Talk To Me: Get a Grip

On the second anniversary of her mother’s death, Mia (Sophie Wilde) is struggling to come to terms with it and with her relationship with her father. Staying the night with her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) the pair, along with Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) sneak out of the house and go to a party, where the main attraction is a ceramic hand.  Legend has it that  a real hand of a psychic medium is inside and if you grip the hand and say “talk to me”, you will see a ghost, and if you say “I let you in” you give permission for the ghost to possess you, but you should only allow it for 90 seconds or the spirit could take you over forever. Mia attempts the process and experiences exactly what was explained and the feeling of being possessed is addictive.  The next night, Jade has the owner of the hand over to her place and all is going well until Mia allows Riley to try it, and what seems to be her mother possesses him, but in the middle of it, Riley begins to bash his head and the possession lasts longer than 90 seconds. Riley is hospitalized by his injuries, and Mia begins to see ghosts, mainly her mother, even without the hand. She discovers that Riley’s spirit is being tormented by the evil spirits and she must find a way to free him.  Can Mia save Riley without getting killed herself?  Watch and find out!

Talk to Me is an Australian supernatural horror film, and the premise is an original spin on the “haunted object” sub-genre (ie The Monkey’s Paw). A haunted hand that not only allowed you to see and talk to ghosts but be possessed by them and even manipulated by them is unique.  Although the history and story of the hand could have been expanded, it wasn’t actually needed for the plot of this film.  The script was well written with a realness to the dialogue. Letting the expositional information flow naturally, never feeling forced or insincere, and clearly defining the character relationships.  The film’s tempo was good, and the movie moved at a quick pace and nice rhythm. There weren’t any flashy special effects, but instead, the film relies on grotesque practical makeup giving the ghosts a truly ghoulish appearance and the possessed a near demonic look, but the overall gore factor is pretty low, with really only Riley’s self-harm scene being a bit on the gory side.

The performances were very strong, with Sophie Wilde’s Mia playing a fine line as a completely sympathetic character and at times unlikeable.  Her trauma over her mother feels very real and the fear that she is alone is well portrayed, but subtle. Her interaction with Jade is very sisterly and completely believable that these two were very best friends. Likewise, Alexandra Jensen also exhibits a type of sincerity that made her character feel completely real.  Joe Bird’s Riley is shy and has a nerdy quality and yet longs to be part of the “in” crowd.  There is something endearing to Riley, a type of overall purity and goodness, and although not stated in the film, I believe this is why the evil spirits wanted him.