Netflix is about to add the year’s best horror movie – in time for Halloween.
Users subscribed to the UK version of the streaming service are in for a scary treat as the film, released just months ago, will become available to watch at home.
The film in question is Talk to Me, an Australian horror that, thanks to positive festival buzz and excitable word-of-mouth, saw it become a bona fide hit at the box office.
At the time of writing, Talk to Me, directed by twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, has grossed $90m worldwide from a budget of just $4.5m, making it the second biggest film for distributor A24, behind 2023 Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The plot follows a group of friends who become hooked on conjuring spirits using an embalmed hand.
One of them, a young woman played by Sophie Wilde, ends up unleashing terrifying forces after one séance.
Also starring in the film are Miranda Otto, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Marcus Johnson, and Alexandria Steffensen.
The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey praised the “neat and nasty” film in a four-star review, with Damon Wise, writing for Deadline Hollywood, stating that Talk to Me “attempts to do something new with an old idea”.
Joblo’s Chris Bumbray compared it to The Exorcist, adding that Bird’s performance of a “possessed” character is the best seen on screen since Linda Blair in William Friedkin’s 1973 film.
Meanwhile, Slant Magazine’s Chuck Bowen said that “the film’s major achievement is how it manages to ground possession in the reality of modern teenage life”.
’Talk to Me’ is coming to Netflix— (A24 )
On film-based social media platform Letterboxd, Evolution of Horror host Mike Muncer called it “my favourite horror film of 2023 so far”, with Andrew Pope adding: “When you know where it’s going it’s horrifically, soul-destroyingly bleak. The kinda movie where you won’t want to go to bed straight away”.
Pope also praised the climax as “an all-timer horror movie ending”.
Talk to Me will be available to stream on Netflix UK from Thursday (26 October). Find the full list of titles being added to the service here, and a list of everything being removed this month here.
