I have a secret to admit. I’m a total wimp when it comes to scary movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love them dearly, but I’m definitely the person who looks away when there’s a jump scare coming because I WILL scream out loud in a theater. Thus, I have a love-hate relationship with them because I always get excited going to see the newest one while simultaneously getting a ton of anxiety building up as the movie starts. It also didn’t help that people were telling me that Talk to Me was allegedly one of the scariest movies ever made. And it IS creepy, but it’s so much more than that as it subtly subverts expectations in a refreshing way that makes it incredibly fun, deep, and a helluva good time!
All I’m going to tell you about the plot is that you don’t want to know it. Go in blind. Don’t watch a trailer, reaction videos, or even read the blurb on IMDb. Knowing nothing about it is the best way to experience it. That said, I’m not going to discuss anything that directly happens, but even then, maybe it’s best to come back here once you’ve seen it.
My favorite horror movie of all time is The Babadook, and Talk to Me feels very akin to it which partly might be why it works so well for me. Both are Australian films and grossly different than what we are used to in America. The aforementioned jump scares are the norm here, and while there’s nothing wrong with a good slasher flick, sometimes it’s nice to get more out a genre film than blood, guts, and boobs. Environment, tone, and emotion are the focus for Talk to Me, and that’s what draws us in. Sure, we’ve had recent outings with Barbarian which tried to do this, but in the end, it fell back on familiar tropes that made us actually feel comfortable with what we were watching, horrific as it is. Talk to Me doesn’t do this which makes us uneasy since this isn’t what we thought we had signed up for. Constantly waiting for something we’re accustomed to having happen does a much better job of evoking dread and fear than any killer jumping out a closet could, and that eerie feeling lingers long after and spikes when we’re in bed with all the lights out.
Also, like most good films of this genre, it ends up being a morality play that is looking to teach us the, “important lesson,” however it ensures that it’s not making us roll our eyes because the delivery is so ham-fisted. The points it wants to make are dutifully scattered throughout like a nice trail of breadcrumbs leading us home, but it expects us to put in the effort to find them. It respects our intelligence and asks us to make full use of it.
Talk to Me is a rare film in that it should be a hit with fans across all ages and of all genres as you don’t have to love horror for this one to have an impact. If you gave in and watched a trailer, it’s still not going to be what you think, and you won’t know how it’s going to end until the screen fades to black and the credits roll. Everything fits perfectly, has importance, and wastes no time sharing its story and truths. Like The Babadook that came before, it stands as a masterclass in horror and will be emulated ad nauseum but rarely topped. It will be the sleeper hit of the year, so catch it in theaters because something like this doesn’t come around often, and it would be a shame to miss it.