We've all been there as a teenager. At a party surrounded by our friends, everyone's having a great time, when suddenly someone brings out a spooky haunted hand with the power to let spirits possess the user. Just me?
That's the ingenius premise for Talk to Me, a 2022 Aussie horror movie. Luckily, with Halloween just around the corner, it's being added to Netflix on October 26th (there are plenty of great horror movies streaming already too). I've not seen it, but I'm gonna have to be brave because it sounds so unique and the reviews are strong for this movie. TotalFilm's 4 star review described it as mixing "subtle chills and well-timed jump scares skilfully" while Mark Kermode also gave it 4 stars, describing it as "an Evil Dead for the Snapchat generation". As a result it boasts an incredible 94% critic's score on Rotten Tomatoes.
When held and the magic words "Talk to me" are spoken, the user of the hand is subjected to the spirit world, becoming a full on vessell for a demon. Their eyes bulge and they try to do terrible things, but only for 90 seconds at a time, (and it gies users a euphoric high) so of course it's perfect for social media. I smell a clever allegory for addiction and the dangers of social media.Yes please.
We follow Mia (Sophie Wilde), a seventeen year old girl who's mother passed two years ago, so it's pretty obvious what she wants to use the hand for. Of course, as with any social media craze, things are bound to start going too far.
In truth even before watching the trailer I was already on board for this movie. The studio distributing it, A24, simply doesn't miss. It has treated us to some of the best movies of the past ten years, including Ladybird, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Uncut Gems. A24's horror pedigree is also undoubted with the likes of Hereditary and The Lighthouse also bearing its name.
If you're after a mix of horror and comedy then why not check out Amazon Prime Video's Blumhouse 80's throwback as well.
