I let you in; Talk To Me

Okay so I saw this film the day after I saw The Babadook, but decided to post this review later. I did enjoy the movie, but wanted to make sure I gave some space for my writing. Sometimes I like to post my thoughts off the cuff, but I can’t do that every time…yet.

Spoilers.

Another movie dealing with grief and depression, using supernatural concepts to portray them. And yes—again, I enjoy that the ghosts/spirits in the movie are real. Maybe I’m just a fan of Australian horror movies. When the hand is first shown to us, it gives a spooky vibe when the protagonist interacts with it. An experience that most people at the party don’t want to mess with. When the hand comes up again, the best friend’s boyfriend wants to give it a try while the protagonist also gets the itch to try again. Like drugs. Early on, the hand gives the aura of how other horror movies portray the Ouija board, an instrument to contact the spirits that must never be used. In this movie, they treat it like a drug to get high on. After the protagonist uses the hand the first time, she talks about this rush she felt, the euphoria of it all. Then the boyfriend is enticed, just like watching another peer of yours do drugs; if they turned out okay, what can go wrong with you. And after he tries it, they do a montage scene with the two shady guys who own the hand and the protagonist using the hand back to back to back and so on. They even make the boyfriend do it again, they’re having a good time like teenage kids trying alcohol or drugs for the first time.

Some scenes they hang on for too long, like when the best friend’s boyfriend sleeps over at the protagonist’s house. He wears white, she wears black, and they are laying in bed head-to-toe opposite of each other looking like the yin-yang symbol. Also near the end when she takes the younger brother outside in the wheelchair, yeah I don’t know. I had major surgery and I don’t believe they would allow a non-worker to push me out of the hospital so casually. Maybe it’s different in Australia, but it felt like a basic hospital scene where a character can just push another character in a wheelchair outside with no questions. Older movies get a pass, but rules have gotten stricter in the real world. Plus, having the sister walk from the parking lot to the hospital to then notice the protagonist with her brother walking outside seems like a stretch. Instead, they should have had the sister pulling up in her car, notice them walking, then start following them.

A small scene I did enjoy, was when they used the hand in the hospital trying to find a way to cure the younger brother. I like how the little girl spirit the protagonist talked to, was able to let her in and see the spirit world from her perspective. It was always the humans letting the spirits in, but this time it was reversed and that was very rad to show us because that answers the question if it could be done the other way around. Speaking of spirits, I don’t believe the protagonist was actually talking to her mother. I do believe it was just the spirits messing with her mind, questioning everything about her mother’s death. Then at the end, she follows in her footsteps. To me, the ending shows us what happens to the younger brother and her dad, they both recovered from their injuries while the protagonist is now lost in the void, until she sees another hand, not the same one she used.

Definitely worth a watch in my opinion, maybe the sequel will turn out well. That’s right, they’re already approved for a sequel. I’m still wary since A24 showed their true colors with the Civil War AI posters, they just want their own franchises. On a positive note, this movie did help me find production company Causeway Films, who I will be looking into.

Score – 8.5 out of 10