I Let You In: How Talk to Me Illustrates Grief, Loneliness, and Addiction in a Digital Age
By Colin Kerekes, Edited By Matt Chan
“He was having a negative reaction to the drugs he was taking. He was on the floor convulsing. The kids he was with weren’t helping - they were just filming and laughing at him. I remember seeing that footage, and it really sticking with me” (Phillipou, 2023).
Danny and Micheal Phillippou are Australian content creators best known for their collaborative YouTube channel, Racka Racka, which features an amalgamation of violent comedic shorts. They sought inspiration for their debut feature film, Talk to Me (2023), from an observed negligence towards drug usage in a digital landscape. The twins emerged as filmmakers by making these videos alongside their neighborhood friends, where unsupervised self-taught stunts and makeshift on-screen violence fostered a “Lord of the Flies” quality to the whole experience (Kring-Schreifels 2023). This naive, suburban amusement finds its way in Talk to Me , which centers around a group of Gen Z teenagers who gather around to partake in a possession game in hopes of reaching an unimaginable high. The device used to generate this spectral intoxication is a ceramic embalmed hand etched with unknown writings. Deliberately, the way this cast of teens interacts with the embalmed hand is meant to imitate the use of a party drug. The titular game at the center of the film, “talk to me” sees a human host hold onto the hand while saying “I let you in”. At the same time, they are strapped to a chair by a belt which cleverly imitates the appearance of a tourniquet utilized for the injection of heroin. Once the spirit is invited into the body, possession takes hold. Though unnerving, the user of this quasi-drug experiences feelings of irreplaceable euphoria. As a result, we observe the characters’ continued participation in this game until tragedy brutally strikes.
The hand itself was chosen as the haunting centerpiece of the film as a result of a car accident Danny Phillipou experienced when he was sixteen. He describes that the doctors would provide heat and blankets, but he wouldn’t be able to stop shaking. It was only his sister’s hand that got the trembling to subside. He explains that “the touch of someone I love brought me out of this state of shock that I was in” (Phillipou, 2023). The film’s protagonist, Mia (Sophia Wilde) experiences this humanistic touch through grasping the hand, and ultimately spirals into a disorienting state of reliance upon it in a way that parallels addiction. Her extreme loneliness as a consequence of her mother’s recent passing becomes palpable. Thus, the journey Mia undergoes throughout the film functions as a metaphor for substance abuse as a result of internet-fueled peer pressure, and how grief can activate an addictive mindset.
It is necessary to understand Mia’s character prior to discovering the game. She has recently lost her mother to an overdose, yet whether it was purposeful or not remains a mystery which haunts Mia. She is disconnected from her father, declining his calls and tuning him out in conversation, which is made prominent through choices in sound design like the overbearing hush of a water faucet. She instead spends most of her time with her best friend Jade’s (Alexandra Jensen) family, where she has an immediately noticeable bond with her younger brother, Riley (Joe Bird). There is a clear disparity between Jade and Mia’s living situations which reflects their emotional states and access or lack thereof to a proper support system. Mia’s house is characterized by sterile overhead lighting, and a rigid, modern design composed of windows with sharp edges, clean white cement, empty open spaces, etc. In contrast, Jade’s house, while still uniquely modern, feels lived-in with warm lighting, diversity in color, and little messes that evoke the action of a busy home. Therefore, Mia is introduced in alienation.
We see her attempt to suppress these overwhelming feelings by convincing Jade to attend a kickback with her and try out this new party game floating amongst various Snapchat stories. While she is evidently close with Jade and Riley, she stands at a mental distance from others. When at the small basement party, it is not until she first makes contact with the hand that she begins to bridge the gap between herself and her peers (17:40). In fact, this separation is not completely internal, for her peers hardly seem to engage, or even show relative kindness towards her, until she partakes in the game. It is a classic case of peer pressure, in the idea that drugs may sometimes be viewed as the sole impetus for social affairs in adolescent settings. If the hand were to be replaced with any common party drug, the following sequences would not play out very differently. A host of teens chanting “do it, do it, do it,” with iPhones pressed on the record button in hand achieves the same effect (19:56).
In exploring the function of cell phones in these early party scenes, it can be observed that most of the phones almost always utilize flash to record each fit of possession. Though generally unrealistic to do in a brightly lit room, this employment of technology as a major light source draws attention to electronic media as a catalyst for peer pressure. Mia wouldn’t have even been made aware of this game had it not been for its prevalence within social media. Through the distribution of possession by means of new media, the severity of the risk the hand presents is minimized. It becomes a harmless spectacle evoking curiosity and wonder. In fact, there have been studies conducted which suggest a link between increased social media use amongst adolescents, and the tendency to engage in increased alcohol and substance usage due to its social normalization (Nesi et al. 2017).
In Mia’s case, she is particularly vulnerable to the allure of the hand. There is a correlation present between bereaved youth and enhanced functional impairment, which can place them at risk for alcohol and substance abuse (Hamdan et al. 2014). Absent of familial support, Mia looks towards thrill seeking as a source of distraction, and later identification with her deceased mother. When playing the game, she is the only character to go over the strict ninety second time limit set in place. This is to prevent the spirit from supposedly remaining in the host’s body for a prolonged amount of time. In overlooking the imminent consequences, Mia simply responds to her first experience with possession by exclaiming after a bout of panting, “that was amazing” (23:18). Her possession is notably violent and frightening. Lights flicker, the door mysteriously slams shut and the embalmed hand refuses to break from hers. (22:07) She stares at Riley shouting “he’ll split you” and “run” repeatedly in a growling, nightmarish voice (22:27). Still, the characters choose to overlook the signals of danger in light of the fact that the possession elicits feelings of elation.
These fun and games take a turn when Riley, the aforementioned younger brother of Jade, requests to try the hand in curiosity of how it feels. Though Jade rejects the thought of this, Mia gives him permission under the condition that he doesn’t go over fifty seconds (39:37). Yet, when it appears that he is being possessed by the spirit of Mia’s mother, she pleads to extend the time (41:38). Though the harm this eventually causes could be easily foretold, Mia rids her mind of logical consequences in favor of the bliss she feels when given the chance to supposedly speak to her mother (which is heavily suggested to be a separate manipulative specter) again. Substances happen to target the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain crucial in decision-making and exerting “self-control over impulses'', with adolescents being most vulnerable to the effects of its alteration (NIDA 2022). In retrospect, it makes sense that under the hand’s influence, Mia struggles to control her impulses and prioritize Riley’s safety in the heat of the moment.
The effects of her actions reach a cruel climax when Riley, under full control of possession, engages in extreme acts of self-harm by repeatedly smashing his face to a pulp onto the table, leaving behind a bloody scene of savagery (42:16). This marks a turning point in Mia’s journey, where amidst a dissociative state in response to her guilt, she spirals down a murky, winding path of addiction and self-isolation. Directly following the incident, she neglects to thoroughly respond to both the questioning police investigators or her father who attempts to pry an honest answer out of her (44:22). Their voices become nothing more than background noise. Instead, all she can focus on is the hand she smuggled home in her backpack. By caressing it, we feel the gravitational pull luring her towards the device. Longing eyes and shortness of breath indicate a deep craving to use the hand again (46:09). Even when pulling away, the act is portrayed as one of painful resistance. She recognizes the harmful effects of the hand, but still feels an almost chemical attraction to it.
Themes of distance reappear when Jade and her mother Sue (Miranda Otto) both place the blame for Riley’s disfigurement on Mia. Notably, Sue interrogates, “Did you give him something?” and relates this incident to Mia’s prior marijuana usage (47:31). Therefore, beneath interpretation, the characters in this filmic universe discern the ramifications of the hand as a drug-induced altercation. With the abandonment of her chosen family, Mia looks towards her ex, Jade's current boyfriend, Daniel (Otis Dhanji) as a pillar of emotional support. This is quickly interrupted when experiencing a hallucination of a ghostly figure disturbingly sucking upon his feet. It is revealed that in reality, the figure physically violating Daniel was actually Mia under some sort of trance (58:48).
Drugs such as cocaine can have multiple effects upon the body which mirror the psychological struggles Mia begins to face. For instance, Mia seems to be undergoing a degree of delirium accompanied by hallucinations and strange, erratic behavior, all side effects provenly intensified by cocaine intoxication (Morton 1999). Furthermore, her reliance on Daniel for support emerges from a place of extreme paranoia. She explicitly states that she is afraid to be alone in her current state. Paranoia is said to occur in 68% to 84% of cocaine users. (Morton 1999). While these scientific results are in correlation to long-term cocaine users (where Mia had only “used” the hand briefly), and the hand itself functions metaphorically as a replacement for any kind of recreational drug, not just cocaine, the mental horrors depicted are still reminiscent of studied cases of addiction and substance abuse.
It is at this moment where Mia, at her lowest emotional point and devoid of any mortal connection, caves and locks the embalmed hand with her own (1:00:20). She is able to speak to her mother briefly by doing so, and even imagines being held by her as she sleeps. It is these comforting hallucinations that keep Mia afloat during this period of extreme hardship. She has nothing - no one - to turn to besides the hand and its cunning promises of consolation. Even when the hand proves itself capable of extreme horrors, like when the spirits mentally transport Mia to a visualized hell where Riley is trapped and tortured, she still is unable to get rid of it (1:11:48). Repeated substance usage can incite weakened brain functioning related to aptness for self-control (NIDA 2022). Hence, Mia’s inability to destroy the source of chaos is better understood through this lens.
Violence can often be the materialization of long-term substance usage. For example, methamphetamine addiction can engender confusion-based aggression, while hallucinogens can similarly trigger erratic behavior which often turns violent (NIDA 2022; NCSACW 2004). Mia ultimately ends up stabbing her father in the neck. This is because his secrecy concerning her mother’s puzzling overdose has created an illusion of him as a dangerous, ill-intentioned figure (1:18:12). The “mother” spirit convinces Mia that he cannot be trusted, weaponizing her unstable feelings towards her father against her. Because she relies so heavily on this spirit (the tangible manifestation of her addiction to the hand) for ultimate support, these delusions seep into her mind and control her actions until unspeakable acts are committed.
Mia’s journey ends quite cyclically. Her attachment to the hand begins with her assuming the position of the human host, and ends with her as an aimless spirit being invited into the body of another thrill-seeker. Her manner of death is not made entirely clear, but it can be interpreted as either a result of Jade pushing her to save Riley, or Mia making the disoriented choice to haul herself into moving traffic to terminate the spirits’ reign of tragedy (1:26:53). In analyzing the latter, she dies in a manner eerily similar to her mother whose overdose was induced by suicide. Despite this, she is still suggested to have clawed at the door in an attempt for help while being unable to properly communicate that. Mia’s death is effectively a suicide as means of saving Riley, and ceasing the spirits’ torment of her. A point she reaches largely because she is no longer in an opportune state to communicate with those close to her. Her only perceived option is to solve this bleak situation on her own. Accordingly, she is just as hopeless as her mother was in her final circumstances.
Thematically, the ending of Talk to Me does not suggest an easy or optimistic path for those suffering with addiction. It observes the issue through the extreme gaze of pragmatism. Mia is ultimately unable to circumvent the influences of the hand and its besmirchment of her mental headspace. That is not to say I believe the film determines addiction as objectively inescapable, but it instead serves as a supernatural cautionary tale for substance abuse, especially in a time where peer pressure has become widespread through internet virality.
Talk to Me ultimately cements itself as a key entry in the canon of digital-age horror, thematically akin to films like We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) or Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022). With the emergence of young creative voices telling stories of a generation whose sense of reality is dictated by the pocket-sized screen of a phone, we can grasp the true horrors of modern day isolation. At the root of Mia’s descent is the boundary social media has forged between her and the formation of genuine human connections. Her journey implores the viewer to confront the certainty that though we are all connected through the internet, this network may be the strongest impetus for disconnection from the tangible communities in our lives.
Works Cited
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