Talk to Me (2022) Review – A Visceral And Gritty Australian Supernatural Success

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today’s Aussie horror hit, Talk to Me, hit the festival circuit back in 2022 before seeing a wider release in 2023. Everyone knows about this movie and there isn’t much new to say on it. To be honest, I only wanted to review it as I have featured it in lists. With that in mind, I will make this review quick.

Damn those Aussies are good

Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk to Me follows a group of friends who find an embalmed hand which allows them to communicate with spirits. The rules are simple: you light a candle, grab the hand, and have 90 seconds to talk with the dead. Apparently, rules are quite hard to follow and one of the group, Mia (Sophie Wilde), goes too far, setting off a horrifying chain of events.

“Australia is, without question, one of the best horror movie making nations on earth. Talk to Me is proof positive of that fact.”

Man, Australia is, without question, one of the best horror movie making nations on earth. I could list titles all day: The Loved Ones, Lake Mungo, Sissy, The Babadook. There are just so many great examples and they are still putting out amazing horror to this day. Talk to Me is proof positive of that fact.

The concept here could best be described as a modern take on Ouija boards. The only difference is the rush that the characters feel when they are communicating with the dead, leading them to want to do it over and over again, pushing it further each time. Sometimes the process leaves them looking like idiots. Other times it leaves them slightly traumatised. The only guarantee is that they will keep going back for more.

Now you could be forgiven for seeing this entire plot as an allegory for heavy drug use, something which Australia is battling with on a large scale as of the last few years. And I think that assumption would be correct. And just like heavy drug use, what starts as fun between friends goading each other on with relentless peer pressure quickly begins to destroy the lives of the user and the people around them. It’s a nice way of translating a real-life horror story into a fictional, supernatural, one.

Effective but with issues

The concept works incredibly well, for the most part. The main focus of the story, Mia, has suffered a recent familial tragedy and her spiral downwards keeps the story chugging along. This is, at its heart, a drama about a person’s mental decline and the damage it does to those around them. There is just enough supernatural goings on to keep it horror. The horror tends to be fairly top heavy, as well, appearing early on before waning later on in the film.

“This is, at its heart, a drama about a person’s mental decline and the damage it does to those around them.”

Characters see deceased people in varying stages of decomposition hinting at how they may have died and everything looks pretty great. Makeup is a strong point and there is a decent amount of creepiness to everything. Cinematography is a strong point and I was particularly impressed by much of the lighting. I wouldn’t say this is a scary movie, and it doesn’t take long for it to become pretty overfamiliar and formulaic, but I can imagine some of the scenes sticking with younger viewers.

It’s worth pointing out that this is another massively overhyped movie. People rave about this one and buying into that hype will leave you disappointed. It is a decent movie but it is also a fairly “paint by numbers” supernatural horror with no really new ideas and limited scares. The supernatural elements take a back seat to the predictable, and obvious, tale of Mia’s personality issues which may leave plenty wanting. You’ll also see everything coming and, likely, be quite frustrated by how vanilla the story becomes. That’s without mentioning the amount of plot holes and continuity issues.

I really hated the cast

This is a movie clearly aimed at Gen Z and that is as much to its detriment as anything else. The extremely bloated cast is utterly obnoxious. There needed to be some massive fat trimming here and a much tighter cast of people.

“Makeup work is fantastic, it is quite creepy in parts and the story is compelling enough to keep your attention.”

I understand, if you want to present teens authentically then they are going to be unlikable, but it gets in the way of the story repeatedly. There is, really, only one character that isn’t a complete prick. Everyone else ranges from annoying to legitimately horrendous.

This ties into one of the movie’s biggest weaknesses: Mia herself. She is the “protagonist” but might be one of the most unlikable horror characters I have seen in a while. It doesn’t help that Sophie Wilde chews the scenery to bits, repeatedly. She has an inability to enunciate properly and occasionally talks in a ridiculously infantile manner that is beyond annoying. Background extras often seem to have limited direction, as well, occasionally looking completely lost. The cast here makes Talk to Me a real chore at times. 

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Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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