THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If there is anything very common life, it is how easy it is grief to bring out the best and worst of us at once. You don't buy that? Look at Talk to Me.
PLOT
The film follows Mia, who is struggling over the death of her mother Rhea (Alexandria Steffensen) who overdosed two years prior. Rather than bridging the gap between her and father Max (Marcus Johnson), she chooses to she chooses to turn to her best friend Jade and her brother Riley. One night after picking up the latter from a park, the former shows her an online video circulating of teens getting possessed by a ceramic hand. Both girls attend a party later on that night, hosted by Hayley & Joss who have the hand. When Mia makes contact with the hand for 90 seconds after repeating the phrases 'talk to me' and 'I let you in', as well as lighting a candle, she confirms it to be real when being possessed herself by another demon. Despite the time limit being slightly exceeded, no repercussions occur for her. She would feel so ecstatic of the experience that she would encourage Jade to invite Hayley & Joss and her boyfriend Daniel (Otis Dhanji) to host another possession gathering at her place. Everyone would have multiple turns with the hand and enjoy the euphoric atmosphere of it. Although Jade is against Riley participating, they choose to do it behind her back. It backfires as expected when the boy gets possessed by Rhea, causing her to ignore the time limit intending to have a moment of reconciliation. The consequence of ignoring the only rule causes Riley's body to be overtaken by the spirits and try to make him take his life by smashing his face against the table, becoming hospitalized in the process. Mia would then be turned away by Jade and her mother Sue (unaware of how he actually got injured) for his injuries. At her home, she chooses to contact Rhea again with the hand. She insists that her death was an accident and assures her she must help Riley as he keeps attempting suicide everytime he regains consciousness. Mia would then keep the candle on to maintain the connection, which would only cause her to lose her grasp with reality as she would see her mom without the hand. Her possession is so severe that she has no control, proven when the spirits assault Daniel in his sleep and at one point attack Jade at the hospital. She and the others would reach out to Cole, whose brother Duckett died after being possessed. He explains that he took his life because a living body expels invading spirits. Knowing that Riley is low on time, Mia tries contacting the spirits again who show her that he is being tortured in limbo. Upon returning home, Max confronts her by sharing a suicide note written by her mother. Mia would be devastated of the truth, but the spirit of Rhea would tell her he's lying. The teen girl would then hallucinate, mistaking her father to be attacking her, resulting in her accidentally stabbing his neck with scissors for real. She lures Jade out of the hospital in order to have Riley to himself, believing the only save him is to kill him. She is able to take him outside and put him on a wheelchair, planning to push him into a nearby highway. As Jade rushes to save her brother, Mia finally realizes she's being used by a malevolent spirit posing as Rhea, also confirming what her dad said was true. Just when she finally regains will, she launches herself into highway, being struck by a car in the process. She would not realize she had died until noticing her body remain disfigured and seeing everyone she knows ignore her. The film would end with her being summoned by another group of partygoers who have gained access to the hand. THOUGHTS
It always feels like you've seen it all when another movie comes out, that is until you get something 100% unpredictable. And that is exactly you're getting here thanks to incredible direction and writing by Michael & Danny Philippou aka RackaRacka, and Bill Hinzman. You know getting possessed is a setting where shit will get out of hand, which is what makes it so scary for it to be shown in voluntary manner. Seeing the demons be manipulative with a small amount of power shows exactly how fast you can lose control with something too dangerous to interact with. Seeing everyone interact with the hand is an instant metaphor for drugs due to how to they get such a kick out of it, but in the longer sense, it all works for telling us we have to let go of the grief that consumes us inside and it is better to do it sooner than later, or there will be consequences bound to occur the longer you wait. That is the arc explored greatly with thanks to a captivating performance of Sophie Wilde. As Mia, she is someone who is completely lost after a loss she wasn't prepared for. She would find a stronger enhancement with Jade & Riley because they were the only ones who wouldn't force her to do the absolute, they give her enough of a connection for her to handle. Due to how grief stricken she is, she wasn't sure how to find solace. She chose to be distant towards her dad because she didn't think it would get any better. With Riley's predicament being her doing, she had the motivation to do the right thing but was still afraid of following through. And that is the big part of her journey where she can't follow through as shown with being unable to put down an injured kangaroo. Seeing the ghost of the animal was only an enhancement to do what she had to. But once she realized it was gonna favor the wrong being, she does the absolute no one would've anticipated. Her death is without question the most shocking because it happens so fast you never would've thought she'd be willing to do it until she does. Her revelation is so saddening because it's just difficult to forget and have to remember in a different perspective. Topping off the twist by having her stuck in limbo and pulled out thanks to the hand that is still out there was genius because it also reflects how people will make similar mistakes as we do wherever they are. Whatever she goes through in the sequel, I'm sure her misery will end by then. For someone who was going through such pain, it is a relief she had people that cared about her in return. Alexandra Jensen definitely has us relate to Jade because she was someone who wants to play it safe and have fun at the same time. That is the ideal mindset you'll have when you're the eldest child and you want to be fair to be a role model for your younger siblings. That of course backfires on her end for even considering hosting this in her house, knowing her brother would be interested. The whole time afterwards, she would rightfully take it out on Mia because both sides could've avoided him putting him in danger. And for the majority, she avoids knowing more of the hand because she can't bare putting Riley through any more danger. Thankfully, she is able to save him from a darker fate. You also relate to Riley however due to Joe Bird expressing the youthful feeling on wanting to fit in, a clever nod to peer pressure. Sadly for him, he learns the hard way that he should've taken his sister's advice to not get involved. Every young actor has a momentary 180 of going from relaxing teen to haunting demon when possessed, but Riley had the most effect due to being possessed the longest. The smile he had in his second suicide attempt was the scariest part for me because it made clear how powerful is early on before knowing there is an advantage. Whatever he knew what Mia did for her, I'm sure he'll appreciate and honor her the older he gets to be. I also got to give a shoutout to Miranda Otto who owns it in playing Sue as a fairly strict mother who will move heaven and earth for her kids whatever goes down. She may have not understood what was going on, but at least she had her protection guard up when she felt necessary. Last but not least, you got to give due credit for the two that hook us into some wild ass lore. Zoe Terakes & Chris Alosio both have us invested when playing Hayley & Joss as the ones who choose to keep having fun despite aware of the danger. They keep going because this is the only thing interesting going on for them and without it, they're not cool the way others see them to be. I want to believe they cared about Duckett because I sense on turning yourself over and admit to be involved in something terrible. The only good thing they do is tell Mia about Duckett. Had they not done that, there would've not been a solution to save Riley. They don't get called out for what happened to Mia in the end because there's no way they could've know she would do what she did. The fact there is another ceramic hand out there only gets you aware there is far more trouble to fear. By the time we get to the sequel, I'm sure they'll improve in being helpful upon the next similar situation. This film shook me to the core, but as I shook, I was still surprised of some things that bothered me storywise. For instance, how come the videos of the possessions haven't been investigated? If exorcisms can get investigated, so should this since it has the most public proof. And how do Hayley & Joss show more worry of Mia's possession after what happened to Duckett? They should've not kept it going if they knew how bad it can get. You can blame Mia for letting Riley going overtime, but it is also Jade's fault for leaving the room in the first place. If she didn't want Riley to get involved, she should've not left. I'm also surprised of how Mia got to take the hand undetected because if Hayley & Joss are trying to keep this contained, they would've not let her take it. That whole scenario is more surprising than no one at the hospital stopping her from taking Riley. Ignore this, and this is still a fantastic film in general. In conclusion, Talk to Me is the best horror film of 2023 for twisting your mind more than what you bargained for. If you want something that will shock you from beginning to end, see this now.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Comments