Reviewed by Alicia Glass 

A group of friends turn conjuring spirits with an embalmed hand into a dangerous party game, until one goes too far and unleashes all sorts of terrifying supernatural forces! 

Everyone, meet Mia (Sophie Wilde). She’s a bit of a misfit among the other kids here in Adelaide, Australia, and right now she’s being bothered by the anniversary of her mothers death via accidental overdose of sleeping pills, and her rather distant relationship with her father Max (Marcus Johnson). Her only real friends are BFF Jade (Alexandra Jensen), Jades little brother Riley (Joe Bird), and their concerned mum Sue (Miranda Otto). So when the chance to be included in a “popular kids” party comes along, even if the proposed party game is a bit uber-weird, Mia jumps at the chance. 

Like any good, or really bad, party game, this one has rules. You sit in the chair and get strapped in good and tight, because Hayley (Zoe Terakes) and Joss (Chris Alosio) have done this before and know what they’re talking about, light a candle and take ahold of the embalmed hand with your own, and say, “Talk to me.” This seems to open something to allow you to see the spirit across from you, and then you say, “I let you in.” Oh, and start a freaking timer already – Joss and Hayley are adamant that no-one should be possessed for more than 90 seconds. 

Each spirit summoned is different, each possession is different, each kids’ reaction is different. But they all seem to find it a great lark the second time around, coupled with weed and drinks and the usual teenage bullsh*t sense of over-excitement, the embalmed hand takes a spin with everyone, until Jade’s little brother Riley begs a turn. 

Jade is of course concerned for her little brother but like any elder sibling doesn’t want to be accused of never letting little bro do anything cool, and of course Riley just has to break out the extra-large-hammer by saying, “I hate you!” Mia herself talks everyone into letting Riley have a go with the hand, at only 50 seconds she swears, yet that promise immediately goes out the window when Mia is adamant that she sees the ghost of her beloved dead mother whilst Riley is being ridden like the worst Loa ever and doing as much physical damage to himself as possible. 

So Riley’s in the hospital, the party kids are running scared, Mia’s having more ghostly visions of her mum Rhea (Alexandria Steffensen) and oh yeah, doing things she probably shouldn’t be with her ex Daniel (Otis Dhanji) who’s now in theory with Jade anyway, and Mia’s getting tossed from Riley’s hospital room by a justifiably enraged Sue. The kids are trying to divine the origin of the mummified hand, even by talking to Cole (Ari McCarthy) from that terribly abrupt very beginning of the movie, and despite his warnings and admonishments, Mia is obsessing over the hand and her visions coming from it. 

Mia’s world is dwindling down into her obsessions, convinced by the increasingly demonic visions of her dead mum that only she can help Riley. And when an ill-timed confession from Mia’s dad turns frighteningly bloody and rather permanent, Mia decides its time to take matters into her own two hands. Whatever she has to do, to save Riley from the horrid Event Horizon-like visions of diabolical spiritual torture, even if that solution is also rather forever. 

The film is rather infamous for the sticky, realistic makeup and practical effects, sudden violence and a wrenching story, and now known for being the first major film to come from the Philippou brothers. In 2023, the Philippou brothers announced plans for a sequel, called Talk 2 Me. 

Determine whether or not you’d play such an ill-advised not-a-party-game and watch Talk To Me on Netflix now!