Talk to Me

Stars: Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhangi, Miranda Otto

Director: Danny & Michael Philippou

Those teens are meddling with the occult again, with the usual grisly results. Haven't these kids seen any horror films? This one's Australian, where the group, including central character Mia (Wilde) light a candle and gather round a mummified hand (and part of its arm) which is supposed to have supernatural powers.

They clutch the hand and say 'Talk to me', conjuring up visions of spectres from the past, while 'I'll let you in' results in horrific facial contortions from the teen involved, who then suffers violent kinetic movements as if hauled around by a poltergeist.

Naturally, things soon get out of hand, with the younger brother (Bird) of Mia's friend Jade (Jensen) seeing a vision of his dead (by suicide) mother, and then trying to kill himself, crashing his head against any solid object in sight and attempting to gouge out his own eyes.

With little original to offer, and nowhere to go but the obvious, the film is exceptionally violent and unpleasant, without being at all scary. Any close-your-eyes moments are the result of gruesome images rather shivers up the spine.

Veteran Otto does what she can to bring acting quality to proceedings, but Wilde seems to act the same way whether she's possessed or not. All in all, it's another step downwards for the modern horror film.

David Quinlan

Australia 2022. UK Distributor: Altitude. Colour (unspecified).
94 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.

Review date: 25 Jul 2023