Random Movie Review - Talk to Me (2022)

 

Now, then, it's time for us to have a look at another A24 film. However, here in the UK, A24 isn't seen in the logos. But that's OK, as it still feels like one of their films in every way. Directed by a pair of individuals who have a large presence on YouTube, this is their big screen debut and I went into this thinking that it's going to be like every other psychological horror film I have seen with all the usual tropes and so forth. But after watching it, I'd say it looks like it will do them, but then it doesn't, and I like that. Some of us are OK with tropes like teenagers being silly and messing about with things they shouldn't. As well as sexual tension, killings happening and all these other things. But to me, some of those get quite tiresome and boring after a while, which is why I did that top 25 some time ago on the tropes in this genre that I just feel need to go away. So let's have a look at this film created by a pair of Australian based YouTubers:

The film begins with a crowded house party which ends in disaster when a guy called Duckett (played by Sunny Johnson) who is already injured, stabs his brother Cole (played by Ari McCarthy) before stabbing himself to death. Sometime later, a 17-year-old girl called Mia (played by Sophie Wilde) is struggling when the anniversary of the death of her mum (played by Alexandria Steffensen) approaches. She manages to find some happiness in hanging out with her best friend Jade (played by Alexandra Jensen) and her family. The pair and Jade's little brother Riley (played by Joe Bird) sneak out to a house party and soon play a game with this stone hand which upon lighting a candle and uttering the words "Talk to Me" allows the user to see spirits of the dead and upon saying "I let you in", allows said spirits to possess the user. 90 seconds is given to each user, after which they must say "close the door" or otherwise, the spirits will take over. Mia becomes addicted to it for a while and soon starts speaking to her mum, which leads to a series of events that harm her and all the relationships she has going, including her already distant relationship with her father (played by Marcus Johnson).

So, as I said, it's a film that looks like it will play out like every other film like it. But manages to stray away from that and go its own course and for a pair of YouTubers who have never done anything like this before, it's a good first feature film. The acting is good, there is plenty of creepiness about it and not so many jumpscares which is good. A pretty darn good psychological horror film, I'd say. 8/10