I’ve said in the past and I’ll say it again here that we as a filmgoing public and film critics alike are amid a resonance of original horror visions from all over the globe. In the case of Talk to Me, the filmmakers and film are from Australia. This is the best horror movie I’ve seen all year and A24 has done it again. Whether they have acquired this film or have paid for it on their own it’s another win. 

This film has a cold opening of some pretty gruesome violence at a party. One character kills another, which was his brother, and then stabs himself. This was quite shocking of a beginning to this film. We don’t know why this happened until later in the film but it was quite shocking, to say the least. Cold openings are meant to get the viewer invested in the story and this one does just that.

Mia (Sophie Wilde) is a teenage girl who is seeking shelter and friendship with her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen), her brother Riley (Joe Bird), and their mother Sue (Miranda Otto, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) due to a tragic accident that killed her mother. When the teens go to a party one night their lives will irrevocably be changed. A few other friends of theirs convince them to play a deadly game. All their lives are at stake once they get involved in this life-or-death game.

This film as it’s a horror movie uses a bunch of techniques to scare audiences half to death. The main way is by having various people connect to a ceramic hand that is connected to the sitting world. Which in turn releases evil forces on them. They don’t know who to trust. This hand is the key to the whole story.  Anybody that’s anybody knows you don’t mess with items that are connected to a supernatural or occult realm. 

The demons that take over various characters make them harm themselves in horrific ways. This puts everyone who comes in contact with the abducted bodies dangerous. These spirits have crossed over into the main world our characters live in. Nobody is immune to the damage they can cause. The blood and guts that ensue are pretty ugly. Nobody is safe from the abducted. This film deals with these issues in an incredible way. 

These are relative newcomers regarding the cast in the film. An all-Australian cast makes them new to Americans as a whole but one in particular stands out as someone to watch in the future. And that person is Sophie Wilde. She is an absolute revelation in this film. She starts as a bit lost but as the story progresses she gets better and better as her character.  She goes to amazing places to become this girl who we don’t know what side she is on by the end of the film. She’s that good.

Talk to Me premiered at SXSW with amazing reviews and applause. It makes me want to see this movie straight away. The directors Danny and Michael Phillippou scared the bejesus out of me. I don’t usually get scared at horror movies but this one had me cringing throughout various moments in it. Sophie Wilde gives a great performance as this young woman who we don’t know if she is abducted by evil spirits or not. She is great. This is the best horror film I’ve seen all year.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen