This review contains spoilers.

Talk to Me (2022) is the most deeply fucked-up horror movie I have EVER seen. I cannot BELIEVE this is only a 15 certificate in the UK. The trailer does not remotely prepare you. It’s the most dark, fucked-up, disturbing, gory movie you could ever imagine: truly nightmare fuel, absolutely fucking horrific. It would be genuinely morally wrong for a fifteen-year-old to see this.

We’re talking GRAPHICALLY violent depictions of children committing suicide; who do things like repeatedly bash their already bloody and mutilated head into a chest of drawers, pulling out their own eyes with their bare hands. We’re talking horrifying visions of hell as a writhing, inescapable group of bodies fixated only on torture. We’re talking the complete psychological breakdown of an already grieving girl (Sophie Wilde) via demonic possession; until by the end, we literally have no idea what is happening.

The only way audiences could be prepared for the skin-pulling fear in store is if you consider what you’re likely to get when you combine combine contemporary Australian horror (The Babadook, 2014; Relic, 2020) with infamous indie studio A24 (The Witch, 2015; Midsommar, 2019). Both have an unbelievable track record of pushing the horror genre to the extremes, and Talk To Me (2022) is no exception.

What’s really incredible is that this is the debut feature by the young Australian twin brothers of popular YouTube channel RackaRacka, Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou. It’s masterfully written and directed; especially in the way that playing with the demonic hand starts off as exhilarating and social-media friendly, before turning nightmarish. The film is probably a masterpiece of the horror genre. But boy, make sure you know what you’re in for.

Playing at cinemas in UK, US and internationally from 28 July 2023.