Talk To Me Trailer: Teenagers Shouldn't Play With Possessed Things

After it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, "Talk to Me" quickly became one of the most highly-anticipated horror releases of 2023. Directed by twin YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou, the teenage terror tale brought some big scares to the festival circuit, and sparked a bidding war that was eventually won by A24. As /Film's Chris Evangelista said in his review, "The Philippou Brothers have a great grasp on nasty, shocking, Raimi-like horror, and that goes a long way toward tipping the scales in a favorable direction." Check out the film's official synopsis:

"When a group of friends discovers how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces."

This is a super polite way to describe what appears to be getting high off of the sensation of being possessed. Teens have been dabbling with the dark side for generations, between sleepover rituals of playing "light as a feather, stiff as a board" or the ever-popular Ouija boards, but "Talk to Me" is one of the first to approach this frightening friendship activity while factoring in social media. A24 has just released their latest trailer for the film, so if you couldn't get enough of the first one and are thirsting for some even creepier new footage, scroll below for the newest look at "Talk to Me."

Everybody, please take a minute to clap and appreciate that this trailer does not feature an eerily slowed-down version of a popular pop song as its underscoring ... thank you. With that out of the way, uh, holy crap does that look like a terrifyingly good time? Bodies moving in unnatural positions, black sclera lenses, Sam Raimi-esque spontaneous laughter, monstrous visions in the dark, and friends uploading footage of you while you look terrible? Yeah, this movie is a waking nightmare. Sign me up.

It's natural to be skeptical of YouTube-turned-filmmakers in a post-Shane Dawson's "Not Cool" world, but the "RackaRacka" Philippou Brothers are more in line with the quality of Bo Burnham's "Eighth Grade" if the goal was to scare audiences out of their skin. As the lines continue to blur between "content creator" and "filmmaker," a quality scarefest like "Talk to Me" is an exciting sign of the filmmaking future to come.

The film stars Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Zoe Terakes, Otis Dhanji, Chris Alosio, and Miranda Otto. The film was written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman (not the "Night of the Living Dead" zombie of the same name) from a story by Daley Pearson. Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton serve as producers while Aaron McLisky served as cinematographer.

"Talk to Me" will conjure up into theaters on July 28, 2023.