When talking about the behavior of the new generations of young people, two words generally come up: “instant gratification”. It seems that the consensus on the settings of the centenaries is that “they want it all, now.” It may be that in many cases this is the case. However, making such a statement without knowing what is really going through the mind of the young person is not very empathetic. The film tell me He’s trying to understand that urgency, that feeling of wanting to do and experience everything before life ends, and best of all, he does it with pure horror.
It’s no surprise that directors Michael and Danny Philippou were drawn to this story to make their feature film debut. After all, the twins from Adelaide, Australia already knew how to convey fear of the camera. Before embarking on a theater project, they opened a YouTube channel under the pseudonym RackarackaThey went viral.
A large proportion of the short films aired on this channel are parodies – full of fast-paced energy – of numerous well-known pop culture franchises. From clowns rampaging in fast food joints to lightsaber fights in “real life,” everything always ends in chaos and disaster.
Even when they jump onto the big screen, they have the feeling that at any moment everything can spiral out of control. However, in a very ingenious way, they remove the tone of the farce by introducing us to Mia (Sophie Wilde, with mesmerizing theatrical flair), a young woman who has just suffered a terrible loss and still feels confused about what happened. Because of this, when her friends invite her to participate in a strange game at a party, she assumes.
The game consists of sitting in front of a surface on which a gloomy embalmed hand is placed, which the person in turn must take. Once contact occurs, the words “Speak to me” and “I will let you in” must be uttered in order for a trance leading to the afterlife to begin.
With that in mind, more than one viewer might wonder if anyone, even within a fictional setting, would be capable of doing something that crazy without thinking about the consequences. And here is the script written by Danny Philippou Bill Hinzman, which develops the main character in great detail and gives him the necessary vulnerability to make his actions seem organic. As a viewer, it’s very hard to question Mia’s daring when given a chance to escape from reality. What is interesting is that the tape depicts in an extremely realistic way the confusion of the people around the girl. In fact, her friends are Jade (Alexandra Jensen), Riley (Joe Bird) and Daniel (Otis Dhanji) also experience moments of turbulence, so their need to do new things and break with their daily lives is fully justified.
As an adjunct to the clinical and precise study of anxiety and the fear of missing out on what everyone is talking about –FOMO, they would say, there is an aura of rebellion out there, enveloping everything. The Philippou twins have no qualms about translating the rousing and engaging energy of their early videos into a pessimistic context. Witnessing this story is like having your hands tied to the seat of a roller coaster set in an environment where you see only disturbing images.
The Devastating Edition (Courtesy of Geoff Lamb) gives no rest to the people on the other side of the screen, neither does the melancholic photography (great work by Aaron McClsky) that is fulfilling its goal of destabilizing us.
At first glance it might seem as if the filmmakers are resorting to shocking elements just to show they can do it. However, this is not the case. If he blood it slips into the narrative without warning and leaves us cold. However, with the film’s suffocating and enveloping atmosphere, he responds to what is sought: Open up the conversation about the ins and outs of living in the current immediacy – and never lecture.
With all that the movie tell me It becomes an extremely attractive proposition because not only does it offer a new approach to the avalanche of supernatural conventions, but it also builds its terrors with plenty of creativity, gets under our skin and shakes us. All of our senses are working against us and it’s fascinating.