Review of Talk to Me (2023) by Jluis_001 — 30 Jul 2023

It's never a good thing when hype can work against the overall experience of a film. However, I must admit that despite the impressively over-the-top praise I heard about Talk to Me, the movie does manage to be genuinely entertaining, even if it's not particularly scary.

The atmosphere effectively sells the story, setting the tone quite well. The plot dynamics unfold quickly in just a few minutes, and when the moments of horror do arrive, they possess a certain charm, but are far from being truly terrifying.

They aim to be unsettling and succeed to some extent, but lack the element of shock. While the most graphic scene does its job, overall, the film is relatively average and shares similarities with many other horror films of recent years in terms of violence and gore gimmicks.

I firmly believe that Talk to Me's greatest strength lies in the dramatic weight of Mia's character, as her loss and grief fuel her motivations, leading to her cruel outcome.

However, the film's main issues arise from the unexplored plot holes, especially concerning the concept and mythology behind the hand used to contact the spirits.

There was a missed opportunity to delve deeper into this, leaving me with several unanswered questions.

The film jumps straight into direct horror and fails to explore much beyond its predictable genre moves, leaving me wanting more.

In my opinion it doesn't open any doors to disappointment, but it's certainly a problem that the film in general drags down and never gets rid of.

Is it worth seeing? Certainly. However, I do think the buzz given to it has been overblown, and not because the high expectations hindered the experience, but because, despite being well crafted, Talk to Me ultimately plays within a very familiar and limited framework without trying to break out of it for any reason.