Talk to Me

Teenage horror for adults, painful both physically and psychically. The characters act like morons at times, but thanks their good portrayal, you understand why they act like morons. Excellent stuff, no wonder A24 picked it up at Sundance. Only the ending could have had a better build-up. (14.08.2023)

Eine ausgezeichnete Geistergeschichte mit einem neuen Konzept, mit einer tollen Idee der Verbindung mit der „anderen Seite“ und zivilen Teenager-Figuren, deren Beziehungsdrama genauso stark und wichtig wie die mysteriöse Dimension ist. Neue Gesichter, eine düstere Stimmung und ein cooles Ende der Geschichte. Ein australisches Debüt mit qualitativen Parametern der besten Stücke des Produzenten Jason Blum. (14.01.2024)

Sag es meiner Hand aka eine Verbindung einer dummen viralen TikTok-Challenge, einer Drogen-Metapher, eines Dramas über Trauer und eines Horrorfilms über Besessenheit. Daraus ist der Genrefilm des Jahres geworden, in dem die wichtigste Rolle die intelligente und heimtückische Regie, die ausgezeichneten Schauspieler*innen und eine dichte Atmosphäre spielen. Die Welt der Geister dringt zunehmend in die Realität ein und sie kann es mit den Menschen gut meinen – oder auch nicht. Ein sehr würdiger Träger der Fackel der Filme wie Get Out oder It Follows. Ich zittere! (05.12.2023)

Talk to Me ist eine angenehme kleine Gruselgeschichte aus Down Under, die nicht versucht, mit billigen Schreckmomenten das Publikum in Aufregung zu versetzen, sondern stattdessen viel Zeit auf die Beziehung zwischen den Hauptcharakteren verwendet. Das Konzept von Geistersitzungen als riskantes Vergnügen für leichtsinnige Zoomer ist eine interessante Prämisse, die in falschen Händen völlig lächerlich klingen könnte, aber hier funktioniert sie sehr solide, vor allem dank der glaubwürdigen und nicht aufdringlichen Charaktere der australischen Teenager. (26.01.2023)

You wouldn't think that in the ghost subgenre you could come up with something original. A really interesting, original premise, physically uncomfortable in places, an intense flick without cheap clichés and stale scares (there are a few and they're good). And with likeable new faces, all of them acting great. To make this as a rookie debut, well, hats off to them. (12.10.2023)

The much-praised Australian horror film Talk to Me was supposed to be my dark horse this year. I was looking forward to it since the first trailer, and the rave reviews from abroad only increased my hype, plus the proven studio A24. But in the end I'm slightly disappointed. For a debut, Talk to Me is definitely very mature and noteworthy, but I didn't feel the right spark. So first I'll sum up the pros. The biggest asset is the original idea, we follow a ghostly séance of young Australian teenagers using a mummified hand, where they get possessed by a random ghost for 90 seconds. The appearance of the ghosts is creepy and these séances are fun until things go wrong, of course. (The twist is pleasantly brutal!). But just when the viewer thinks the film is finally going to get going, sadly the best part is over. The characters, who can act and who aren't downright annoying, are interesting. The make up effects are good, the film is technically up to par, and it's very nice to see that it’s is not a PG-13 but an R-rated ghost story, though it can't be said that the viewer gets proper gore. Not many characters die, and the more brutal scenes are three at most, so the potential to unleash more savagery was definitely there. There are few jump-scares, and the atmosphere isn't too scary either, it's more of a psychological drama most of the time, where we do see ghosts, but they don't make any mess of the characters or the viewer. Most of all, I was let down by the weak finale, which can't be called a finale, because the film doesn't go anywhere. It's worth a strong 3 stars because some elements were fine and there's a sense of a different approach, but the slower pace, few scary attractions and weaker finale don't let me go for 4. I’ll have to wait for Saw X, The Exorcist Believer and The Last Voyage of the Demeter. 6/10. (07.08.2023)

Based on their internet videos, one might get the impression that the brothers Danny and Michael Philippou are just a couple of louts riding the wave of post-Jackass dumbfuckery and YouTuber bullshit. Their feature-length debut is thus all the more surprising, as it is a very intense genre flick with precision craftsmanship, as well as an absorbingly sensitive work that is able to thought-provokingly address a full range of the young generation’s frustration and general depressing issues without in any way coming across as being too clever for its own good or in-your-face. Talk to Me radiates fierce energy, formalistic boisterousness and devastating horror intensity that brings to mind the first Evil Dead, though Sam Raimi put his supreme talent to use solely in the interest of genre entertainment with very little reach beyond the confines of the screen. By comparison, the Philippou brothers expressively thematise motifs such as the depressing tension that comes with the pressure to fit into the group and the endless provocations and ever-present danger of making a fool of oneself under the watchful eye of social media. The backbone of the brilliantly constructed narrative consists in the coming to terms with the loss of a loved one and the associated risk of falling into the abyss of depression and blaming oneself. The film manages to present this subject with sobering empathy and a powerfully intense sense of dread. (01.10.2023)

A hand extended from the beyond is unlikely to be helpful, or rather, "this spirit is a cunt." Grief that hurts so much and affects judgment to the point of consuming a person. The mobile phone camera acts as an emotional barrier to the events it captures. Recreational drug use that can, with a snap of the fingers, escalate quickly. The twins who revere Friedkin’s The Exorcist focus more on characters and appropriate realism rather than on blatantly shocking scenes, and when shocks do occur, they use practical effects. If predicting the plot’s further development is difficult, and it’s not entirely foolish, we can speak of rare originality in this genre. (02.10.2023)

Talk to Me is a movie of miracles. One of them is the fact that the brothers directing have managed to put together such a mature and high-quality film as their debut, from the superbly chosen sound design, camera angles to the well-cast who, after a long time in such a consumer horror film, manage to captivate and you will remember them even weeks later. Another very pleasing piece of news is that this Australian festival flick has made it to our cinemas and we won't be waiting a year for its release. And the third one is a kind of difference in execution, which makes from a mere exorcism makes very different film, one with its own signature that is simply "something different". And even if it is hard to say what it is in particular, you can feel from the first minutes that this is not a generic thing like The Conjuring or Annabelle. The most important thing that makes this film its own and different is the choice to go a little way into the art and the willingness to combine quality filmmaking with a suffocating atmosphere, the original idea of the mummified hand and, most importantly, the intensity of the summoning scenes, which had me glued to my seat watching what was going to happen. The violence, blood and raw brutality of some of the scenes is downright iconic, and when it comes to them, horror fans will be sniffling in bliss. Of course, this brings me to the only complaint I have for this film, and that is that there is too much plot filler and that if they had added a couple more summoning scenes and get more of what we all came here for, which is the pure evil of the demon during the summoning sessions, I would be fully satisfied. As it is, I feel mostly satisfied, but deep down also a little impoverished, as those séances were very sparse. (05.08.2023)

I remember Danny and Michael Philippou from their early days on YouTube; their wild content had its charm. So, I’m even more surprised that they stepped into the director's chair and made a full-fledged feature film that a more established filmmaker wouldn’t need to be ashamed of. I really liked the concept itself. The seances offered an incredibly intense experience (shame there weren’t more of them). The acting was okay, but no one really blew me away. The ending was intriguingly handled; I didn’t expect the parallel with drug use. Thumbs up for that. A well-crafted film all around. We’ll see what the sibling duo comes up with next. I give it a 7/10. (13.02.2024)