Talk to Me (2022 film)

Did You Know?

• Directors Danny and Michael Philippou worked closely with producer Samantha Jennings, who co-founded production company Causeway Films and had worked with them on The Babadook (2014).
• The film's concept was created by Daley Pearson.

Plot

A party in Adelaide turns violent when Cole searches for his brother Duckett. Upon finding him and trying to take him home, Duckett stabs Cole before killing himself. Later, seventeen-year-old Mia deals with the anniversary of her mother Rhea's accidental death from too many sleeping pills, as well as a strained relationship with her father Max. Mia, her best friend Jade, and Jade's younger brother Riley sneak off to a party hosted by Hayley and Joss.

The main attraction is a severed, embalmed hand and a lit candle. Anyone who holds the hand and says "Talk to me" summons the spirit of a random dead person. Adding "I let you in" lets that spirit take over their body. To stop the spirit from latching on permanently, someone else must pull the hand away and blow out the candle within ninety seconds.

Mia goes first. The spirit that possesses her focuses on Riley in a threatening way. Joss and Hayley have trouble breaking the connection, and the time limit is slightly exceeded. Mia later tells Riley the experience felt euphoric.

The next night, Mia joins Hayley, Joss, and Jade's boyfriend Daniel at Jade's house. Everyone except Riley and his friend James takes multiple turns being possessed. Jade refuses to let Riley participate, but when she leaves the room and Riley insists, Mia allows him a turn of fifty seconds. Riley seems to be possessed by Rhea's spirit, who tries to make peace with Mia.

Mia stops the group from ending the possession so she can keep talking to her mother. The spirits take over Riley's body and force him to violently try to kill himself by smashing his head against a table and walls. He ends up in the hospital in critical condition. Mia, now seeing visions of her mother without needing the hand, is blamed for Riley's injuries and rejected by Jade and her mother Sue.

Having secretly kept the embalmed hand, Mia offers to let Daniel stay at her father's house for the night. While they share a bed platonically, Mia sees a spirit appear and suck on Daniel's feet. When he wakes up, he sees Mia instead, sucking his feet in a trance, and he leaves. Mia uses the hand to contact her mother, who insists her death was an accident and says Mia needs to help Riley, who remains possessed and tries to kill himself every time he wakes up.

Release

Talk to Me generated significant international interest at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where its distribution rights were picked up by multiple overseas buyers. The film first appeared before an audience as a preview screening on the closing night of the Adelaide Film Festival, 30 October 2022. Its official international premiere took place as part of the midnight lineup at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. In the United States, A24 secured the theatrical distribution rights, while in Australia and New Zealand, the release was handled jointly by Maslow Entertainment, Umbrella Entertainment, and Ahi Films.

The movie went on to have its European premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and also screened at South by Southwest in the US that same year. Its Canadian premiere occurred at the Fantasia International Film Festival on 23 July 2023. Theatrical releases began in Australia on 27 July 2023, followed the next day by openings in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other international markets. However, Kuwait banned the film from cinemas, reportedly due to the involvement of non-binary and transgender actor Zoe Terakes.

This decision came even though the film was showing in other conservative Gulf nations. Terakes voiced their disappointment on social media. On 9 August, Kuwaiti authorities formally prohibited both Talk to Me and the American comedy Barbie, citing the need to protect "public ethics and social traditions." In a partnership between A24 and IMAX, the film returned to theaters exclusively in IMAX for a single night on 22 January 2025.

Home video releases followed: Lionsgate Home Entertainment issued the film on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray in the United States on 3 October 2023, with an Australian release arriving on 25 October 2023.

Reception

Talk to Me earned $48.3 million in the U.S. and Canada and $43.9 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $92.2 million. It opened in the U.S. and Canada alongside Haunted Mansion, with initial projections of $4–5 million from 2,340 theaters. After a first day of $4.2 million, which included $1.3 million from Thursday night previews, the weekend estimate was raised to $10 million. The film ultimately debuted at $10.4 million, finishing fifth and marking A24's strongest opening since Midsommar in July 2019.

In its second weekend, it earned $6.3 million, a 40% drop that was better than the typical horror film. It stayed in the top ten for six consecutive weeks, and by September 3, it surpassed Hereditary to become A24's highest-grossing domestic horror film, with a running total of $44.5 million. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times praised the film's "wonderfully gooey practical effects" and "deeply distressing visual jolts," especially when the character Riley falls under the hand's influence, calling its energy "often violent but never purposefully cruel." She credited Sophie Wilde's "continually evolving lead performance" and Joe Bird's "remarkable" work for much of the film's impact. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times also highlighted Bird's "superb and surprising performance" and noted that even when the story risks incoherence, Wilde "pulls it back from the brink." He described her as more than a scream queen, saying she makes "vivid sense of Mia's ravaged emotions" and reveals her as a captive not of spirits but of her own grief.

Future

In August 2023, Danny and Michael Philippou confirmed they had completed filming a prequel short film. This project explores Duckett's backstory, leading directly into that character's first appearance in the original film. The production was shot entirely in sequence, using a screenlife format that tells the story through mobile phones and social media. Sunny Johnson plays Duckett.

The directors have said they plan to release this project eventually. Later that same month, they revealed that some sequences from the short were anonymously uploaded online as a marketing tactic for Talk to Me. These clips were taken down after complaints and concerns about their content, but will be officially released at a later date. Also in August 2023, the Philippous confirmed they are developing a sequel and had already written sequences for it.

Shortly after, A24 announced the sequel, titled Talk 2 Me, and released its official logo. Danny and Michael Philippou will return as co-directors, with a script by returning writers Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman.