Talk To Me – Review

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 35 minutes, Directors – Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

On the second anniversary of her mother’s (Alexandria Steffensen) death, teenager Mia (Sophie Wilde) learns what happens when you communicate with the dead for too long.

The most effective horror within Talk To Me is loud. Not in a cliched quiet, quiet, BANG! sense, but a hammering of occasional noise to add to the uncertainty of the darkening situations. Violent bursts of sparingly used blood and gore mixed with clatters and smashes throw the sudden intensity of the moment towards you as the characters suffer the consequences of communicating with the dead for too long.

90 seconds is the limit given to hold the ceramic hand which allows the person gripping it to speak to a random figure in the supposed afterlife. Otherwise they want to stay. On the second anniversary of her mother’s (Alexandria Steffensen) death, teenager Mia (Sophie Wilde) decides to finally go to one of the parties where this happens. Leaping at the chance to have a turn, despite the spirit which briefly possesses her – although such sequences really show how long 90 seconds can be in a situation like this – taunting her best friend Jade’s (Alexandra Jensen) younger brother Riley (Joe Bird), Mia soon gets a taste for the experience, taking the first chance she can to go through it all again. A montage ensues showing the group taking turns to talk to a new spirit each time, they might be having fun but for the audience the tension rises.

Phones are out recording what’s happening, with twin directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou capturing some of this with their camerawork following certain movements such as doors randomly closing to boost the unsettling feel. There might be a bit of distance between the viewer and the film during the early stages – there’s still a good deal of tension, but it sometimes feels like you’re not fully involved, being a slight distance from the film – but once the stakes are established things pick up from there.

After what’s believed to be an interaction with her mother, Mia and her friends are plunged into a dark world of consequences. It’s here, from around the halfway point onwards, when co-writers Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, alongside the directing duo, truly have fun with the details of the mythology that they give away surrounding the central hand. The details are light, but enough to not leave too much of a blank canvas. It’s about as much as the characters know, and that’s enough to plunge them into this world. The uncertainty impacts them as the ghosts appear to leak out and plague their everyday lives. Such points may show some of the lesser-explored elements of the film – such as Mia’s relationship with her dad (Marcus Johnson) – but there’s also some good horror sequences here, avoiding jump scares when they could so easily be used.

The horror as a whole is well-constructed and helps to create the aforementioned tension. When working in its loud bursts it’s at its best – with one particular moment of flickering chaos creating real terror – as the sudden bursts really capture just how dark things can get, and just what’s at risk. The uncertainty of the characters is used well, and put onto the audience through the details that are given away surrounding just what’s been gotten into. It all comes together to create a rather effective dark horror which strays away from jump-scares and instead uses the elements that it’s provided itself with to draw out the tension and make its own horror.

Once the stakes of Talk To Me are established it’s easier to properly feel a part of the film, with the tension truly kicking in as the loud bursts of sudden chaos have an even greater effect. Led by an effectively (un)detailed central device.