The Big Picture

The stellar new A24 horror movie Talk to Me is now playing in theaters nationwide. During an SDCC 2023 interview with directors Danny and Michael Philippou, the duo revealed some Easter eggs you can find hidden throughout the film. On top of that, they also explained how certain key scenes and characters evolved during the filmmaking process.

I was lucky enough to be one of the very first people to catch Talk to Me at Sundance 2023 where it celebrated its world premiere. We were mere weeks into the New Year, but it was quite apparent I had just seen a film that’d likely end up being one of my top ten films of 2023. About six months later and three additional viewings later, I can confirm that assessment still stands. Not only is Talk to Me one of the best horror movies of 2023, but it’s also one of the best movies of 2023, period.

It focuses on a mysterious embalmed hand with the power to connect the living to spirits. If you hold the hand, say, “Talk to me” and then, “Let me in,” you willingly become possessed. The main characters in Talk To Me use this hand to get a quick high, but when Mia (Sophie Wilde) breaks the embalmed hand golden rule and stays connected for more than 90 seconds, things start to spiral.

If you’ve yet to see Talk to Me which is now playing in theaters nationwide, I’ll direct you to my Sundance conversation with directors Danny and Michael Philippou, and stars Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Zoe Terakes, and Miranda Otto. But, if you caught the film and are ready for some more spoilery details, this right here is the Talk to Me interview for you.

Image via A24

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Talk to Me.]Following our chat at Sundance and then another lengthy profile-style conversation at SXSW, I got the opportunity to reconnect with the Philippou brothers at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 to dig into some Talk to Me deleted/changed scenes and also some Easter eggs you can find hidden throughout the movie.

In fact, you can find some of those Easter eggs in the very first scene — that incredible oner in which Duckett (Sunny Johnson) dies and nearly takes his brother (Ari McCarthy) with him. During our conversation, Michael Philippou teased, “I actually am in the film,” and confirmed, “I’m in the opening sequence.” When I caught Talk to Me again that evening at its SDCCC 2023 screening, I did indeed find Philippou in the shot, hanging out on the left side of the door just before the camera moves inside. However, I failed to find the other individuals hidden throughout that sequence.

Danny Philippou revealed, “All the main characters are in the opening sequence, and they’re all dressed as different characters.” When Philippou notes that they’re dressed as different characters, he’s not kidding. If you’d like to know what exactly to look out for, the final photo in this Instagram post from Joe Bird reveals the actors’ final looks.

Image Via A24

Finding these next hidden details might demand home viewing and the ability to push pause, but the scene during which Mia travels to the spirit world has some especially disturbing imagery peppered throughout. The brothers previously noted that that particular scene in its original form was too chaotic and unhinged to release. Michael Philippou said, “It was just showing a lot more of hell.” Danny Philippou continued:

“The depravity of hell, and it was a really intense, brutally messed-up sequence that felt like, ‘Okay, we need to peel this back.’ Even our producer said, ‘You won’t get it past the censors and we’re gonna get an NC-17 rating.’ It was really heavy, and it went for a while, and it was like, we needed to cut this down [and] just give it a small glimpse. But we did hide some frames in that sequence. So if you go through there slowly, you will see some pretty intense imagery.”

While the Philippou brothers were able to retain some of the more extreme visuals for that particular scene, there was another where the disturbing material just had to go. The directing duo has said that initially, the very first possession scene went too far. So far that it would leave the viewer wondering why they would ever want to use the hand again.

Image Via A24

Wondering exactly what going too far really meant? So was I! But Danny Philippou insisted on keeping those details top secret. “I am that embarrassed about it. I don’t wanna say it. Well, not embarrassed. It’s just, I’ll tell it to you and you’ll be like ‘Oh, okay.’” He added, “Maybe I could tell you when the cameras are off. Or maybe we’ll use it in another film. It’s pretty intense. It’s intense.”

Another detail the Philippous didn’t want to totally give away? The meaning of all the marking on the hand. Danny Philippou said, “What we’re excited about is for someone to post it and start breaking down the hand and give everyone the answers. I’m very excited for that. So I wanna leave it up to people to be able to decode.” If you’re interested in decoding the hand, rest assured, everything on it does indeed mean something. Philippou added “The answers are there. I can’t wait. We’re very excited.”

Eager to hear even more from the Philippou brothers about the making of Talk to Me and what could lie ahead for them in terms of a Talk to Me sequel and their upcoming Street Fighter movie? Check out our full SDCC 2023 conversation below: