Talk to Me
A24 | Release Date: July 28, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews
Positive:
41
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
We Got This CoveredErielle SudarioJul 20, 2023
Talk to Me is an aculmination of years worth viral content creation, mixed in with Australian storytelling. Together, it transformed a comedic short premise into something that gets your heart racing. Read full review
91
Original-CinThom ErnstJul 27, 2023
Credit goes to the Philippou brothers for their originality and perfectly queasily executed bits of ghoulish anarchy. Read full review
90
IGNKenneth Seward Jr.Jul 27, 2023
An engrossing, inventive, and at times, unsettling horror film. Read full review
90
Paste MagazineMatthew JacksonJul 26, 2023
Fierce, fun, and steeped in youthful energy, it’s a film that’s willing to go to some truly dark places in its exploration of grief, death and what it means when we reach too far into the beyond, but it’s also never afraid to laugh along the way. That juxtaposition alone is enough to make it one of the year’s must-see horror films, an addictive thrill ride that never loses its own playful spin on some classic horror ideas. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesKatie WalshJul 27, 2023
Talk To Me isn’t just a splashy debut for the Philippou brothers, who prove their filmmaking chops in making the leap from the small screen to the big. It’s also an incredible introduction to a remarkable actress in a role that will undoubtedly prove to be an instant classic horror movie heroine. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJul 25, 2023
Like that damn disembodied hand, Talk to Me will keep you in its grips throughout. Read full review
85
Film ThreatRob RectorJul 28, 2023
It signals a strong new voice in the genre with the Philippous that is equally confident, commanding, and committed to slinking under your skin. Read full review
85
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJul 24, 2023
Although the movie’s energies dip slightly toward its end, when Mia’s plan to rid the world of the cursed hand requires superhuman acts of strength and derring-do, Talk to Me delivers a series of slash-and-burn shocks that last far longer than 90 seconds. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubLauren J. CoatesJul 27, 2023
Though it leans on familiar genre tropes and stylistic conventions, a devastating script and charismatic cast (spearheaded by Sophie Wilde) make Talk To Me a terrifying and pervasively heartbreaking tale of grief. Read full review
83
The Film StageJohn FinkFeb 3, 2023
Featuring a great premise from which to build a franchise, YouTube creators Danny and Michael Philippou’s directorial debut Talk To Me is a refreshing retread, imagining tantalizing “micro-possessions” that get stronger the more you use them. Read full review
83
The PlaylistMike DeAngeloJan 28, 2023
On the surface, Talk to Me is a blast of demonic horror that will make your skin crawl. Underneath, it offers a new twist on the teen horror film that explores the complexities of grief and the transition from childhood to adulthood. Read full review
83
ColliderChase HutchinsonJan 28, 2023
Whether you can stomach it enough to make it all the way will depend on the viewer, but Talk To Me has plenty that promises to capture the souls of horror sickos looking for a sinister spectacle. Read full review
80
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyAug 1, 2023
This is a low-budget horror helmed by a young pair of mavericks. It’s anchored around a phenomenal central turn by Wilde, who’s all twitchy eyelids and haunted relatability. Its practical effects are effective, rendering it dead in bloated, blotchy, dripping flesh. And when the spirits reveal more demonic, subversive desires, the tricks they play on the living are delivered with a taunt and a giggle. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeJul 30, 2023
For all the genre nods, this remains very much its own movie – a film that isn’t afraid to talk to its core audience, even while giving them the heebie-jeebies. Read full review
80
NMELou ThomasJul 28, 2023
Hardcore horror fans should expect less of a full-on festival of bloody carnage and more a new-school chiller in line with the first two films by Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar) or Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us). Regardless: for a top-ranking summer fright from Down Under, don’t miss Talk To Me. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyJul 28, 2023
The film grabs your attention with verve, but also has a vision: it’s not mortal danger it finds freaky, but what’s waiting on the other side. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJul 27, 2023
Even when Talk to Me flirts with incoherence, Wilde pulls it back from the brink. More than just a great scream queen, she makes vivid sense of Mia’s ravaged emotions, revealing her to be a captive less to the spirit realm than to her own inconsolable grief. She’s the movie’s revelation, hands down. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJul 27, 2023
Having honed their film-making through endless online pastiches, the directors know just how to time the stomach-jolting jump scares. There is forever a hand ready to grab your unsuspecting ankle. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJul 27, 2023
By choosing simplicity over specifics, the filmmakers free themselves from the weight of words and open up space for a mood of intense disquiet and unusual sensitivity. Read full review
80
Little White LiesKatherine McLaughlinJul 27, 2023
This is uncompromising horror that perceptively taps into contemporary life with visual flair and smarts. Read full review
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyJul 25, 2023
The final minutes turn Talk to Me into something almost lyrical, a kind of urban myth you could imagine being shared between parties and campus halls. The filmmakers also blow out the candle at a flab-free 95 minutes. Turns out that’s enough time to get inside you and take possession. Read full review
80
Time OutOlly RichardsJul 25, 2023
The story has a good dose of hokum, but the execution has an oppressive and sometimes feral quality that doesn’t just make the hairs on your neck stand up, it puts your whole body in fight-or-flight mode. An extremely impressive first film. Read full review
80
EmpireJohn NugentJul 25, 2023
Tense, stressful and savagely staged, this is a scarily good debut from YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou. Be sure to hold someone’s hand while watching. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 25, 2023
Talk to Me is freaky and confrontational and hilariously crass; it crashes through its plot progressions with tactless verve. Read full review
80
Screen DailyNikki BaughanJan 28, 2023
This story of foolhardy youth and the hell it can unwittingly unleash is a staple of genre cinema, but first time directors Danny and Michael Philippou tell it well and there’s certainly plenty of atmosphere (and effects) to appeal to hardened horror fans. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 31, 2023
Talk to Me isn’t for the faint of heart. It isn’t for those who believe horror movies can easily be shaken off. And it isn’t for those who aren’t willing to pay attention and allow the film’s unsettling aesthetic to seep into one’s bones. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNick AllenJul 28, 2023
Whether or not we get more rounds with this hand of fate, Talk to Me lingers as a striking and confident directorial debut from the Philippous, whose penchant for hyper-active YouTube fight and prank vids is mostly evident in this movie's emotional carnage. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 28, 2023
Even if Talk to Me feels at times as if some crucial, characters-just-hanging-out material failed to make the final cut, the movie gets under your skin. Read full review
75
The Associated PressMark KennedyJul 26, 2023
A stylish, well-crafted piece of filmmaking that marks the auspicious arrival of twin Australian filmmakers Michael and Danny Philippou. Read full review
75
Washington PostOlivia McCormackJul 24, 2023
There’s nothing revolutionary about the premise of naive idiots attempting to get closer to death. (See: “Flatliners”). But it’s the ingenious combination of horror and human connection that makes Talk to Me, well, something to talk about. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJan 28, 2023
The film has a free-floating, nearly intangible sense of unease that greatly serves it. Read full review
75
IndieWireRobert DanielsJan 28, 2023
A bundle of taut nerves stretched to their vomit-inducing breaking point, Talk to Me, the directorial feature debut from Australian Youtube brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, is the type of horror film whose effectiveness arises from its barebones simplicity. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJul 28, 2023
Talk to Me doesn’t quite have something pointed to say about it, or anything else, but that’s okay — it’s just here to show you a good time and then usher itself out before overstaying its welcome. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearJul 27, 2023
As a horror movie, Talk is cheap thrills, done cleverly and with an abundance of voltage. As a proof-of-concept for what these gents can do, given some time and a couple extra gallons of Karo syrup, this is a hell of an introduction. Hands down. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 24, 2023
It’s a horror movie that is actually scary; it’s got a good idea that feels both relevant and contemporary; and it’s really gross. (That’s a plus — it is a horror movie, after all. Sometimes they skimp.) I just wish I understood its logic a little better. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiMar 29, 2023
Talk to Me is an assured directorial debut, serving up plenty of terror, gore, and emotional beats in a story that is well-developed and carefully crafted. Audiences will be hooked to the screen, impatiently awaiting what comes next in this unsettling, thrilling horror. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 24, 2023
The film is thematically a bit thin but doesn’t stint on genuine scares, intensity or revulsion. Read full review
65
TheWrapTomris LafflyJul 28, 2023
This uneven film is more a showcase of all the craftsmanship and horror knowhow the Philippous are capable of bringing to the genre table than a movie that fully works. For now, it’s not a bad reason to shake hands with this gifted duo. Read full review
65
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 28, 2023
The Philippou brothers have a great grasp on nasty, shocking, Raimi-like horror, and that goes a long way toward tipping the scales in a favorable direction. Sure, the characters are making dumb choices, but there's enough creepy, spooky, bloody action to keep you hooked. Read full review
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJul 27, 2023
The possession scenes are the calling card for the Philippous as filmmakers, whose 360-degree camera captures both the unsettling otherworldliness of the ritual and the giddy naivete of the teens. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 20, 2023
Kudos to all involved for making a horror movie with a simple gimmick, a lot of gore and a few things to say about teen culture in a social media age, none of them having anything to do with TikTok. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveyJan 28, 2023
A somewhat mixed bag, as the script doesn’t fully ballast the serious tenor, this is nonetheless a confidently crafted effort with enough intriguing elements to keep viewers involved, if not particularly scared. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerJul 27, 2023
Before it becomes entirely too Australian, the well-crafted haunted-hand horror movie Talk to Me perfectly captures the one-upmanship of social-media-fueled youth culture. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleJul 26, 2023
Talk to Me is hardly a bad horror film, but the disconnect between what was and what could be looms large over the final act. Read full review
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