Talk To Me- (2023 A24 Horror) Review 

I felt the same way you did Jason. Like you I tried not to let all the positive reviews get to me beforehand and went in hoping to just enjoy myself. After leaving I thought “oh that’s it?”. There were definitely moments I liked but overall I was just kinda sitting through the experience not enjoying it. I just feel like every new movie (especially horror) people say it’s the best thing they’ll seen in years and I never feel that way. I didn’t think it was bad and would say it’s rather good, but I personally wasn’t into it. I think because of the number of horror movies I’ve seen, it really takes something different to get me into it.

I’m glad I watched this without getting too caught up into the hype. I only saw a single trailer about 3 months ago and I really didn’t remember much about it at all. Going in blind really helped.

The main character felt one note and her family dynamic felt under developed. The movie felt like a highlight horror film with copy and paste characters.

I think this will be one of my favorites, but you're right about hype. I'm tired of hearing, "This is the scariest movie ever made". I've been chasing a movie that makes me feel like I felt watching The Exorcist. Hereditary got close for me.

Didn't have much anticipation going into this. I enjoyed it. Might be the best horror film this year, but it hasn't been an exciting year so far.

I know you're saying youre not that guy but .... Your definitely THAT guy

There are scary moments in the movie 100%. I was really surprised by some of the turns it took personally. Great film!

I just saw it today (if it’s A24, I’m almost always going to see it) and am still processing it. I will say that the female lead Mia really annoyed me. Yes, I know teenagers are dumb and yes, I know horror characters are dumb but this girl was NEXT LEVEL DUMB. Every single decision she made was just incomprehensibly stupid. It made it hard to root for this protagonist.

Spot on review, felt the same way. Im too deep into the horror game to really enjoy this movie. Its horror - lite. Great acting, very little horror elements though. The most terrifying part of the movie .... that weird hell dimension where bodies were getting torn up... was barely explored. Felt like the MC went down there for 15 seconds , and we never saw it again rest of movie. I keep chasing this high that i got from watching A24's "Hereditary" years back, and so far no A24 movie has been able to recreate that feeling.

Just saw it tonight. I left underwhelmed, and thougt it was just me.

Thanks for the honesty, guys. I was tempted by the hype but I'll likely wait for this to drop in price before streaming online. A24 make interesting films, but it's often hit and miss...

The part when the little girl shows the dimension where the kid is being held by the spirits reminded me of the hell scenes in Event Horizon. I enjoyed the movie but it didn't scare me like Hereditary

SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED: So I didn't see this movie until this past Sunday BECAUSE it was so hyped. It was to the point I didn't want to see the darn thing. I finally acquiesced. I did enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would; maybe because of it being an Aussie film. I have quite a number of problems with the main character - I don't know if it is because Mia just seemed to be a crap person (Sophie did a great job with the part, so it wasn't her). I know she was very young, so I give her a partial pass; however, I experienced a similar situation as she did with her mom and close family member, so her behavior kind of bothered me. It bothered me more what she did to Riley. It angered the heck out of me. I actually have a question: does Riley actually survive? Jade is holding him for the big overhead shot of Mia in the road but she is sort of covering him, so it was confusing to me as to whether or not he was saved. They kind of glossed over it a bit to get to the "surprise" not surprise ending. There were many peer pressure on the verge of bullying themes in this film, in addition to the more overarching and upsetting themes that you touch on. I remembered back to my teen days and I had a lot of problems and on the verge of some really bad things because of what had happened to me, but peer pressure was never something I capitulated to, oddly enough. I get a strong feeling that this film, just ~95 minutes was actually longer, and I think this is one time it suffered from not being longer. I get the distinct impression that there was more about Cole, Sean Duckett, as well as toward the end where they find Cole and are on the bus (a very weird scene). I really feel like a bunch was edited out - if not, I think the film suffers from it. Talk to Me definitely borrows from a lot of movies of this time - some it borrows well, some not. I would watch again but I really did not like Mia's character and I wish Jade had come back and thrown everyone out of her house before Riley played with the hand. It is not okay what they did to a kid. Plus I think they truly missed out on Mia and her father Max's relationship. Sorry for the book. I always write too much!

I quite liked this, but I thought I would like it way more. Gorgeous movie, good acting, cool story, almost lost me at one point, then almost redeemed itself.

I only hear about this from subscribing to a RU-vid channel and watched the trailer and thought, why not? I will say one good thing about the film, it let me catch up on my sleep for a bit.

I really dug this movie, it was a very satisfying watch. I personally think it has staying power that will ultimately outlive the hype.

I loved The Babadook, but I just can't recommend Talk To Me to ANYONE.

I'm watching this movie tomorrow ( we'll technically today in a couple of hours ) and I also have high hopes this movie looks pretty awesome but also I'm worried that all the high praise might hurt this movie a little bit because people will go in with super high expectations

After my initial view, I certainly had the "is that it?" kind of overhyped feeling. But it was solid, and i enjoyed it a bit more with a rewatch. Rated it 7/10. I felt it was one of the more unique possession films I've seen. The casting/performances were /top notch/ and really grounded the movie, and (as is typically essential in horror) aided in one's investment in the characters' fates. Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird were so good. The "hellscape" scene was a bit fast and I wonder if less-jumpy editing wouldn't have improved that for me... but that said, I felt in a few bursts the film was suitably brutal. I think the Mia-father relationship was a bit undercooked, and the film's short enough that i think an extra 10 min of development there woulda benefited the story. Your comparisons w/ Hereditary are apt, as it was a strongly hyped A24 film. That one however (9.5/10 for me) is a rare movie where I walked out and was like, yep, deserving of all the hype (tho again, opinions always vary, I remember the initial D+ cinemascore lolwut).

I watched your review before I had a chance to watch the film. I was curious about the movie as well because of the hype around it. But I literally just watched it. I have to say I agree. The movie is really good but just not what I thought. It deserves a rewatch for sure though.

I felt the same, I didn't love it, but I did like it a lot. Part of it feels like my inner contrarian lmao

I enjoyed Talk To Me a lot. Hereditary, it’s characters and it’s pretentiousness make it a non-repeat watch for me.

Wasn't this these director's first feature film? Why were expectations so high? So much so that it's affecting your grade/review? Did you guys go and see this really late? And you caught word-of-mouth after its initial release? I had literally zero expectations going in. These guys are RU-vidrs, this was their first film. I didn't watch trailers, but it sounded like: Ouija (2013 film) + Truth Or Dare (2018 film) + Would You Rather + Bodies Bodies Bodies + The Blackening. But it was really more like: Ouija: Origin Of Evil + It Follows + Smile (2022 film) + The Void (2016 film) + Last Shift / Paymon: The King Of Hell + Baskin / Baskın: Karabasan. I honestly loved it BECAUSE expectations were so low. Crazy how powerful expectations be, and how much it can affect the outcome.

I saw this last night. They nailed the ending. What happened to one of the characters really made me sad. I actually felt invested with that character. Reminded me of my son. 😭

i'm only 2:30 into your review, but i just heard you say 'the film never went hard enough...' & that was the exact thought i had as i was leaving the theatre today. if it hadn't been for heightened expectations, i probably would have though 'that was perfectly fine.' but coming in primed by that metacritic score & the general buzz, i was expecting something much...more. just more. more brutal. more tense. it was fine. the actors were all solid. it's not a billion hours long. that bit with the eye did a reasonable job of freaking me out. but i'd put it below barbarian & smile as far as recent wide-release horror goes.

Just got out of it, thought it was good but like you Jason I felt it was a small stakes movie that didn't really shift into a high gear.

I also didn’t like the movie. I had no sympathy for the copy and paste character’s. The family triangle dynamic with main character didn’t make me feel anything

4:29 cat

This movie was such a disappointment. Good ideas, great acting, good directing, good photography but DAMN was the writing bad.

I don’t know man. I must’ve missed something key in the movie because, it wasn’t that good. It felt more like a umm…drama(w/spiritual undertones). There were a lot of “filler scenes” that didn’t really lead to anything. Basically, there was absolutely nothing “unique” about the movie worthy enough to be receiving it’s current accolades. “Smile” was creepy horror. This was not. I probably would have liked it MUCH more if it was a movie I randomly stumbled on Shudder one night. I dunno?! Anyhow, Kudos to the directors and such, I can always find appreciation behind any kind of art.

Uh oh… I always fall for the overly hyped horror movies and then I get personally offended when it doesn’t meet the high expectations I have. Maybe I should I lower mine for this one before I see it lol

I didn't know anything about this movie before watching it. I loved this movie. Thought the acting was great. Thought it was really creepy. The movie isn't new but was very refreshing take on a common story. This was one of the only Australian movies I have seen with a non white protagonist that wasn't about race. If I had known this was focused on a black woman and wasn't about race or romance I would have seen this movie a lot sooner. Also just being Australian would have moved it up for me. 99% of the horror movies I see are American or from one of the Asian countries. I love seeing stuff from other counties. Also didn't know this was a A24 film. I'm a big fan of A24 and had I known it was A24 I would have seen it sooner. They have a way of doing things differently. They usually go for disturbing over scary and have a statement to make. This movie was very disturbing that hit multiple messages. For example one message or theme was phone culture but not making negative or positive statement over it. The movie showed the new reality of phone culture. People taking pictures and recording stuff instead of helping. People just watching videos on their phones. People talking to people without looking up from their phones. Different situations caused by having their phone on mute. Then within that phone culture they hit on viral internet belief. Easily the best horror movie of the year so far for. Not the best movie of the year but the best horror movie for me. I highly recommend people see a free fan made short film called The Chair on youtube. Pretty good horror short.

I teallly enjoyed this one. Ot took the usual paranormal/seance gone wrong with elements of Pyewacket and Terrified added in.

Saw this yesterday and pretty much with Jason on this one. It needed to go harder. It is still good (stuff happening to the little kid is really disturbing) but I wanted a bigger, party-level scale of horror out of this one, more deaths, etc. It was more personal and tame, instead. And this is my only gripe with the new Birth/Rebirth. I wanted that movie to go harder/crazy at the end and maybe surprise us with some unexpected horror elements. Other than that, I *loved* that one.

Totally off topic, but have you seen the Japanese horror movie called Cold Fish? If not, it’s a must see for horror fans. I would put it up there with Martyrs, Inside, The Descent, High Tension, and Eden Lake.

Though I wasn't scared and I wasn't "wowed" either, I have to say I thought this was a pretty damn good horror film. I was attached more to the characters than I expected I would be (especially after the kind of weak intro we got to them in the film's first 10-15 mins). Idk, I was pleasantly satisfied with this one overall.

saw it last night, and I really enjoyed it, I got a review up on my channel of it

I barely saw ads.

I didn’t hear anything about it and I didn’t watch the trailer, so, I had no expectations. I liked it a lot. It’s a very nice film. To me was like a sad drama with disturbing stuff in it. It’s not scary but it’s disturbing for sure.

This sounds a bit like a Witchboard spinoff. Oddly enough, there's a Witchboard remake in the works.

Better than everything in the dgg halloween trilogy and everything in the conjuring franchise. Indie horror > mainstream horror

It honestly looked dumb before trailers dropped. A hand is ridiculous 😂 next thing it’s going to be a haunted foot

It can’t be compared to perfect films like Hereditary, but more on par of Barbarian. I really liked this movie a lot.

I’m with Jason, my expectations was too high. This movie was so hyped up, and I’ve been looking forward to it for most of the year. Yeah it’s good but it’s nowhere near great. Didn’t blow me away like they made me think it would. Also I found the lead unlikable, and that doesn’t help. She made it hard to feel bad for her

The grief and dealing with guilt and death is what I really got out of this movie. It was unsettling and I thought it was great. It’s not a traditional horror centric movie, definitely more drama centric.

This reminds me of the hype for midsummer and skinamarink guys.

The trailer was sooo good. The movie has a whole, not so much. I didnt hate it, i just felt let down on how it played out. I'll give it another watch when its on vod. I was just surprised to see pretty much the majority of people giving it rave reviews.

I did not care for this movie. It was overhyped to the max and I felt it could have gone more brutal.

I thought this movie was super scary so it didn’t feel overhyped for me.

omg. you get a subscribe for such a spot on review. movie was aggresively mid. nothing new about this except the setting & mode of haunting. Quija 2 with a different coat of paint. Def had me more invested in the drama than the horror. Laughed more than i felt the chill of horror & inbetween was kinda bored. i have been trashing it, but only because i think it was soooooo overhyped, not fair on my part, but can we not pretend like this is the same overall plot that we have seen time & again. PS - i was aggravated that they used sound differential to increase the jump scares. Turning up the volume for a split second is a cheat & shows me they cannot adequetely build a scare.

It was a terrible, terrible, movie.

I wrote a comment on your health anxiety video that I think u might like to see

Horror might be the hardest genre to do right because it is so subjective

I never watched a trailer or knew anything about the hype but i still got that “I thought there was more “ feeling once I finished the movie. I did enjoy myself for sure, but i don’t think the hype is helping at all.

I agree with Jason as far as the horror aspect of the movie and that it’s not as ground-breaking as the hype has lead it to be. With that being said, I agree with Kali’s interpretation on how addiction can affect people differently. That and the creative way they actually went about the possession’s were the best parts of the film. Good movie , good concept, not very scary. Thanks for all your reviews I think you guys are the best in the biz. Stay scary !

It sounds like it 🐝 good I am Hopefully. Guys.. Keep care ❤.. 😅 🦇🦇👍

Marketing is the best of stuff, but…. Aussies usually make decent movies…

im disappointed that it din live up to your expect.

From the opening scene I thought people were gonna start dropping, but no, no one died It tries to be a small scale horror film but it keeps jumping from 8 different locations. Mai’s house, party house, Mia’s room, the sisters room, the living room, the bus stop, the bus, the intro party , the hospital, the hospital bathroom, Riley’s hospital room- I mean you get the fucking point. Combine that with 0 people dying, and the plot only moving forward when the main character makes a stupid decision, this is a terrible movie. No scares, no tension, unlikable characters, mcguffin, 0 explanations, predictable plot, and then a pretentious corny peer pressure/drug theme. If you actually enjoyed this movie, you have no taste because you haven’t seen movies. It’s like a collection of the worst tropes packaged together and marketed as profound. And as a viewer, you feel smart understanding this first grade ass “subtext.” It’s like connect the dots and you’re astonished that at the end picture is a dog or something. When if you just went with your intuition and what you first see, it’s just a stupid picture of a dog. Mia getting to live with her friends family was probably the most compelling part of the film, and they don’t explore it and there’s no consequences. If they played her up almost as a parasite, and sort of went against everyone’s expectations of helping those in need, I think it could’ve been a very interesting movie. But no, the Mom forgives her immediately and brushes it off as an episode. Just a lame film from amateur directors. Made for “commercial appeal” and nothing more

Please fix y’all’s audio.

Just got back from this. Very good film. A24 doesnt miss.

I wrote a comment on your health anxiety video that I think u might like to see