Talk to Me (2023)

Recent horror releases have left a lot to be desired; Scream VI (2023) was absolute pony, Evil Dead Rises (2023) was stylish but utterly quotidian, and as for the accreditation that Barbarian (2023) generally received; well, the bafflement has yet to leave my system.

Thankfully- and somewhat surprisingly it has to be said- Talk to Me breaks the string of stinkers the genre has had to put up with.

Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, a pair of Youtubers no less, and based on a concept by Daley Pearson, Talk to Me follows a group of teenagers who discover they're able to contact spirits using an embalmed hand (the film's poster strongly resembles the self titled System of a Down album) and of course, we're all astonished when things go badly wrong.

That said, despite the seemingly formulaic plot, Talk to Me does a decent job. Lacking any real jump scares (which usually indicates a slightly more intelligent horror fare) it admittedly fails to raise the neck heckles, and yet provides a thoroughly entertaining psychological horror surrounding themes of grief, bereavement, and addiction.

The film also boasts excellent opening and closing scenes, something that is truly impressive and a rarity in the field (to this viewer at least), and even if the rest of the film is reasonably standard fair, also failing with any potential aims in having the characters win you over in terms of pity, Talk to Me is a very promising debut horror feature.

With Talk 2 Me already lined up, one hopes that the Philippou's build on the promise of this very solid debut. 7.0/10