“Gripping” is possibly the cheesiest word to apply to a horror movie about an embalmed hand. In the case of Australian twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou’s debut feature Talk to Me, it’s also likely the most succinct summation. But whether Talk To Me may be best appreciated through the lens of “horror” at all remains a matter for more debate.

That’s not to say the film isn’t frightening. The first possession scene occurs within mere minutes, after main character Mia (Sophie Wilde) learns the lore of the central ceramic-encased severed hand (possibly that of a psychic, as we discover in an exchange poking fun at the seriousness with which most high concept horror handles its mythology). She need only hold the hand, whisper the movie’s title and issue the invitation “I let you in” to be taken over by whatever spirits accept her offer. But before 90 seconds have passed, the connection between the realms must be cut lest the departed take up more permanent residence in their living hosts.

Of course, any rule introduced so early in a scary movie has to be broken—and Wilde’s committed and intensely physical performance left even this self-professed gorehound trembling home from the theater. The film as a whole is so unrelenting it doesn’t even yield the checked-out relief that often comes when a story pushes past one’s terror tolerance threshold. It simply doesn’t let you go.

But unlike in the vast majority of horror movies, the fear doesn’t originate with the unknown—a murderer in a mask, a hidden cannibal cult, an ancient evil unleashed. Viewers see in the graphic cold open exactly what will happen to Mia, and multiple prophetic figures throughout the story reinforce that fate. Yet both she and the audience are helpless to stop it. In other words, we’re talking about a classic Greek tragedy. For all its abundant jump scares, its tightly-wound plot and gorgeous practical effects, Talk to Me is truly a film about the cyclicality and loneliness of grief. And grief is, after all, a horrifying experience.

Because of that trauma-steeped subject matter, this film might not satisfy those who turn to genre for an escape from lived pain (and extra care might be warranted for anyone sensitive to depictions of suicide). It’s also not a movie that’s going to thrill folks looking for visual innovation—the cinematography serves the story without ever offering much originality. But for anyone who loves Antigone as much as Antichrist, Talk to Me’s grasp will be too potent to resist.

9

+Horror as tragedy; Sophie Wilde’s possessed laugh

-Visually conventional; too much for some audiences

Talk to Me

Directed by The Philippou Brothers

With Wilde

Violet Crown, R, 95 min.