to reconcile with Mia. Mia stops the group from ending the possession to keep talking to Rhea, completely disregarding the time limit. Riley's body is overtaken by the spirits, who make him attempt suicide by repeatedly smashing his face against the table, and he is hospitalized in critical condition.
Mia, now haunted by visions of Rhea, is turned away by Jade and her mother Sue, both of whom blame her for Riley's injuries. Having secretly taken the embalmed hand, Mia repeatedly uses it 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.
Hayley and Joss tell Mia, Jade, and Daniel where they got the hand and explain that the spirits can imitate people. They track down Cole, who says that the spirits' hold on Riley will eventually weaken on its own. 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 in limbo. At home, Max reads Rhea's suicide note to Mia, apologizing for hiding the truth from her. Soon after, Rhea's spirit tells Mia that Max is lying. Mia hallucinates that she is being violently attacked by Max, then inadvertently stabs the real Max in the neck with a pair of scissors when he hears the commotion and breaks down the door to her room to check on her.
After being told by Rhea that Riley needs to die in order to be set free from his possession, and hallucinating the injured kangaroo from earlier, Mia kidnaps Riley from the hospital, intending to put him out of his misery. Jade sees her pushing him in a wheelchair toward the highway's edge. Rhea attempts to convince Mia to push Riley into oncoming traffic, but when she says "We'll have him forever", Mia realizes that "Rhea" has been the malevolent spirit from her initial possession manipulating her all along. Mia steps away from the wheelchair as Jade rushes toward them to save her brother; traffic comes to a halt and Mia lies badly injured on the road.
Mia suddenly finds herself in the hospital. She sees a fully recovered Riley waking up with his family, and her father leaving in an elevator going up. No one responds to her and she notices her hands are disfigured. After becoming engulfed in darkness, Mia approaches a human hand and candle in the distance, finding herself summoned at another party, where one of the partygoers says "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
- Ari McCarthy as Cole
- Sunny Johnson as Duckett
Reception[]
Talk to Me premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on 30 October 2022, and was released in Australia on 27 July 2023, by Maslow Entertainment. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its story, horror sequences, practical effects, sound design and performances, with Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird receiving particular praise. It was a box office success, grossing $68 million worldwide against a $4.5 million budget. A sequel is currently in development.