YouTube stars Daniel and Michael Philippou have a hit on their hands with their feature debut, Sundance Film Festival selection Talk to Me. The supernatural horror movie has made waves with critics for its take on possession involving a group of teenagers who are in way over their heads. Following Sophie Wilde's Mia, the film sees her and her friends tempted by a new party craze -- communing with spirits via an embalmed hand. The quick-hit possessions seem harmless at first, but they soon come to realize there are nightmarish consequences of prolonged contact.
At Sundance this year, Collider's own Perri Nemiroff was able to speak to the cast and directors, and she specifically asked about the lore behind the ominous hand. As it turns out, the Philippou brothers developed extensive lore for everything down to the writing on the hand itself and why it connects spirits to certain users. On top of that, they teased plans to channel that information into a potential sequel. Danny Philippou told Nemiroff:
Even down to the writing on the hand. There’s a lore and a story and a deep mythology. Even the spirits that are connecting with every character’s emotions. Everything’s really thought out and put through a mythology hopefully we can expand on if we were able to do a sequel. But yeah, we wanted the characters to be out of their depths. We didn’t explore it that much, so we just sort of hinted at it with the characters. But yes, everything’s ironed out and there’s a whole big bible. It’s called the mythology bible. So we’ve got that.
The Philippous May Be Eyeing a Trilogy of Talk to Me Films
Would one more film be enough to cover the full lore? Maybe not! After Danny Philippou shared their hopes to make a sequel, Michael Philippou floated the possibility of a trilogy. Immediately after Danny said, "It’s called the mythology bible. So we’ve got that," Michael immediately jumped in to add, "Or a big prologue. It’s a trilogy," while laughing. Only the Philippous know whether the goal is truly three films or two, but everyone seems to be in agreement that a follow-up is necessary to explore the unsolved mysteries of this world. From there the whole team, including Nemiroff, banged on the interview table in an effort to manifest a Talk to Me sequel.
Talk to Me has amassed quite a few fans since its Sundance 2023 premiere. Chase Hutchinson gave the film a B+ in his review for Collider and wrote, "Whether you can stomach it enough to make it all the way will depend on the viewer, but Talk To Me has plenty that promises to capture the souls of horror sickos looking for a sinister spectacle." Hutchinson's review also expresses love for the stellar ensemble which includes Wilde in her first lead role, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, and Zoe Terakes.
Keep an eye out for more Sundance coverage, including Nemiroff's full interview with the Philippous and their cast, here on Collider. Talk to Me will hopefully get a release date soon as A24 snagged the horror feature for distribution.