Talk to Me

Talk to Me is a 2022 Australian supernatural horror film written and directed by Michael Philippou and Richmond Clark. The film premiered at the 2022 South by Southwest film festival before receiving a wide release. The story revolves around a group of high school friends who, while experimenting with various pranks, stumble upon an unconventional and unpredictable way to conjure spirits. At the heart of the film is a group of five friends, each with distinct personalities and motivations. On a particularly intriguing night, fueled by curiosity, and an unwavering desire for thrills, they stumble upon an embalmed human hand while sifting through the belongings of a newly deceased student, Tom. According to legend, this embalmed hand can facilitate communication with the spirit world. Initially, the group is skeptical about the claim but becomes more engrossed as the night unfolds, experimenting with varying methods to conjure forces beyond their understanding. A confident and charismatic leader, Mia, drives the group's decision-making, with each friend contributing their unique perspective to the process. Chris, for instance, holds an unconventional fascination with spirits, fueled by a lifetime of tales from his grandmother. In an emotionally charged response to a string of recent loss, he joins the crew in the hope of finding answers. The tensions within the group give way to a series of intense experiences, thrusting the members into realms beyond their expectation. The group enlists Tom's personality-tinged hand and utilizes a phone to pick up and respond to calls from the spirits. They discover a mysterious companion from the beyond who talks, shares the fears of the dead, uncovers unresolved secrets and engages in intense philosophical debates, allowing the friends to glimpse into other realms. Their collective spirits run wilder as the days go by. They don masks, experience phantasms, tell ghost stories, in general losing themselves to their obsessive thirst for spirit communication. Furthermore, Chris starts using the hand every night, breaking along the way the rules he initially agreed upon with his friends. The supernatural forces are awakened, opening a passage for the shadows from the realm beyond to get into their world. Their curiosity and experimentation begin not to supply thrills but evoke terrifying forces that seek vengeance on the living. Mia and the others become increasingly alarmed, realizing the terrifying potential of the forces they've unleashed. Night by night, with each spirit summoned, the spirits open their entry into the living world. In breaking the consensus they once held amidst themselves about staying uninvolved, Mia joins Chris on the edge of these supernatural boundaries. Intrigue and curiosity still control their hearts, but one evening when everything catches out of hand — a friend dies – Mia realizes what she and Chris have done. Now it is their duty to put right the harm they have done to others by plugging the holes to the gates of the afterlife. Can they, with barely hours left, manage the return to peace and resolve for Mia and his now shattered friend circle?