Talk to Me (film)

*This article is about the first installment in the series. For the series as a whole, see Talk to Me (franchise).*

## Information

### Based on

a concept
by Daley Pearson

### Produced by

Samantha Jennings
Kristina Ceyton

### Starring

Sophie Wilde
Alexandra Jensen
Joe Bird
Otis Dhanji
Miranda Otto

## Production

### Production companies

Causeway Films
Bankside Films
Talk to Me Holdings

## Release

### Distributed by

A24
Maslow Entertainment
Umbrella Entertainment
Ahi Films

### Release date

30 October 2022 (Adelaide)
27 July 2023 (Australia)

## Chronology

***Talk to Me*** is a 2022 Australian supernatural horror film directed by Danny & Michael Philippou, in their feature film directorial debut. Written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman from a concept by Daley Pearson, the film stars Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, and Miranda Otto. It follows a group of teenagers who discover they are able to contact spirits using a mysterious embalmed hand, only for one of them to take things too far.

*Talk to Me* had its preview screening at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival, followed by its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on 22 January 2023. It was theatrically released in Australia on 27 July 2023 and internationally the following day. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its story, horror sequences, practical effects, and performances. In August 2023, a sequel was confirmed for development.

## Synopsis

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.

## Plot

The film starts at a party, where a man named Cole is walking through a house looking for his brother Duckett. Cole finds him locked in a room, so he breaks the door down and pulls Duckett out of there while he is shirtless and mumbling to himself. Cole then yells at everyone filming the scene on their phones and tells them to stop before Duckett stabs Cole, and then goes outside to stab himself in the eye, to the horror of other partygoers.

Elsewhere, 17-year-old Mia is going through the second anniversary of the death of her mother Rhea, whom Mia believes suffered an accidental overdose. She lives with her father Max and doesn’t communicate with him much after the incident. Mia spends more time with her best friend Jade and her younger brother Riley, plus their mother Sue. One evening, Mia picks up Riley from hanging out with his friend, and on the way back, they find a kangaroo on the street that has recently been hit. It is moaning in agony, so Riley tells Mia they should put it out of its misery. Mia attempts to drive over the kangaroo’s head, only to find herself unable to do so and just drives around it instead. Jade convinces Mia to join her for a party, mainly because Jade’s boyfriend Daniel will be there. Riley joins them as they sneak out. The party is hosted by Joss and Hayley. Everyone gathers as they take out an embalmed hand of a medium with writing scribbled on it. The purpose of their game is to hold onto the hand so that spirits may be conjured. Mia volunteers to go first. Hayley lights a candle and instructs Mia on what to say. She grabs the hand and says “Talk to me.” Mia sees the spirit of an old man and freaks out at first, but then goes back and repeats the phrase, followed by “I let you in.” She sees the spirit of a grotesque looking woman and holds for longer than before, though Mia appears possessed and starts speaking in a creepy, threatening voice toward Riley before the hand is pulled from her grip.

The group later plays the game again at Jade’s house when Sue steps out for the night. The older teens play and have various encounters with the undead, including one instance where Daniel is possessed and starts unintentionally making out with Jade and Riley’s dog. Riley then asks to go next, despite Jade going against it and the others thinking he is too young. Still, they go through with it and opt to go for less than a minute. Riley is possessed by what sounds like Rhea’s spirit, speaking to Mia and saying how much she misses her. When the time limit passes, Mia wants to keep talking to Rhea before Riley begins smashing his head against the table and nearly gouging his eye out. Jade stops Riley from fatally breaking his skull before he is taken to the hospital. When Mia tries to visit Riley at the hospital, both Jade and Sue turn her away, blaming her for what happened to him. She spends more time with Daniel, as she has a crush on him and previously had a brief encounter with him. He sleeps over one night, and Mia appears to see the spirit of an old woman sucking on Daniel’s foot. While Mia tries to yell at him to wake up, she wakes up and finds that she is the one sucking his foot, to his horror.

Mia takes the hand for herself and sets up her candle to try and speak to Rhea’s spirit. She is told that her death was accidental and that she would never want to leave her daughter. Rhea tells Mia that Riley is in pain and needs help. Meanwhile, Jade tries to help Riley at the hospital, but he is still possessed and bites her before falling to the floor and smashing his head against the wall in the bathroom before the doctors subdue him. Mia joins Daniel, Hayley, and Joss as they track down Cole, who blames Joss for showing Duckett the hand. Cole tells them that the longer the spirits stay in Riley, the weaker they get, so they will just have to wait it out. Mia comes up with an idea to try and finish the game because she doesn’t think they blew out the candle. She goes with Jade to the hospital to try and get the spirits to repossess Riley and find a way to pull him out, but it doesn’t work. Mia then goes back in and finds the spirit of a little girl who shows her that Riley is being tormented by dozens of other malevolent spirits.

When Mia returns home, Max approaches her and tries to come forward with the truth about Rhea’s death. He shows Mia her suicide note, confirming that her death was not an accident. As Mia cries in her room, she sees Rhea’s spirit claiming that Max wrote the note as a lie, and also tells her that Riley is suffering and can only be saved through death. Max then appears to be banging on the door, but it’s really the evil spirits tormenting Mia. Max hears Mia struggling against Spirit-Max and he enters the room, just as Mia tries to stab the spirit and ends up stabbing her father in the neck with scissors. Mia tricks Jade into leaving the hospital and going to her house, while Mia goes back to the hospital and talks to Sue. She tells Mia that she was never to blame for what happened to Riley, and she lets Mia be alone with him. She tries to kill him with a pair of scissors but cannot bring herself to do it. She takes Riley out in a wheelchair just as Jade finds Max injured and realizes Mia is going to do something to Riley. Mia wheels Riley out toward traffic, seeing him as an old, decaying spirit. Rhea’s spirit tries to make Mia push him, while Jade arrives in time. Mia ends up letting go, but Jade pushes her into traffic, causing a car to strike her.

Mia wakes up, not realizing she is dead. She finds herself transported to the hospital, where Riley has made a full recovery and is seen going home with Jade and Sue. Max also appears to be healed from his wounds, but as Mia tries to follow them, nobody can hear her as the lights in the hospital begin to go out. She then sees a dim light and finds a hand reaching out. When she grabs it, she finds herself facing a man in another country playing the “Talk to Me” game, and she is now part of it.

## Cast and characters

* Sophie Wilde as Mia
* Alexandra Jensen as Jade
* Joe Bird as Riley
* Miranda Otto as Sue
* Otis Dhanji as Daniel
* Zoe Terakes as Hayley
* Chris Alosio as Joss
* Alexandria Steffensen as Rhea
* Marcus Johnson as Max
* Sunny Johnson as Duckett
* Ari McCarthy as Cole

## Production

*Talk to Me* was inspired by their friend Daley Pearson’s short film about possession as a means to get high, and out of that, the film's plot was born. Having worked on local Australian movie sets such as *The Babadook* (2014), the twins made use of their connections at Causeway Films and approached founders Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings. The producers were immediately taken with *Talk to Me* and initially guided the brothers to the American studio system, but the Philippous were a bit irked when they were asked by U.S. studio execs to hit more of the genre’s familiar beats and to cede creative control. “They gave us some notes that weren’t necessarily bad notes at all, but it was veering in a direction that we weren’t connecting with a little bit,” Danny Philippou tells *The Hollywood Reporter*. “The way we’d written it was not as typical. We weren’t finding out the origins completely and explaining where it came from on screen and talking to the expert. So we just wanted to have complete creative control and not have to change the script too much. We also wanted to have final say on casting and final cut as well.”

Danny also revealed that cell phone footage is similar to what inspired the movie since the brothers saw cell phone footage of a neighbor convulsing during a bad trip. He said, “I just remember trying to capture that feeling that I had looking at that footage. It was really bothersome, especially when you know the person. And the way that people reacted, I was like, "Why is no one helping this person?" So we tried to capture that with this film.” It was also revealed that *Talk to Me* was going to be made in America, but the crew decided to made it in Australia. Since the brothers were so close with Samantha Jennings, they credit her with keeping them grounded and helping to shape the film. The film is set in the filmmakers' hometown of Adelaide, South Australia. It relies largely on plot rather than special effects, sudden scares, or gore. The Philippou brothers have said that they are committed to filming, or at least doing post production, in Australia for all future projects.

### The Hand

Revealed in an interview by the Philippou brothers, Bethany Ryan, the production designer used her hand to create the mold of the embalmed hand According to Danny, the crew did so many different molds and we could never really get the right thing. And after Bethany just started doing certain shapes with her hand, she just stuck her hand in the thing, and that was the final mold that we did. There were over 20 molds of Bethany's hand, but only six remained in tact. Three of the hands are accounted for, while the others are in the abyss somewhere. Danny also has one of the molds in his bedroom.

### Casting and Writing

During the casting process, everyone who auditioned did each other’s possessions, including Danny's where he kisses the dog on the floor. The Philippou brothers, the producers and cinematographer also did Danny's possession scene. It was also revealed that anyone could also grab elements from everyone’s different interpretations and help build their own possession with it. Joe Bird was the only one who did his possession in the auditions and Alexandria Steffensen, did a reading of the scene, and Joe would constantly listen to that and try to mimic her the best that he could so that he could pull off that possession as well. When it comes to the audition tapes, producer Sam [Jennings] wants them destroys since she did the possession as well, and was the only one that was embarrassed. Most of Otis Dhanji's scenes were with other characters, but once you’re rewriting and finding the structure and what’s the most meaningful to Mia’s story, unfortunately, they all started reverting back to him. In the earlier drafts, it didn’t hit him so heavily, but in the later drafts, it definitely did. It was confirmed that Otis was completely embarrassed by the idea that people might think he actually kissed a dog, which he did not. The dog was a puppeteered head and then CG was blended in, where he kissed a puppet head. It was a revealed to be a fake foot that was getting sucked by Sophie Wilde's character.

It was later revealed that the American studios had wanted major changes to the film. The brother eluded to hints that the American studios maybe they didn’t want to shoot it with Australian accents anymore or even shoot it in Australia. Their notes weren’t bad notes at all, but it was veering in a direction that the brothers weren’t connecting with a little bit. The way they’d written it was not as typical or something. They weren’t finding out the origins completely and explaining where it came from on screen and talking to the expert. So they just wanted to have complete creative control and not have to change the script too much. The brothers also wanted to have final say on casting and final cut as well as the final cut was a big thing as well. They cared so much about every single frame of the film and said if someone had the power to come and change that without their consent, that’s terrifying. So doing it independently just gave them a lot more leeway to know that the film was gonna be theirs and not misconstrued by someone else.

## Release

*Talk to Me* sold to numerous international distributors at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It had its debut in a preview screening at the Adelaide Film Festival on 30 October 2022, the closing night of the festival.

The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in its midnight lineup. After the premiere spurred a bidding war with Universal Pictures and others, A24 won and acquired the rights to distribute the film in the United States. Maslow Entertainment, Umbrella Entertainment and Ahi Films were confirmed to be co-distributing the film in Australia and New Zealand. The film was also screened at South by Southwest (SXSW) that the same year. The film also had its Canadian premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on 23 July 2023.

*Talk to Me* was theatrically released in Australia on 27 July 2023, before releasing on the following day in North America, and in the United Kingdom and internationally. However, Kuwait has banned the film for featuring a transgender actor, Zoe Terakes, despite the film screening in other parts of the conservative Gulf region.

## Reception

### Box office

As of 9 August 2023, *Talk to Me* has grossed $22.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.2 million in other countries and territories, for a worldwide total of $27.3 million.

In the United States and Canada, *Talk to Me* was released alongside *Haunted Mansion*, and was originally projected to gross $4–5 million from 2,340 theaters in its opening weekend. After making $4.2 million on its first day (including $1.3 million from Thursday night previews), weekend estimates were increased to $10 million. It ended up debuting to $10.4 million and finished in fifth, marking the best start for an A24 film since *Midsommar* in July 2019. The film made $6.3 million in its second weekend (a drop of 40%, better than average for a horror film).

## Future

*Main article: Talk 2 Me*

In August 2023, Danny and Michael Philippou revealed that they had already completed principal photography on a prequel film, with the story exploring Duckett's backstory which leads into the character's introduction in the original movie. Production was completed consecutively, from the perspective of screenlife storytelling through mobile phones and social media. Sunny Johnson features as Duckett. The filmmakers stated that they intend to release this project in the future. Additionally, the Philippous confirmed plans to develop a sequel, stating that they've already written sequences for the project.

On August 8, 2023, A24 announced they will be working with the brothers again to produce a sequel titled *Talk 2 Me*.

## Gallery

### Videos

Talk To Me - Official Promo - A24Talk To Me - Official Trailer 2 HD - A24Talk To Me - Official Trailer HD - A24
## External links

* Official website
* *Talk to Me* at IMDb
* *Talk to Me* at Maslow Entertainment

## References

1. ↑ *Talk to Me* (15)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 A24 Dates Three For Summer: ‘You Hurt My Feelings’, ‘Past Lives’ & ‘Talk To Me’
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ‘Talk 2 Me’ In The Works From A24 & Danny And Michael Philippou
4. ↑ Talk to Me
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 ‘Talk To Me’ Filmmakers on Their Breakout Horror Hit and the Prequel They’ve Already Shot
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Be afraid: The wild ride of YouTubers turned filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou
7. ↑ Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou (aka RackaRacka) on their new A24 Aussie horror flick
8. ↑ Bankside Films scores slew of deals on Cannes slate (exclusive)
9. ↑ First look at Talk to Me, upcoming horror feature by Youtube sensation RackaRacka
10. ↑ RackaRacka brothers to release debut film Talk to Me at Adelaide Film Festival
11. ↑ 'Talk To Me' Directing Duo Danny & Michael Philippou Sign With WME Following Film's Midnight Premiere At Sundance
12. ↑ A24 Closing on Deal for Sundance Midnight Breakout 'Talk to Me' (Exclusive)
13. ↑ 'Talk To Me' sells out worldwide for Bankside Films (exclusive)
14. ↑ SXSW – 'Evil Dead Rise', 'The Wrath of Becky', & 'Late Night With the Devil' to World Premiere! (Images)
15. ↑ Talk To Me
16. ↑ Fantasia Festival Talk To Me
17. ↑ Fantasia Film Festival Second Wave Announces Serial Killer 'Red Rooms' As Opening Film, 'Talk to Me,' and More
18. ↑ How to watch Talk to Me in Australia
19. ↑ Kuwait Bans Horror Film Featuring Trans Actor
20. ↑ Talk To Me (2023)
21. ↑ Box Office: Disney’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ Eyes $30 Million Debut, ‘Barbenheimer’ to Remain on Top
22. ↑ ‘Barbie’ Dreamy $90M-$94M Second Weekend, ‘Oppenheimer’ $46M; ‘Haunted Mansion’ Eyes $25M Opening – Late Night Box Office Update
23. ↑ ‘Barbie’ Crosses $400M, ‘Oppenheimer’ Nears $200M, ‘Turtles’ 2-Day $15M, ‘Meg 2’ Previews $3M+ – August Box Office Fires Up
24. ↑ MOVIES: ‘Talk to Me’ Filmmakers Already Shot “an Entire Prequel” Based on the Film’s Opening Sequence