Talk to Me (2023)

The impressive directorial debut of brothers Daniel Philippou and Michael Philippou gets the whistles and bells Second Sight treatment with both limited and standard edition 4K and Blu-ray releases.

Mia (Sophie Wilde) is still getting over the death by accidental overdose (or was it?) of her mother. She attends a get together where the central 'party piece' is a severed, mummified hand. If you hold the hand and say the movie's title it allows you to communicate with a dead person's spirit. You can also allow the spirit to possess you, but it must not be for any longer than 90 seconds or something terrible will happen. Needless to say, at a similar party the following night something terrible does happen which is Mia's fault, and all because she finds herself (or believes she finds herself) talking to her dead mother's spirit. 

If you've not see TALK TO ME that's all you really need to know, suffice to say that this is a film that explores some dark themes and concepts and has an ending that will leave you with plenty of questions. Some of those questions are answered to an extent by the wealth of extras that have been prepared for this special edition. 

'Social Media and Self Harm', the use of mobile phones to allow teenagers to distance themselves from the real world when events become too much for them, and how you can never trust that who you are talking to (on social media or in the spirit world) are all touched on in extras that include a commentary track by the directors and a nearly hour-long interview with them that also deals with the nuts and bolts of getting the film made. 

A second commentary track from Emma Westwood and Sally Christie provides an academic viewpoint. Both come across as chatty and personable, making this worth a listen as well. There are also new interviews with DP Aaron McLisky (25 minutes) and producer Samantha Jennings (19 minutes). I'll admit I had missed that this was the same Australian film company that made THE BABADOOK. Kat Ellinger gives us a 17 minute visual essay on 'Contagion in Cinema' dealing with both the literary and cinematic antecedents of TALK TO ME's themes of addiction and self harm.

Archival extras include two behind the scenes featurettes (16 minutes in all) and six minutes of deleted scenes, plus there are 23 minutes of cast interviews and 15 minutes of crew interviews. 

All the above are included in both the standard and limited editions. Exclusive to the limited edition is a 120 page book with new writing on the film, six art cards and a rigid slipcase.

TALK TO ME is out from Second Sight on Monday 23rd June 2026 in both a limited edition containing both 4KUHD and Blu-ray, and separate 4KUHD and Blu-ray editions