YouTube sensations-turned-talented directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou made their dazzling feature film debut when they helmed the chilling and deeply unnerving 2023 supernatural horror knockout Talk to Me, which centers on a grieving teenager struggling with the death of her mother who becomes obsessed with communicating with the spirit world after contacting the other side through an embalmed and severed hand, leading to a terrifying entity targeting the young woman.
Lauded for its refreshing screenplay, gruesome visual effects, and unrelenting suspense, Talk to Me took audiences by storm upon its frightening premiere and swiftly became A24’s highest-grossing horror film and a certified critical success, with many appreciating the unique and hair-raising twist the filmmaking brothers gave the possession trope. Viewers both curious and brave enough to check out the taut and ghoulish flick will find themselves completely immersed in the ominous premise and sleeping with a light on, as it is now just begging to be streamed on Paramount+ with Showtime.
‘Talk to Me’ Is a Wickedly Frightening Spin on the Supernatural Genre
Filmmaking siblings Danny and Michael Philippou made their thrilling directorial debuts when they helmed the spine-tingling 2022 supernatural horror hit Talk to Me, which centers on the grieving 17-year-old Mia (Sophie Wilde) as she struggles with the devastating death of her mother two years prior and her strained relationship with her distant father. When she attends a house party with her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird), the trio are left stunned when the gathering takes a dark and chilling turn after its host shows off the night’s main attraction: a severed and embalmed hand.
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Holding the ominous hand allows someone to communicate with the spirit world and enables them to temporarily possess the living person, but after becoming obsessed with the spooky experience, Mia inadvertently unleashes a frightening supernatural force that wreaks havoc on the teenager and her friends. Desperate to save the life of Riley and rid them of the malevolent entity they accidentally conjured, Mia sets out to gain answers about the haunting hand yet finds her grip on reality steadily slipping along the way.
‘Talk to Me’ Becomes A24’s Highest-Grossing Horror Hit
The Australian twin filmmakers got their start on YouTube during the early 2010s under the name “RackaRacka,” creating smash-hit horror comedy videos and amassing a large following before ultimately shifting their focus to directing. Together, the brothers wrote and directed the hair-raising flick Talk to Me, which they set in their hometown of Adelaide and shot during a short five-week period, partnering with the juggernaut entertainment company A24 to help bring the terrifying tale to life. In an interview with CBR, Danny Philippou revealed how they set out to both delve into the complexities of Mia while also delivering intense horror elements:
“We always wanted the film to be grounded with real characters, and have the horror be grounded in what’s happening with those characters. It was always breaking down her emotional state, and showing that she’s been stripped of any ounce of intimacy that she’s got. It was about watching her decline.”
Talk to Me made its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and swiftly became both a critical and commercial triumph, with audiences and critics equally raving about the genuinely terrifying special effects, relentless foreboding suspense, and its well-crafted horror sequences. Not only were moviegoers left with an endless sense of dread throughout the film’s unnerving 95 minutes, but they were also impressed by the complexity of its screenplay as it explored trauma and grief, with the Philippou brothers masterfully taking the possession trope and giving it their own wickedly effective twist.
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The pulse-pounding picture was the recipient of numerous accolades, such as the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and a whopping seven AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards), including Best Direction and Best Film. Talk to Me currently holds an exceptional 94% Rotten Tomatoes score and 83% Popcornmeter, as well as a 7.1 IMDb rating based on 179,000 user reviews, and went on to gross $91.9 million worldwide against a modest $4.5 million budget; it is now A24’s highest-grossing horror film and a sequel is also in the works.
Horror aficionados will go wild for Talk to Me‘s gory practical effects and relentless visual terrors, which are sure to leave them on the edge of their seats as they witness the violent entity target Mia and those she cares about by exploiting her own guilt and devastation over the loss of her mother. Critics were in agreement that Sophie Wilde dominated the screen as the emotionally-ravaged protagonist and declared her a bona fide scream queen, as she was fantastically able to tap into the character’s heartbreaking sadness and grief that ultimately consumed her. In their glowing review of Talk to Me, Bloody Disgusting wrote:
“There’s a refreshing ruthlessness to this cautionary tale that plays like a surge of adrenaline; it makes for one hell of an introduction to Danny and Michael Philippou’s brutal brand of horror.”
Stream Talk to Me on Paramount+ with the Showtime add-on.