Movies
The Ending of ‘Talk To Me’ Explained
A24’s Talk To Me chronicles the story of 17-year-old Mia, played by Sophie Wilde, whose desperation for genuine connection makes her a dangerous candidate for possession. The possession is voluntary and happens to anyone who grabs the movie’s signature embalmed Hand before a lit candle and recites two incantations. The first is “Talk to me,” which summons a spirit for the person holding the Hand to see. Lastly, “I let you in” grants the spirit permission to enter the person’s body for 90 seconds. Any longer, and the spirit may become too attached: a lesson Mia unfortunately learns in the worst way possible. Spoiler’s ahead.
According to the kids in the movie, the mysterious hand once belonged to a medium, who had their hand severed and then embalmed. It’s now used to conjure spirits.
The Talk To Me Game Explained
The film opens with a party going off the rails when a disturbed young man stabs his brother and himself (in the face) in front of everyone. Before learning their place in the story, we meet Mia and the people in her life, including her best friend’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird), a good kid. While Mia’s driving Riley down a country road late at night, the two encounter a severely injured kangaroo on the road. Mia’s left with the decision to either put the kangaroo out of its misery or leave it to suffer. She cannot kill it, so she chooses option two.
Mia’s best friend and Riley’s older sister, Jade (Alexandra Jensen), go to a party. Mia’s been struggling to cope with losing her mother, Rhea (Alexandria Steffensen), so she jumps at the first chance for a cheap thrill at the party: the Hand. Whatever spirit possessed Mia wantingly fixated on Riley, likely because it could control younger vessels more easily.
Letting go of the Hand and blowing out the candle ends the possession, but everyone around Mia fails to do that within the 90-second window. Despite this, she loved the experience and didn’t seem possessed after they removed the spirit from her. At this point, the film’s message of codependency and maladaptive coping mechanisms for grief becomes clear. The possession via supernatural spirits is not unlike the experience of drinking liquor (also referred to as spirits) or taking other substances. The camera angle when the teenagers are lighting the candle is reminiscent of “lighting up” certain other substances, as another example.
Riley’s Overdose
Everyone continues playing with the Hand night after night, and Mia loses herself in the good times until the night of Riley’s first possession. Riley’s not taking well to being possessed, but Mia prolongs it because she believes the spirit is Rhea’s. Mia’s grief has been so unbearable that she’s risking her friend’s well-being just for a chance to talk to her mother again.
Whatever Riley lets in nearly kills him by throwing his body around the room. The scene seems to be a gruesome reminder of the bodily, mental, and spiritual harm overdosing poses to anyone using mind-altering substances and those around them.
Riley’s family casts Mia out because they blame her for what happened to him, inadvertently contributing to her downward spiral. Even worse, she’s stolen the Hand and continues using it mostly privately. She believes the ghost she’s connecting to is her mother, despite clues seemingly pointing to the contrary.
Desperate for connection, Mia uses the Hand alone for a chance to see her deceased mother one more time.
Why Did the Struck Kangaroo Return?
What appears to be Rhea’s ghost convinces Mia that Riley’s soul is being tortured in limbo and instructs her to free the boy by killing him. The spirit tricks Mia into stabbing her father in the neck with scissors before she heads to the hospital.
While Mia’s working up the courage at Riley’s bedside to do the evil deed, she sees the kangaroo they saw on the road earlier in the film. The vision reads like an eerie goading from beyond their physical world to put the boy out of his misery.
Mia puts Riley in a wheelchair and kidnaps him from the hospital, taking him to the side of a busy highway. She intends to push him into oncoming traffic until she realizes Rhea’s ghost is a spirit posing as her mother. It possesses Mia, and she ends up severely injured on the road like the kangaroo. However, Mia’s death isn’t the end of her misery.
Mia’s Nightmare Becomes Reality in Talk To Me
Mia’s a ghost but doesn’t realize it, so she tries without success in the hospital to talk to those around her. How did she end up here? I imagine Mia was still alive after getting struck on the highway, and she died while the medical support team fought to save her.
Mia can’t see her reflection in a mirror, which is her recurring nightmare made real. Next, Mia finds herself in complete darkness until a faint light appears. A new group of kids is playing with the Hand and Mia’s become part of the game.
Some questions remain, but a Talk To Me sequel is in the works, so we’ll likely understand more about the creepy Hand and its obscure origins soon.
You can watch Talk To Me on VOD or purchase the Blu-ray starting October 3rd, 2023.
Shudder knows summer is the perfect time to watch scary things in air-conditioned places. Which is why the beloved streamer is giving us newer movies like Heresy, Whistle, This is Not a Test, and Smothered. While it’s always fun to see recent titles arrive alongside classics and deep cuts, my eye isn’t on the films this month. Most of my picks this May are television series and documentaries. Maybe that means I want longer comments with my media and an open library. Or perhaps I’m just reminding myself that I’m a cool nerd and making it your problem too. Whatever the case may be, I have curated another list of titles that I believe deserve our attention. Check out my top five priorities while surfing our favorite streamer below.
Tales From the Crypt (1989 – 1996)
Our beloved 90s anthology is finally making its way to our most cherished streamer. As someone who hasn’t seen Tales From the Crypt since I was a tyke, I’m so giddy that I get to watch it as an adult. More importantly, I get to binge it as John Kassir (the voice of our favorite ghoul) intended. I have been floating since this news was announced at the Overlook Film Festival in April. My insomnia and my Crypt Keeper are about to be reunited, and all is going to be alright in my little world. Come for the celebrities and stay for the puns and wicked deaths. I sincerely hope you call out of work each Friday as a new season gets added to Shudder.
You can watch Tales From the Crypt: Season 1 on May 1st. Subsequent seasons will premiere on Fridays, concluding with Season 7 on June 12
Horror Noire: History of Black Horror (2019)
Based on Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman’s book of the same name, Horror Noire: History of Black Horror is simply that girl. It unpacks the complicated history of Black people in the genre with humor, honesty, and heart. It even gets into the conversations no one seems to want to have and makes room for Black horror icons to actually be heard for once. You could hear the record scratch on Bluesky when this Shudder Original disappeared a few months ago. So, we can all rest easy knowing that it’s coming back home and we can continue to have it in our regular rotation. Horror Noire made many of us feel seen and made us better cinephiles and critics. It’s worth the Shudder subscription on its own if we’re being completely honest.
You can watch Horror Noire: History of Black Horror on May 4th.
The Terror: Devil in Silver (2026)
Your favorite unsettlingly stoic anthology has returned for a new season, and this time, Dan Stevens is in the mix. Stevens plays Pepper, a man with bad luck and a bad temper who gets himself committed to a psychiatric hospital. Any horror fan knows that’s the recipe for many horror bangers, and that’s why I will be sat. The cast also includes CCH Pounder, Judith Light, and Marin Ireland. However, my heart belongs to Karyn Kusama, who is in the director’s chair and the queen of tension. As a Momma Kusma stan account, I am so ready for her to raise my blood pressure and send me to the ER. The demonic duo of AMC+ and Shudder is cooking with this one.
You can watch episode one of The Terror: Devil in Silver on May 7th. Subsequent episodes will premiere weekly, concluding with the season finale on June 11th.
In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 (2024)
We all love to see our faves get together and discuss the horror eras we have romanticized. Which is why watching genre royalty unpack the “lost” decade of horror is something we all probably want to see. As a 90s kid, I feel like we ate pretty well in my day. So, I want to collect all of these stories like infinity stones. Some of the faces we can expect to see are Heather Langenkamp, John Carpenter, Frank Henenlotter, Tim Balme, and Michael Gross. My little nerd heart could bust, and I am happy Shudder is opening the library this May.
You can watch episode one of In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 on May 11th.
Something Is About to Happen (2023)
Things take a turn for a woman who loses her job as a computer programmer. The only movie in my roundup this month goes to the one I perhaps know the least about. Truthfully, I am just here for horror movies about women going through it. Excuse me as I gesture to the world and my bank account. More importantly, Spanish-language horror rarely fails me. So, I am willing to look past the two-hour and two-minute runtime. I am ignoring that it is listed as a romantic horror. I’m doing this because I expect my kind of chaos, and I hope I am right. From one down girl to another, I am rooting for this character on sight.
You can watch episode one of Something Is About to Happen on May 15th.
That is what I plan to use my Shudder Saturdays for this month. Let us know what you’re plotting to hit play on in the comments because we’re nosy.
Is anyone else remembering we have movies at home and logging in a lot of Netflix hours this spring? I know I am, and I keep finding more hidden treasures on this app. They collect so much international media and never tell us they have it. I find this frustrating as I pull up late to things I’m probably going to love. Quite a few foreign films make it into my lineup this month. Two of them I have never heard of before and are newer titles that should be getting some attention, in case they’re some of the best of their respective years. One is French, and we all need to revisit it for reasons that I’ll explain later.
Another thing worth noting about Netflix’s recent additions is an American show called Man on Fire. This serialized adaptation of A. J. Quinnell’s novel of the same name stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He’ll be playing the character my generation associates with Denzel Washington because of the 2004 film adaptation. As a nerd who has been wondering why Yahya hasn’t been on my screen for a minute, I will probably have finished binging this before you even make it to the end of this article. I digress! Here are the five movies I plan to watch this month on Netflix!
180 (2026)
An act of road rage leaves a young boy in critical condition and his father seeking revenge. As usual, Netflix has not really advertised this South African thriller. However, I love revenge and am always game for a new release. So, I’m happy the powers that be put this in the recent lineup. It looks good, which gives me hope that this is going to be a gritty and bloody adventure. Fingers crossed, a few of you also hit play on this one because I’d like more quality South African thrillers that are easily accessible in America. I’m tired of hunting them down years after the fact.
Benedetta (2021)
A nun has religious visions that threaten the core of the Church while she is also having a secret affair in the 17th century. You are probably confused as to why Paul Verhoeven’s French psychological romantic drama is in my Netflix round-up. Especially if you clocked the long run time, and now I love a 90-minute or less movie. Listen! If you give me a nun having visions and having a lesbian affair in a period piece, it is my sworn duty to tell everybody. It is also my job to rewatch it for reasons. Don’t say I never did anything for you!
Him (2025)
A young athlete discovers why you should never meet your heroes when he is invited to train with a football legend. People were way too mean to this movie. It’s giving Neon Demon and Black Swan for Black male athletes. It’s not perfect, but the aesthetics and vibes are on 10. More importantly, Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers deliver some pretty fantastic performances that keep you locked in. I’m excited to revisit it and see if I like it more (or less) than when I caught it in theaters. Hopefully, more people will do the same now that the more biased discourse has died down.
Mudborn (2025)
A spirit terrorizes a video-game designer and his pregnant wife. I have no idea what to expect from Meng-Ju Shieh’s Mandarin supernatural horror film. However, I’m excited to see what this spirit is about. Again, Netflix continues to drop the ball on advertising international films. So, it’s up to us to find it in the streets and raise the alarm. In a perfect world, this movie will be the nightmare fuel I’m always seeking out. However, at the end of the day, I’m just happy to show up and support international films helmed by people of color. It’s a win-win situation, however I look at it.
Scream (2022)
A new Ghostface is terrorizing Woodsboro 25 years after the original killing spree rocked the town. As a Wes Craven stan account and fan of Radio Silence, I was so happy this movie turned out awesome. I can still say this is one of my favorite horror wins of this decade because it showed this franchise still had some life in it. It also introduced us to our Core Four, led by my new favorite final girl, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera). As someone who enjoyed these first six movies, I will always clear my schedule for a marathon and am happy to see Scream (2022) on Netflix this month. I plan to rewatch it and continue being salty that I will never know how this new trilogy was supposed to end.
That’s what I have this month. Happy Netflixing to each and every one of you!
