Horror has been having something of a boom over the past year and a half.
From acclaimed indie fare like the retro throwbacks “X” and its prequel “Pearl” to mainstream hits like “Smile” and “M3GAN,” and even a newly revitalized “Scream” franchise, there’s been a lot to talk about for fans of the genre.
The latest is “Talk to Me,” a surprise the likes of last year’s “Barbarian,” which seemingly came out of nowhere and reintroduced sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’Know’s Zach Cregger as a fresh new face for the genre. Only in this case, it’s Australian duo Danny and Michael Philippou, best known for their popular YouTube channel RackaRacka, which currently has more than 6.74 million subscribers.
The twins made quite an impression with their Sundance debut earlier this year, with distributor A24 acquiring their debut feature out of the festival.
And while it is yet another horror film about trauma — a theme that has remained persistent over the past decade — it’s also one of the most effective in recent memory.
Not quite the usual art house fare A24 distributes, “Talk to Me” is a tense, toe-curling shocker that has the potential to be a crowd pleaser, all while avoiding stooping to bottom-of-the-barrel scares with its twist on a Ouija-like premise.
High school student Mia (Sophie Wilde) is still reeling after the death of her mother, her relationship with her father Max (Marcus Johnson) strained as the anniversary approaches.
She opts to spend all her time with her friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) as well as Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) and boyfriend Daniel (Otis Dhanji), who had previously had some sort of childhood relationship with Mia. Jade and Riley are at odds with their own mother, Sue (Miranda Otto).
At a party one night, classmates Haley (Zoe Terakes) and Joss (Chris Alosio) introduce the group to an embalmed hand (it belonged to either a medium, psychic or satanist, they jokingly argue during one scene), which can be used to speak with — and allow temporary possession by — spirits, their activities filmed for social media.
It’s all fun and games — until it’s not.
When two of them are possessed for longer than 90 seconds, the barrier between the spirit world and ours begins to blur, leading to a psychological battle between what is and isn’t real as Mia begins to see spirits including that of her mother Rhea (Alexandria Steffensen).
Eyes turn black and throats choke for air as characters utter the words “I let you in,” their voices twisting into a menacing rasp when embodied by sinister spirits, who themselves are depicted with even more disturbing imagery.
Though there’s a sense of amusement during some of the initial scenes and séances (RackaRacka let their sense of humor shine through with a recurring Crazy Frog joke, for one), the film takes a sudden, shocking turn to violence that sends the characters down a frightening path to reverse the damage they’ve done.
An anxious 95-minute ride, “Talk to Me” culminates in an intense, race-against-time finale that neatly ties together its premise, immediately solidifying the Philippous as promising new voices for the genre like Cregger just before them.
“Talk to Me” opens in theaters Friday, July 28.
