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INTRODUCTION :
Talk to Me is a Australian supernatural horror film directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, in their feature film directorial debut. Written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman from a concept by Daley Pearson, the film stars Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, and Miranda Otto.
Talk to Me had its preview screening at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival, followed by its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on 22 January 2023. It was theatrically released in Australia on 27 July 2023 and internationally the following day. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its story, horror sequences, practical effects, and performances.
PLOT :
A young man, Cole, stumbles through a crowded house party as he attempts to locate his brother Duckett, who is injured. While Cole is escorting him out, Duckett stabs Cole before fatally stabbing himself.
17-year-old Mia is struggling with the second anniversary of her mother Rhea's suicide and her emotionally distant relationship with her father, Max. She finds solace in her best friend Jade's family, consisting of Jade's mother and little brother Riley. Mia, Jade, and Riley sneak out to a party hosted by Hayley and Joss. The main attraction is a mysterious severed embalmed hand, which they use to conjure spirits by lighting a candle and saying, "Talk to me," which allows them to meet the spirit. Next, they say "I let you in" for full possession; the candle is blown out after 90 seconds to "close the door"; otherwise, the spirits will stay. Mia goes first and is possessed by a spirit that threatens Riley. The spirit resists the group when they try to blow out the candle; they succeed, though not until after the 90 second deadline.
The group plays again at Jade's house the next night, where young Riley volunteers. He is possessed by Rhea's spirit, who speaks to Mia. Mia stops the group from blowing out the candle and the time limit is exceeded. Riley's body is overtaken by the spirits and he brutally smashes his face and nearly takes out his own eye. He is hospitalised while the rest of the group is traumatised. Mia, now haunted by visions of a ghostly Rhea, is turned away by Jade and her mother Sue, who blame her for Riley's injuries. She seeks comfort in Jade's boyfriend Daniel, whom she used to date and still has feelings for, but assaults him after being possessed in her sleep. She uses the embalmed hand to contact Rhea, who tells her that her death was accidental and Mia needs to help Riley. Riley is still possessed, attacking Jade at the hospital and violently self-harming.
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The friends track down Cole, who reveals that the spirits will weaken the longer they stay in Riley’s body so they need to wait it out, though Jade fears the spirits will kill Riley before that. Mia deduces that they need to complete the ritual by blowing out the candle, which they failed to do the first time. They contact the spirit of a little girl who shows Mia a vision of Riley being tortured by the spirits. Max reads Rhea's suicide note to Mia and apologizes for having hidden it from her. Rhea's ghost tells Mia that Max is lying before she is attacked by an evil spirit in the form of her father. Mia inadvertently stabs her real father in the neck with scissors.
After being told by Rhea that Riley needs to die in order to be set free, Mia tricks Jade and Sue into leaving and enters Riley's hospital room, where he takes the appearance of a rotting spirit. She finds herself unable to kill him. Jade finds a bleeding Max at Mia's house and returns to the hospital just as Mia leaves with Riley in a wheelchair. The spirits attempt to convince Mia to push Riley into oncoming traffic. Mia instead throws herself in front of traffic, causing a car crash.
An injured Mia regains consciousness. Wandering the hospital, she sees a fully healed Riley with Jade and Sue. As she attempts to reach Max, who has survived his injury, she instead finds herself on the other side of another embalmed hand as partygoers play the game, realizing she has died and become a spirit herself.
PRODUCTION :
Talk to Me is a co-production of Causeway Films, Bankside Films, and Talk to Me Holdings, and is a presentation of Screen Australia in association with the South Australian Film Corporation, Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, Head Gear Films, and Metrol Technology.[5][6] Directors Danny and Michael Philippou worked closely with producer Samantha Jennings, one of the co-founders of production company Causeway Films, who is familiar with Adelaide. They knew her from working with her on The Babadook, another Causeway Films production, and credit her with keeping them grounded and helping to shape the film.[7]
The film is set in the filmmakers' hometown of Adelaide, South Australia.[8] It relies largely on plot rather than special effects, sudden scares, or gore.[7] The Philippou brothers have said that they are committed to filming, or at least doing post production, in Australia for all future projects.[7]
RELEASE :
Talk to Me sold to numerous international distributors at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[9] It had its debut in a preview screening at the Adelaide Film Festival on 30 October 2022, the closing night of the festival.[10][11]
The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in its midnight lineup.[12] After the premiere spurred a bidding war with Universal Pictures and others, A24 won and acquired the rights to distribute the film in the United States.[13][14] Maslow Entertainment, Umbrella Entertainment and Ahi Films were confirmed to be co-distributing the film in Australia and New Zealand.[15]
The film had its European premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and also screened at South by Southwest (SXSW) that the same year.[16][17][18][19] The film also had its Canadian premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on 23 July 2023.[20][21]
Talk to Me was theatrically released in Australia on 27 July 2023,[22] before releasing on the following day in North America,[23][24][25] the United Kingdom and internationally.[26][7]
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