The Point of No Return: ‘Talk To Me’ Review
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Warning: Spoilers for Talk To Me ahead!
When it comes to the horror genre, the one concept that appears to take over every other film relates to ghosts and the supernatural. With movies such as The Conjuring, The Exorcist, Paranormal Activity, or even something like Evil Dead, it's easy to see that there can be many different settings in which a spirit can possess some unsuspecting person and cause issues for their friends and family. With such a straightforward concept, though, one wouldn't be blamed for thinking that these movies go through the same beats and patterns in the same, stale fashion to move the story along.
The most recent entry into this "possession" style of ghost story is A24's Talk To Me, which does a surprisingly great job at standing out from your usual ghost story, albeit in a different way than usual. With the name A24 attached to this production, fans are likely to expect a tense, gut-wrenching story with deep characters and a deceptively simple concept. For the more critical movie-goers, they may also keep their eyes peeled for deeper meaning and symbolism. Talk To Me is no exception, though it does manage to surprise viewers with its method storytelling.
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Taking place in Australia, protagonist Mia is going through the motions after one year of losing her mother to a suicidal overdose and copes with it by heading to a party with friends to unwind. It isn't long before two other party-goers light candles and reveal a strange, embalmed hand, which serves as more than an iconic symbol for theatrical posters. "The Hand" is treated as a party trick of sorts, which requires the person holding it to do a small 'ritual' before becoming possessed by a random spirit.
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Despite the terrifying implications, it isn't long before Mia becomes interested, and allows herself the 'luxury' of being possessed. While initially a horrifying experience, it takes a shockingly short amount of time for her to grow addicted to the thrill "the Hand" provides. Wanting more, Mia soon joins everyone once again to have a night of supernatural fun. Like most horror movie plots that start with good humor, it soon runs out when one of Mia's friends becomes a medium for her mom. Mia's insistence to talk with her causes more problems when the possession becomes life-threatening, and as expected, things soon spiral for the worst as Mia's mom keeps entering her vision, and her reliance on "the Hand" increases.
Ultimately, the story beats of Talk To Me don't stand out as anything too special, even if the visuals and story-telling aspect of the film are knee-gripping and stomach-turning at times. What makes the film stand out on its own, however, is the subtext within the movie that more astute fans should be able to see, if they're observant enough to make the connections. What starts as a fun party activity soon turns dangerous when it lands one of Mia's friends in the hospital after prolonged usage, but Mia still finds herself using "the Hand" for personal reasons, becoming addicted to it. As Mia's insistence to use "the Hand" increases, so do her hallucinations and paranoia, which take heavy tolls on her relationships with her friends and her father, who she's been pushing aside for the entire film. A few times, she even feels the need to resort to violence as a means to an end. While it may be easy to compare once it's written out, it's clear to see the correlations between "the Hand" and a hard drug addiction.
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Talk To Me, despite being a ghost story, does not shy away from showing an uncomfortable side of addiction, overdose, and unhealthy coping mechanisms, even if it uses a supernatural narrative to show it. If anything, it adds to the growing discomfort and terror of the plot when these observations are at the forefront of the viewer's mind. Sure, one can choose to ignore the undertones, though it would be removing a level of dread from the entire story.
Talk to Me is showing in theaters Internationally now
Rating: 9/10
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