Talk to Me

"You call. They'll answer."

2023 1h 35m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 4,026

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“You call. They'll answer.”

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Cast

Sophie Wilde
Mia
Alexandra Jensen
Jade
Joe Bird
Riley
Otis Dhanji
Daniel
Miranda Otto
Sue
Zoe Terakes
Hayley
Chris Alosio
Joss
Marcus Johnson
Max

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Philippou
Writers: Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman
Languages: French, Greek, English
Countries: Australia, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $92M — a 20.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, Greek, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Australia, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Talk to Me Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Philippou, shot by Aaron McLisky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Cornel Wilczek. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Philippou directs. Aaron McLisky behind the camera. Cornel Wilczek scores. Geoff Lamb cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Australia, United Kingdom. Dialogue in French, Greek, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $92M — a 20.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 3 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, Greek, English.
5International production across 2 countries: Australia, United Kingdom.
6Part of the "Talk to Me Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by Michael Philippou, shot by Aaron McLisky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Cornel Wilczek. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Geoff Lamb shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Sophie Wilde and Alexandra Jensen and Joe Bird carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "You call. They'll answer.".
12IMDB entry: tt10638522 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 23 themes, including "suicide", "trauma", "possession", "female friendship".

The technical file

Cinematography: Aaron McLisky
Original score: Cornel Wilczek
Editing: Geoff Lamb
Production design: Bethany Ryan
Costume design: Anna Cahill
Makeup / hair: Matthew Ping
VFX supervisor: Marty Pepper
Sound: Emma Bortignon
Stunt coordinator: Mike Duncan
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,500,000
Box office: $91,959,188
Return: 2044% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Talk to Me (2023)

Part of

Talk to Me Collection

Talk To Me is a Australian series of supernatural horror films that includes a main film, a sequel, and a prequel short film.

Also by

Michael Philippou

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Chris Sawin2023-07-25
★ 8/10
Talk to Me is a brilliant and spine tingling evolution of The Monkey’s Paw short story with an incredibly satisfying ending and a scene stealing performance from Sophie Wilde. Aaron McLisky’s cinematography featuring a ghoulish incline at just the right time makes Talk to Me, which is already a well-written nightmare and unique plunge into personal hell, visually and uniquely chilling. Full review: https://bit.ly/emotklat
CinemaSerf2023-08-06
★ 6/10
When a group of kids get together under the thumb of the rather odious "Hayley" (Zoe Terakes) they are presented with a ceramic hand - that apparently encases a real one - that acts as a portal to a dimension in which live the dead. They have discovered that no harm can be done if they stick to a time limit, exceed that - and well they are in virgin and potentially perilous territory. Following on from her best friend "Jade" (Alexandra Jensen) who has a go, it falls to "Mia" (Sophie Wilde) and after the most bizarre of personally traumatic connections, she is soon addicted to the experience and is also soon providing a conduit that is causing havoc within their group - not least for poor young "Riley" (Joe Bird) who ends up needing danger money - and a soft play area! Wilde does quite well here and though the rest of the acting isn't really up to much, the story has an originality to it that genuinely creates a new avenue for a genre that has been really suffering from same old, same old storytelling of late. Bird is by far the star here - even if he is incapacitated for much of it, and the aforementioned Terakes creates a character I'd cheerfully throttle. There's too much dialogue and it's very very score-heavy which did annoy after a while, but it's at times quite scary and definitely worth a watch around Halloween on the telly.
Manuel São Bento2023-08-07
★ 8/10
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ www.firstshowing.net/2023/review-australias-talk-to-me-is-the-best-horror-film-of-2023-so-far/ "Talk to Me lives up to the tremendous hype from festivals and initial reactions around the world. Without a doubt, one of the scariest horror films in recent years! Impressive practical effects, superb makeup, hypnotizing performances – Sophie Wilde clearly stands out the most – and impeccable execution of truly shocking, gory, unpredictable moments of violence. It doesn't have the most imaginative screenplay within the "spirit-possessed characters" subgenre and leaves some meaningful themes unexplored, but it's definitely one of this year's must-see horror flicks. Danny and Michael Philippou: remember their names!" Rating: A-