Every year there is a film that will generate a little more hype than others. A24 has been extremely busy as of late and the summer is theirs for the taking. Up next TALK TO ME. The film everyone wants to see? Surviving the Barbiehemmier (don't care to know how to spell it)pandemic that's plaguing the film industry is no easy feat. I feel TALK TO ME and the team behind the film Danny and Micheal Phillipou are well suited for it. The promotion around TALK TO ME has been great and hit a climax with photo booth gag that went viral this week. What about the film? Is it good? Is it scary? That's all I can hear from the mouths of eager viewers and the answer is more no than yes. What should have been an easy review has turned into a tumultuous piece of work placing the good and the bad of TALK TO ME.
The good is the overall story is warm, lighthearted, and with good intentions. So in the world of horror, those ideas are despicable. Who would want to sit in 90 minutes of feature in that realm? We aren't strangers to A24 so we know they have a tendency to reach for films a little more fantasy driven. TALK TO ME was straightforward. Just like the generation featured in the film brash and to the point. Let's play a game with dead people for no reason other than to do it. It's something I kept asking myself while watching the film. Why are these kids here? Why do they have this hand? They try their damndest to explain the hand but I felt it was short. Sophie Wilde is phenomenal. Her star potential is in full view in TALK TO ME and that's what also lost me.
I wanted this film to be a "scared to turn off the lights" feature and it just wasn't. Still, it was a damn good story, clever scares and surprisingly the rest of the cast held their own with Wilde. Still, there should have been more. This film oozes East Asian horror but also smelled too much like THE BABADOOK. It will make a blimp on the radar this weekend but I think many will come out with the same feelings. Between films like INSIDIOUS and TALK TO ME I'm starting to wonder if supernatural films are supposed to be scary anymore. Or just scary enough to lead you down some narrative you had no intention of following? Choose wisely.
2.5/5
TALK TO ME
DIRECTORS: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
WRITERS: Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman
STARRING: Sophie Wilde, Miranda Otto, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Zoe Terakes, Chris Alosio
Out July 28th
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