Talk to Me’s Directors on Their Genuinely Terrifying Horror Debut
By Cheryl Eddy
When io9 saw Talk to Me at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, we knew it would become a breakout horror hit, especially once A24 became its distributor. This week, the film—which is both clever and alarmingly frightening—finally opens wide, and audiences can see what all the buzz is about.
Talk to Me follows a group of high schoolers, including the troubled Mia (Sophie Wilde), who come across a mysterious embalmed hand with the power to connect the living and the dead. The teens think being possessed is a scream, and eagerly gather for parties where they take turns filming each other under the influence. What could possibly go wrong, you ask? So much goes wrong for the characters in Talk to Me—but horror fans are going to love watching it happen.
Cheryl Eddy, io9: Talk to Me is your feature debut, but you’ve been running a hugely popular YouTube channel for a decade. Was making the leap to movies always the goal, and why did you decide to make your first film a horror film?
Michael Philippou: Ever since we started, it was the main goal. It’s what we always wanted to get into. We’ve been doing YouTube videos for a decade, but we were making stuff for a decade before that as well. The end goal was always getting into feature films and television.
Danny Philippou: Obsessed with it. The ultimate dream that I always had was, like, walking into a cinema and seeing my poster up on the wall. And it actually happened! Going into AMC a couple of months ago to watch another film, and then seeing the poster for the first time was so incredible.
Michael Phillippou: As for horror films, there were lots of things that we were writing, but Talk to Me is the first one that really caught fire and gained momentum fast. So it wasn’t a conscious decision to be like, “We’re going to do a horror film first.” It’s just the one that had the most momentum.
io9: Talk to Me is a unique horror film for a lot of reasons, but one that stood out to me is that while there’s a final girl character—she’s not a typical horror-movie “hero.” She does things that make the audience squirm. What were the reasons you wanted to center your movie around a character that’s sort of unlikable?
Danny Philippou: I guess it’s depending on who is watching, and how they’re relating to the characters. I think Mia is likable…
Michael Philippou: …It depends on the person.
