Talk To Me has been on our minds, on our lips, and at our fingertips since we first saw it. Editor In Chief Phil Nobile Jr. sang its praises in a recent edition of The Terror Teletype and we had the absolute joy of watching it a second time with a festival audience at the Overlook Film Festival earlier this month. Taking a familiar trope, flipping it on its head and adding a dash of something to make it freshly relevant is something we love to see around here and we think you’re going to be in for one hell of a treat when A24 brings Talk To Me to the masses this summer.
This marks the feature directorial debut of twin brother filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, best known by some for their YouTube channel, RackaRacka, which boasts a following of 6.72M subscribers. The synopsis is simple—
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
A simple premise executed to wildly wonderful effect. A little bit of possession makes for the strangest party drug I’ve ever seen, and this movie is one of those rarities that has managed to stick with me for months now. Let’s take a look at the official trailer.
Well, holy shit. “Have you seen the group chat? They’re doing it again tonight.” Something about that seemingly innocent and familiar slumber party style setup before cutting to images of blacked out eyes and perhaps a bit of otherworldly influence addressed with an absolute nonchalance is entirely chilling. The “do it” chant working its way into a frenzy at the party, akin to egging on a reluctant peer to chug a beer, only they’re egging each other on to have their souls chugged by some supernatural entities. Stop, kids! You know not what you do!
But teenagers are gonna teenage, naturally. Locking the creepy totem in their grip and unleashing hell knows what, with a breathy, “They like you.” I’m sure they do, but I think I’ll be passing on this particular rotation! I’d advise any and all to pass on the possession parlor games, but I’d urge you to get to the theater for this one come July 28. They like you, and I’m pretty sure you’re gonna like them too.
