Talk to Me · reception & legacy

How Talk to Me has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

It arrived at Sundance 2023 with 'the YouTube guys made a horror movie' scepticism attached — and left as the year's word-of-mouth horror hit, going on to become A24's highest-grossing horror film ever, past Hereditary. Three years on it's settled in as the flagship of Gen-Z possession horror, its status only cemented by the Philippous' follow-up Bring Her Back.

What's debated

The perennial Letterboxd fight: instant modern-horror classic or just the most hyped A24 horror since Hereditary — with the brutal final stretch splitting viewers between 'devastating' and 'too cruel'.

Its footprint

The ceramic embalmed hand is the film's icon — 'talk to me' and 'I let you in', plus the 90-second rule, entered the horror lexicon as the séance-as-party-trick everyone read as a social media metaphor. A24 leaned in hard, merchandising the hand itself.

Where it stands

A Letterboxd-era favourite and modern horror canon climber — the default 'best recent horror' recommendation for anyone under 30.

Named by the director

Influences Danny Philippou has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

• The Exorcist (1973) — Danny Philippou cited it as a big influence on keeping the possessions grounded and character-rooted.
• Let the Right One In (2008) — Named by the brothers among the character-driven horror films that shaped Talk to Me's approach.
• Memories of Murder (2003) — Cited in interviews as an inspiration for the film's tonal shifts.
• Bong Joon-ho — Michael Philippou cited him as a big inspiration for the way he jumps between genres and moods.
• Jennifer Kent — Having worked on The Babadook's set, the brothers said Kent's frame-by-frame perfectionism shaped their directing mentality.