There’s a significant portion of the population that believes in ghosts. Whether you believe that the dead walk among us or not, you’re able to’t deny that there’s a unique fascination with what lies in the afterlife. Several tried and true methods of crossing between life and death have come and gone. Ouija boards, dimly lit mirrors, and even summoning circles have reached beyond our mortal coil to communicate directly with the dead, with varying results. Ifyou’ve seen enough horror movies, it’s a given that looking to stir up the afterlife is asking for trouble, especially if it’s a group of teenagers.
A24’s upcoming horror filmTalk to Meaims to replicate this setup with a bizarrely grotesque means of summoning the dead – a severed, embalmed hand. Defying the traditional setup of a paranormal possession film,Talk to Meaims to take the subgenre in a new direction, guided by a pair of creators with a notably humble origin. Until the film eventually releases in theaters, this is everything we know about A24’sTalk to Me.
Talk to Me: The Plot
The official plot synopsis forTalk To Meprovided by A24 is as follows:
“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.”
From the synopsis alone, things seem a little bog-standard. Minus the inclusion of an embalmed hand, it presents a typical “messing with forces beyond your understanding” story. By grasping the hand in the presence of a lit candle and uttering the phrase “talk to me,” we’re led to believe that a spirit can briefly possess whoever grasped the hand until the candle is extinguished. You can almostdraw parallels to drug usebased on how interacting with the hand feels “amazing,” how reactions to the hand’s influence are filmed and shared via a group chat, and so on. It’s safe to assume that some of these teens are more than a little complicit in unsettling the other side. Thankfully,Talk to Meplaces its focus on the more personal side of contacting the dead.
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Continuing the similarities to drug use and addiction, our lead character Mia finds herself in sole possession of the hand after coming into contact with what she believes to be the spirit of her deceased mother. It can be assumed that, in an effort to reconnect with her mother, she finds herself abusing the hand’s connection to the afterlife until the consequences for doing so come to fruition. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Mia’s “mother” may not be who she says she is, asher friends are dispatched one by onein exceptionally grisly fashion.
While we won’t see any buckets of pea soup, we’re bound to see some gnarly effects.InTalk to Me’strailer, the “2” in the A24 logo is made up of our spiritual hand bending and twisting into the gnarled number, with the same kind of horrible squelching noises you’d expect from a meat grinder. A brief glimpse of a kangaroo in what appears to be a sterile setting also promises to be uniquely terrifying.
Talk to Me: The Cast
LeadingTalk to Meas Mia is Sophie Wilde, an actor based in Australia who previously led the Stan original series,Eden. She also appeared in the Netflix seriesYou Don’t Know Me andthe upcoming Stan original filmThe Portable Door. She’s no stranger to dramatic roles, having also played Ophelia in a 2020 production ofHamlet. Acting alongside Wilde is Joe Bird (First Day, Rabbit), Otis Dhanji (Aquaman), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), Marcus Johnson (Spartacus), Alexandra Jensen (Amazing Grace,Beat), Alexandria Steffensen (Eden,How to Please a Woman), and Zoe Terakes (Wentworth). The film’s noticeably younger cast hasdrawn praise from criticssince its initial premiere, with highlights aimed towards Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird.
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Release Date
Talk to Mewill release in theaters on July 28.
Talk to Me: Everything Else
Talk to Mewas created by twin filmmakers Danny and Michael Phillippou. The duo shared a mutual interest in filmmaking from a young age before creating a YouTube channel named “RackaRacka” in 2013. From there, the duo has produced several viral shorts featuring a parodic take on Ronald McDonald, multiple pop-culture mashups, and serious horror stories.Talk to Mewill mark their feature-film debut, and if it performs well, it may open the door for future films from the Phillippou brothers.
Talk to Meoriginally made its theatrical debut in the 2023 Sundance Film Festival’s Midnight Selection, alongside other films likeIn My Mother’s SkinandPolite Society.It would later see another airing at South By Southwest following its acquisition by A24.
