Explaining the ending of the terrifying A24 horror movie ‘Talk to Me’
Aside from the Hammer films that thrived in Britain during the mid-20th century and such Universal monsters as Dracula that terrified audiences across the globe, no movie studio has changed the face of horror quite like A24. Helping to craft such delectable frights as Ari Aster’s Hereditary, Rose Glass’ Saint Maud and the Philippou brothers’ Talk to Me, A24 has created a new brand of contemporary horror that focuses on quality above all.
Many critics and viewers call A24’s brand of cinema ‘Elevated Horror’, yet while the studio can certainly showcase a range of intelligent genre filmmaking, such a term also degrades the history of horror, with such movies having always challenged political systems, sociological problems and mental health issues. Even F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu speaks to the imminent rise of the Nazi party in the filmmaker’s own country of birth.
While A24’s most recent horror success, Talk to Me, from the Australian YouTubers-turned-directors RackaRacka, might not tackle too much in terms of such aforementioned politics, it does directly address the mental health epidemic that countless young people are suffering from in the contemporary world.
The story follows Mia, a young woman who, having recently lost her mother, chooses to take part in a local viral challenge in which a group of friends get together to conjure the spirits of the dead using a mysterious embalmed hand. But this portal to the otherworld is strangely addictive, and Mia finds herself hooked on the dark magic like it’s a drug in and of itself, sending her down a spiral of insanity.
What happened to Mia in Talk to Me?
Mia dies at the end of Talk to Me, sacrificing herself to save the life of Riley, who was well under the hold of the demonic spirit. Having used the embalmed hand a few too many times, Mia found herself at the will of the spirits, including a vision of her deceased mother, who tormented and tried to convince her that the only way to cure Riley of his possession was to kill him.
Therefore, Mia visits the hospital where Riley is being held, places him in a wheelchair and takes him to the motorway, where she intends to fling him in front of traffic. Just before it’s too late, however, Mia snaps out of her own possessed state to throw herself onto the road instead. Yet, we don’t see the corpse of the protagonist. Instead, we see her walking around as if she were still alive.
Suddenly, she is transported to the hospital, and it becomes clear that she is, indeed, dead, with no one responding to her calls. Unable to see her reflection, Mia begins to panic until she hears a glow in the distance and a hand dangling from the dark ether. Reaching out to grab the hand, she suddenly finds herself among a group of teenagers playing the same viral game that got her into this mess, with the young man opposite her uttering, “I let you in.” Mia now resides in the world of the dead.
What happened to Riley in the end?
At the end of Talk to Me, it’s clear that Mia saves Riley’s life after sacrificing herself in his place while they are both under demonic possession. Such can be seen when Mia stumbles through the hospital at the end of the film and sees Riley talking to his sister and mother in bed, looking very much free from his supernatural overlords. The same can be said for Mia’s father, whom she mistakenly stabs earlier in the film.
It’s never explicitly stated quite how Riley manages to get over his bout of demonic possession, with the film allowing the audience to piece together the answer themselves. Indeed, the answer likely relates to how Riley became possessed in the first place, with the immature boy taking part in the embalmed hand viral challenge only to find himself unable to take the mental turmoil, bashing his head against the wall repeatedly. In the panic of trying to save him, none of the witnesses bothered to blow out the candle and close the gate to the underworld.
Riley continued to suffer under possession as the gate was never closed. Such only changes when Mia decides to re-do the ritual and finally close the gate for good by properly blowing out the candle.
Is Talk to Me based on a true story?
You can rest easy in the knowledge that, no, Talk to Me is very much not based on a true story. Yet, this idea of a magical hand likely came from the short horror story The Monkey’s Paw, released in 1902 by W. W. Jacobs. In the tale, the paw allows the user three wishes, with the essence of this same story being used in countless other pieces of media, including The Simpsons and, potentially, Talk to Me, too.
While the story is not strictly based on reality, the directors previously told Roger Ebert that the idea of being able to contact the dead through the use of a hand came as a result of a near-fatal car accident experienced by Danny Phillippou, one-half of the RackaRacka twins.
“I was in the hospital, and I just couldn’t stop myself from shaking,” the filmmaker recalled when speaking about the film’s influences, “Then, my sister sat next to me. She held my hand, and the shaking just stopped. The touch of someone I love brought me out of this state of shock that I was in.” Even for one of A24’s bleakest horror movies, it’s certainly nice to know that it was born from an act of tender love and affection.
