Horror and grief in the digital age takes on Gen Z audiences. From the minds of Australian twin Youtubers, Danny and Michael Philippou. Their debut film, Talk To Me threatens to overtake Crocodile Dundee’s record as the highest grossing Australian film in the US.
According to The Guardian, the film is on its way towards a second blockbuster weekend in the US after making it into the top 10 box office earners since its opening on the 27th of July.
The film doubled its predicted takings in the US, from $4-5million to $10million USD.
It comes from the company that brings to life both weird and twisted films. These include Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommer, A24’s Talk To Me, cleverly depicts grief and Australian teenage culture.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the inspiration for the film was taken from their friend Daley Pearson’s short film about possession as a means to get high.
Set in Australian suburbia, the film centres around main character Mia (Sophie Wilde) who is dealing with the repercussions of her mother’s death. With Mia, is practically her second family, best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and her younger brother Riley (Joe Bird).
On the night of her mother’s anniversary of her passing, Mia craves something fun. She drags Jade and an excited Riley who tags along with the two to a party hosted by Hayley (Zoe Terakes) and Joss (Chris Alosio).
They attend the party after seeing various Snpachat videos of their classmates being possessed by a strange embalmed, ceramic hand.
When met with the hand, Mia is hesitant, yet enthusiastic volunteer. The rules are simple. Light a candle to open the door, grasp the hand and speak the titular words, before saying, “let me in.” Mia finds herself face-to-face with a grotesque ghostly woman who then possesses her.
As the ghost enters Mia, her skin becomes bruised and red, her eyes wide and black. There’s a catch. The person under possession must only physically use the hand for 90 seconds or else the demons will stay.
While Mia is possessed, she creepily stares into Riley’s eyes, making him tear up in fear. As the clock strikes close to 90 seconds, Joss attempts to remove the hand, however, the hand remains tightly gripped.
Luckily with more strength, Joss is able to release Mia and blow out the candle to close the door, however Mia had passed over the 90 second mark.
As the film progresses, the plot thickens with it. Hayley and Joss bring the hand over to Jade’s house where an entertaining scene full of laughter plays out.
The friends all take turns becoming possessed, revealing in the feeling of losing all control until Riley asks if he can play. Jade is wholeheartedly against it, but after Hayley calls Jade boring, making Jade leave the room, Riley asks Mia for permission.
Mia allows Riley to play for only 50 seconds, however those 50 seconds slowly turn into 2 minutes when the ghost that possesses Riley is Mia’s dead mother.
The film then takes on a gruesome and dark turn, depicting the effects of grief in a chronically online era.
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