Chad

Undeadcow

Rewatching Talk to Me with awareness of how it goes didn't reveal as much as I hoped. It's a dark layered film open for interpretation. I love the subtext with addiction and grief that feels more central than a lot of commentary in horror movies. Deep and cryptic puzzler that delivers on visceral in your face freights with allegory ripe enough to leave uneasiness both in terror and in curiosity. Predictable irony is deceptive since much of the film betrays it's telegraphed elements and gives way to the unexpected - seemingly tame, then obvious commentary on loss or escapism, then a twist that destroys both but not really because there's not telling what is really going on other than in the splintered interpretations unique to each viewer. I took to online forums to read more and was amused to find so many contradicting interpretations.

I saw the ending as the revelation that Mia was the ghost, that maybe she had always been the ghost (thematically an outsider alone in the world let in to other people's family, party, etc) but also that she was never really alive but didn't know that. We could argue about at which point she really died (before the film, during the first possession, strangled by the fake dad, jumped/pushed into traffic); but I'm not sure that detail of when she became a literal rather than thematic ghost matters. She was haunted not just by the supernatural but by the real loss of her mom; even if it was just a red herring (in that she may have already been dead and the once haunting rather than being haunted) the emotional there was real and source of image meaningless. I think that explained Mia's draw to the supernatural, attempts to belong, and ultimately is key to the end of the film - the mother is the motive rather than the cause of Mia's latching on behaviors (real and supernatural).

The water sound heard at different points in the film, I think is important; because symbolizes transition so when there is a water sound it seems like a tell from the film that what we are seeing isn't real or is in flux. I took it that Riley (the injured boy) was always a red herring, that at least from the first moment Mia accepted the possession and it went just a tad over everything else was distorted by the supernatural so everything is an 'unreliable narrator.' We have no reason to really believe Riley was ever in eternal torment (why would the ghosts want Riley specifically when they could pluck any kid [Mia first]?). The early scene where Riley is sleeping next to Mia and she rubs his head then the obvious white gritty hand of Mia's ghost (the drowned woman) touches his neck seems like a tell that he is a pawn/illusion/tool rather than the target.

jholmes

I'm excited to watch this one tonight! Even bought the blu ray.

Spiderbite

Wow. I was knocked out by this one. Fucking modern day classic! I went in with low expectations after seeing such drivel as Us being ridiculously praised (while being one of the worst pieces of shit films I have seen in the last 30 years) or expecting it to be the lowest common denominator "general public horror film" such as the recent Smile which is decent but nowhere near exceptional.

This one was exceptional. Taking a modern-day approach at a common teenage supernatural game, such as a Ouija board, but turning it on its head. I loved how they included cell phones into the daily life of this film. Instead of having to show the cell phone done away with, batteries drained, lost, smashed, stolen, etc. it actually implemented it into the movie as just a normal occurrence. Rare in modern day horror films.

And do they stick the landing with the ending??? I was sure they were going to fuck up...but they actually stuck it! Logical and still possibly surprising to many, it had the perfect ending. Acting, sound design, score, was all solid. Effects were almost (possibly all?) all practical which gave the entire movie a sense of realism. No shitty CG blood or fire in this movie. Adding to all this, it has a surprisingly emotional core around the mother's death. This movie hits all the necessary points.

This was great. I really have nothing more to add other than to see it and then see it again!

My rating: ***** out of *****

Toddarino

Not at all what I expected, but I can’t really explain what I expected either.
Pretty cool take on the ouija board horror trope. Really dug the ending and beginning. The middle was the low point. I think I’ve grown tired of the no one believes me bullshit.

Spiderbite

Granted, I was a little drunk when I saw this last night and my buddy, and I chatted a little here and there during it, but I don't remember there being a lot of that.

The kids all knew it was real, so I don't remember none of them not believing her. The only one that didn't that I remember was the mom and if I had been in her shoes, I wouldn't have believed it either. I would have thought it was a mental breakdown just as she did.

Remind me what I am missing. Maybe I glossed over it since I was so into the movie.

Toddarino

Yeah I meant the mother and sister, but now that I’m more sober, I think it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
I mean the kids all fucked up. Obviously not getting better on his own. Let her try something wacky to attempt to help him.

numbercrunch

A solid horror film with very believeable and well casted characters (which is unusual for modern films). Some genuinely creepy moments with a solid, athough predictable ending.
7/10

WillieMLF

Man, what a great visual. Very nice movie. I've been going in blind to most new movies I've seen, and this was a pleasant surprise. That hand is a great tool, and a novel way of getting us to the meat of this story. I was glad to see something refreshing and this one really worked for me. Nice food for thought Undeadcow.

I hate the big black eyeball craze that all these horror movies are on, but It was really effective here.

jholmes

I'd been looking forward to this one for a long time--and that can jack up expectations. It started a little slow for me. At first the characters felt like average teens/lB actors and my interest wandered. But once they started interacting with the hand, it got me hooked. I can understand teens doing this, but I personally would have been on the "oh hell no" side of the fence and left after the first person got possessed. At least, I like to think I would.

I really enjoyed the supernatural concept behind the film because it felt fresh. Possession movies have become so same-old-same-old with the demonic voice and warped features. Yeah, this movie did that a little, but it was overall a new idea to be possessed by a ghost and for a short period of time as a party game. Or supposedly, anyway.

The second thing I particularly liked was the script. It had enough relationship melodrama to make you care about the characters and moments where you wanted to scream at the TV (I did). At one point I told Mia what a horrible friend she was for first nearly killing her bff's little brother and then trying to seduce her bff's boyfriend. And moments later, the bff told Mia the same thing. Even though the characters often made bad choices, it was believable. I also liked the ending, Spiderbite.
4/5 stars for me.

Bladz

This is my favorite first time viewing and subset pick of the challenge so far, and the first movie this month that actually scared and creeped me out. As was mentioned, I like that it was different take on the possession movie, unlike just about every other one that comes out these days.

Grief is a central theme of the movie, but so is drug addiction and abuse. Jade's mom, Sue, mentions alcohol/marijuana on a couple of occasions and is afraid her kids will be involved with it. I think the whole possession thing with the hand is a metaphor for drug use. It seems to mainly take place at parties where everyone involved is having a great time and really enjoying it, just like with drugs/alcohol. Before things go wrong at Jade's house, you see everyone taking turns, laughing, and having the time of their lives. It's like they're passing the hand around, taking hits. Letting in the spirits is when they're ingesting the drug and they're not the same person while it's happening. The first thing Mia says after her first time doing it is, 'that was amazing", because it was like a euphoric rush for her. There is a time limit because if you do it for longer than 90 seconds, "they'll want to stay", Hayley says. It's like doing too much of a drug and becoming addicted, eventually you won't be able to stop it. And just like Mia's mom, Rhea, who kills herself by overdosing on sleeping pills, the same might happen with the hand, like Duckett in the beginning of the movie, and Riley who almost did by smashing his face and head.

Talk To Me is one of the better movies I've seen this month, and I Iook forward to a second viewing of it.

IBJoel

I was not as blown away by this as I hoped I'd be. I didn't find it to be as disturbing as everyone else, it seems. The only part that got under my skin was the depiction of Limbo.

The grief background and addiction metaphor is just played out, in my opinion, and I don't connect with it, despite battling addiction in the very recent past. I think I would have liked it more if they REALLY hit the hopelessness over the head and just embraced the bleakness of life and death or explored the other side a little more or if the "spirits" didn't just seem like people with cheap, but good makeup.

I definitely did not think the movie was bad, but after hearing it's amazing (and I purposely kept away from anything beyond first reactions I heard), I was expecting to be lauding the film afterwards. Maybe ghostly possession movies just don't do it for me, I don't know. I recently watched The Conjuring for the first time and was a tad bored.

DaveyJoe

My mom passed away just under two years ago so this one was a lot for me to process. I was definitely ugly crying by the end, but in a good way. The film was very well done and emotionally draining. Thanks for selecting this one and providing a way to view it, I think I'll order the UHD before long because I'd like to watch it again.

Obi-Wanma

I watched this on Friday night with my wife and daughter, I had seen this in theaters with my daughter already. We like to watch second screenings with my wife, because she generally freaks tf out and is fun to watch. And that was entertaining as usual, but I had to explain the ending to her. She somehow did not get that Mia became a ghost. I don't see how it's open to interpretation as to WHEN she became a ghost though. She was hit by the car. She literally talks to the mother right before it happens, and the mother tells the daughter about it. I don't see how she could have died earlier than that.

Anyway, personally, I liked it, I liked it enough in theaters to buy the blu, but I feel like it lost something on second viewing. It was much more interesting and scary when I didn't know how it was going to unfold, and the second viewing didn't really add anything that I missed the first time.