Talk To Me [4K Ultra HD]

Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

Cast: Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird

Release Date: October 3, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 10/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits with an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, unleashing terrifying supernatural forces in the eye-popping, nightmarish debut from filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou.

Please Note: Lionsgate provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘Talk to Me’ joins a group of friends who uncover a way of communicating with spirits when they are gifted an embalmed hand that when held with a hand of the living and combined with the right words allows the individual to be possessed by the dead, just as long as you don’t let them stay in for too long. But when a couple of fun, drunken possession-sessions accidently go over, things begin to turn horrifying for the friends and unexplainable things begin popping up causing certain people to soon become unable to ascertain reality from imagination. As people close begin to suffer and things get horrifyingly out of hand, they’ll have to search for help in unlocking the truth and hidden secrets of this mysterious hand.

Directed by filmmaking duo (and twin brothers) Danny and Michael Philippou (better known to many for their YouTube fame @RackaRacka) from a screenplay written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman and based on a concept by Daley Pearson, Danny and Michael Philippou do a marvelous job at the helm of ‘Talk to Me’ which marks their feature length directorial debut, guiding along the dark, clever thriller with style and heart. The film’s cast includes Sophie Wilde (TV’s Everything Now), Alexandra Jensen (TV’s The Messenger), Joe Bird (Rabbit) and Miranda Otto (Downhill), along with more and the majority each offer solid performances for the most part in their respective roles.

‘Talk to Me’ is a wild, haunting and absolutely thrilling ride into insanity and unexpected horrors that repeatedly finds clever ways to keep things moving along while always keeping the viewer on edge and uncertain of just what to expect next. Filled with indelible imagery, a constant tone of unease and haunting beauty around the edges, it’s a brilliant horror breakout that’s easily one of the year’s best horror films, and also one of the best overall films of the year that I’ve had the pleasure of so far. It takes things to some fittingly dark places and explores the mindset of our lead as she struggles to decipher what is real and what is fabricated while attempting to break the horrifying curse that has seemingly overtaken her.

‘Talk to Me’ is one of the year’s most rewarding surprises and if you’re a horror fan who hasn’t yet the pleasure of this magnificent debut from the twin brother filmmaking duo of Danny and Michael Philippou (known best for their @RackaRacka fame on YouTube) I can’t encourage you strongly enough to go out of your way to give this one a shot whenever possible. This filmmaking duo will definitely be a pair to keep an eye on in the future and I personally can’t wait to see just what they have in store for us in the years to come.

Overall, ‘Talk to Me’ is a tense, eerie and fittingly uncomfortable modern horror masterpiece that takes viewers for a journey straight into hell and the darkest depths of the mind and will keep you glued to the screen from start to finish. It’s a truly phenomenal debut from the filmmaking duo of Danny and Michael Philippou (better known to many from their YouTube fame @RackaRacka) with a capable cast to back it up and the end result is one of this year’s best and most eerily marvelous films. ‘Talk to Me’ easily earns one of my highest possible recommendations and for any genre fan who appreciates a fresh new horror film that dares to do something different (and does it brilliantly as well) this one will be an absolute must see and will surely prove well worth your time and the price of a rental to give a chance, but don’t be terribly surprised if you end up wanting to add it to your collection in the near future as well.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Talk to Me’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic from start to finish and delivers a clean, vibrant and beautifully detailed presentation that’s largely absent of any issues or troubles to be uncovered along the way. It shows great clarity and detail noticeable on character faces, clothing and the various backgrounds visible throughout, both interior and outdoors, while the Dolby Vision/HDR addition only contributes a nice boost by providing more accurate and deep colors paired with dark, deep and problem free black levels that look exceptional every step of the way. Overall, this is a wonderful Ultra High Definition video presentation that dazzles throughout and should thoroughly satisfy fans and first time viewers alike.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack makes a great complement to the onscreen tension and terror, providing a clean, crisp and frequently immersive audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly utilizes all seven available channels in order to send music, eerie effects and heavy swirling noises zipping throughout the various speakers when individuals are overtaken by the hand, along with plenty of other little contributions throughout, all while making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring along with others remain clean and fully audible throughout. Overall, this is a fantastic Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that holds up splendidly every step of the way and should thrill viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Talk to Me’ includes a few notable extras that fans of the film should enjoy. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Cowriter-Director Danny Philippou and Director Michael Philippou’, in addition to some ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the film (running approximately 7 minutes in length altogether) and the behind the Scenes Featurette ‘In the Grip of Terror’ (running approximately 13 minutes). The film’s ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (approximately 2 minutes) is also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 10/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘Talk To Me’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from A24 & Lionsgate

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