Australian screen horror has been on something of a roll in recent years. I recently reviewed Nick Kozakis’ exorcism thriller Godless, and it has been followed onto home video by Danny and Michael Philippou’s widely acclaimed Talk to Me. Made in 2022 but widely released this year, their modestly budgeted work is Australia’s best new horror film since Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook (2014) – and is arguably even better. Everything an audience might want from a horror movie is here: original ideas, quality acting, jump scares, rising dread, and a powerful sense of allegory. In the hands of American distributor A24 it has been propelled to an astonioshing US$91m gross. Via local distributor Umbrella Entertainment it is now a must-buy release on bluray, 4K, and DVD.

Teenagers Hayley (Zoe Terakes) and Joss (Chris Alosio) run a series of secret parties, using a mysterious embalmed hand. Light a candle, hold the hand, and say ‘talk to me’, and you will see a ghost. Say ‘I let you in’, and you’ll get possessed. Blow the candle out within 90 seconds, and your body will be freed. Mia (Sophie Wilde) cannot help but try their strange prank out. Things go terribly wrong.

Like most great horror films and thrillers, you only really want to know the basic premise of Talk to Me before watching it. There are twists and surprises in the ensuing film, and they benefit enormously from a cold viewing. In terms of themes, there are numerous clear parallels to teenage life: drug use, peer pressure, and grief all come immediately to mind. It is bluntly delivered, but in horror these themes often are.

The film gains some star power from Miranda Otto in a supporting role, but the focus of the performances is on Mia and best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen). They are archetypal but immediately identifiable too, and Wilde and Jensen bring spot-on and enjoyable performances. Without their panicky reactions to the film’s growing threats, Talk to Me would not work half as well as it does.

It operates on multiple levels of horror, including jump scares, shocking gore, gross-out moments, and unsettling paranoia. Each element is very well executed. The supernatural encounters have a repellent physicality about them that compares favourable with James Wan’s popular Conjuring films. When the violence lashes out it is confrontational and graphic. The suspense that links these moments together is very effective. It is all underpinned by a growing sense of melancholia: Mia is grieving the death of her mother, and her inability to move on from her grief increasingly risks isolating Mia from her family and peers. It brings emotional depth that can sit underneath the various shocks and scares. It enriches the film wonderfully.

Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman’s screenplay is drawn out with tense, considered direction. The Philippous emphasise its frightening potential with remarkable talent, given that this is their first feature. It seems clear spin-offs and sequels are already likely, but I am most keen to see what they do after that. I cannot wait to see how their ideas and inspirations develop in future. They have made a hell of an impact the first time around.

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