A Handshake Turns Deadly in Terrifying Horror Breakout ‘Talk to Me’
Ghostly games are a creepy hallmark of kids’ sleepovers and teenage gatherings—remember Bloody Mary?—but the party trick at the center of the new Australian horror Talk to Me is downright terrifying. A possession tale with an eye (and ear) for brutality, this film—which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and made its SXSW debut on Sunday—tells a ghost story viewers won’t soon forget.
Talk to Me’s opening is efficient, effective, and ominous, although its connection to the broader story only becomes clear later on. For most of the film, we follow teenage best friends Mia (Sophie Wilde) and Jade (Alexandra Jensen)—who have grown even closer after the death of Mia’s mother. Effectively the third sibling in Jade’s family, alongside her actual brother Riley (Joe Bird), Mia spends most of her time at Jade’s house in order to avoid the gloom she feels around her father, Max (Marcus Johnson).
There’s no ouija board at the center of Talk to Me; instead, Mia and Jade’s friends bring over an ominous-looking hand that supposedly connects users with the dead with a lit candle, a quick shake, and a three-word incantation. Unlike most party games, however, this one actually works—and it only becomes deadlier over time.