Talk to Me. But don't stay...

A24's latest Australian release Talk to Me brings spirit hosts to a whole new meaning. Originally premiered in Australia for their Adelaide Film Festival back on October 30, 2022 and was then released in Australia July 27, 2023. Following the next day, Talk to Me was released in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and internationally. However, in Kuwait, the film was banned from the theatrical release due to the issues they had with one of the actors, Zoe Terakes, who is transgender and plays one of the main characters, Hayley. Horrible and complete bullshit, am I right?! For the other main characters however, Mia(Sophie Wilde), Jade(Alexandra Jensen), Riley(Joe Bird), Daniel(Otis Dhanji), and Joss(Chris Alosio), they play a big part as our main group.

The story follows our antagolnist, Mia(Wilde) who has recently lost her mother due to substance abuse, and is learning how to connect with young adults her own age. Mia ends up going to this party with her childhood best friend, Jade(Jensen), and Jade's little brother, the deuteragonist, Riley(Bird). There, they meet up with Daniel(Dhanji), Jade's boyfriend and Mia's childhood ex boyfriend, Joss(Alosio), the host, and a few other extras from school. At the party, Joss brings out this detached cremated hand covered in different variations of the phrase 'talk to me'. Hayley then explains the gist of the hand; hold it, say 'talk to me', then there will appear a spirit only you can see and then say 'I let you in' but, if you let it in too long it'll want to stay. Only 90 seconds max and you must blow out the candle to make the spirits leave. But, we all know teens don't listen. Mia sure didn't. Opening a hole between two worlds, sets up everyone involved for the worse.

Usage of more psychological scares verses jump scares is why I enjoyed this movie. Even though I'm not a huge fan of horror movies, I wouldn't categorize it as such. Talk to Me was more of a psychological thriller with occasionally scary-ish scenes from the cast. Only one thing that I would change, more backstory of all of the characters. Overall, the movie was fantastic!! What's your favorite part? Are you ready for a sequel?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGo4wfCejsk

<Photo credits to A24. Video credits to Youtube and A24.>