TALK TO ME - Sundance

Directed by Danny and Michael Philippov, Talk to Me is a film about hauntings and possessions that is undoubtedly both haunting and possessing. The film lived up to its placement within the Midnight block of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, turning out to have some of my the creepiest
visuals and eeriest sound designs I’ve had the pleasure to experience from a horror movie as of late.

Mia (Sophie Wild) is a teen dealing with the aftermath of her mother’s death. Since her mother’s passing Mia has become distant from her father and closer to the family of her best friend, Jade (Alexandra Jensen). One night, Mia attends a party where the host claims that a mysteriously handed-down sculpture of a hand can act as a medium through which they can communicate with ghosts. After trying it once, Mia and her friends become nearly addicted to the thrill of connecting with the other side. That is until they connect with the wrong ghosts, ghosts that overstay their welcome.

Talk to Me freaked me out. In fact, I feel like I need to see a psychiatrist after watching Talk to Me. What on its surface seems like a case of bored teens getting into mischief, the plot becomes abysmally deep as the film’s many revelations created an ocean’s worth of emotions to be explored. There are the emotions that come with social connections or lack thereof, there is the sting of a missed romantic relationship, and most of all there is the thick layer of grief written into the plot. The heavy emotional scenes of the film, coupled with the supernatural aspect of the plot made it all too easy for this film to slip into surrealism. It was in these surreal moments — where nightmares bled into hauntings and hauntings bled into reality — that Talk to Me really showed.

I appreciate the style in which the haunting/possession was depicted in the film, most notably the film’s use of special effects makeup. Thanks to there being a plethora of ghosts, the audience is treated to some interesting and disgusting-looking characters. The only gripe I have in regards to Talk to Me is that there are a couple of times where I had to suspend logic to stay with the story, overlooking silly occurrences that were obviously used to move the plot forward. However, I found this aspect of the story to be forgivable, as the film’s authentic characters, unique possession premise, and graphic and creepy visuals more than made up for the misstep in writing.

Talk to Me took its time in the beginning, establishing relationships and lulling me into a false sense of relative slowness. However, once the supernatural element is introduced, the film builds a quicker and quicker pace, spiraling out of control alongside its protagonist.