RackaRacka may be known for its mature YouTube content and online pranks, but this year the world got to witness the highest extent of their directing and filmmaking talents. Talk to Me is an upcoming indie horror film that was fully produced in Australia and had its global premiere during the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Talk to Me writer and director Danny Philippou sat down with We Got This Covered last weekend to learn more about the film before its public release.
Back on April 11, 2023, the first trailer for Talk to Me was released by A24 and it showed the typical story beats of any horror film. Interestingly, Philippou gave a funny, yet interesting one-line description of the upcoming flick that might shock you since it seems it’s more than just your typical horror movie.
“It’s about kids who use demonic possession to get high.”
Philippou claimed that the film is more than just the everyday horror we know. It can also be seen as a drama with some horror elements. It makes sense why that’s the case considering that the film’s original concept was originally written as a comedy. It’s no secret that Talk To Me original concept was written by Bluey producer Daley Pearson. And according to Philippou, he couldn’t explain what part of the concept made him fall in love with the idea. But in a way, the concept “talked to him” to the point where he and his brother transformed this comedy into a more serious and horrifying film.
“I think he [Pearson] written like a short film and I was just obsessed with it. He had more of a comedic tone, and i sorta grabbed it and turned it a bit more serious. But I don’t know, it was just like spoke to me. I can’t explain it. I’m not sure.”
Talk To Me isn’t out yet. However, critics were able to view the film during the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival and the aforementioned 2023 Sundance Film Festival that took place in Park City, Utah as part of its Midnight horror category. Eight films were released, and Talk to Me managed to be acquired by A24 on the day of the film festival. A video of the directors’ reaction was released on YouTube, where you can see both Danny and Michael crying and excited about their newfound success.
If there was one word that could describe this moment, Philippou chose the word “overwhelming.” Never did he or his brother think that Talk to Me would find success. As of writing, the film currently sits at an average critic score of 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Philippou didn’t expect the film would receive the high praise we see today. In fact, he still thought it was 96 percent and didn’t expect the score to rise.
“No, we’d thought we’d get a Rotten Tomato. 96 percent I can’t believe that! 97?! Goddam! Yeah, no, no. We didn’t know how this film would be received. We did not imagine that it would be doing that well. That’s insane.”
So what’s next for RackaRacka? Or should we call them the Philippou Brothers? Currently, not so sure. It was revealed back in mid-early April that Danny and Michael had a meeting with DC Studios and rejected an offer made by the studio. At the same time, the director accidentally slipped the fact that he and his brother also fielded offers from Marvel Studios. While details for their next project remain unknown, Philippou revealed that there is a “big property” that they’re interested in and are currently in talks about it.
“Oh shit. I can’t talk about that. I got in trouble talking for about that. Yeah, we’ve had a whole bunch of studio offers and I think there is one big property that we really wanna do. We’re talking with them right now.”
After the interview, Philippou spoke more about the film during the Talk To Me panel during the SUPANOVA Comic Con & Gaming Convention in Melbourne, Australia. He shared how the chances for Australian-made films to find success overseas tend to be very slim, especially when it involves an all-Australian cast and the characters don’t have American accents. Both he and his brother have broken the glass ceiling with their debut as directors and filmmakers and it will be interesting to see what’s next for them, especially when big superhero studios and notable directors have begun to reach out to the Australian duo.
If you’re interested to see the filmmaking potential that these YouTubers could have, Talk to Me will hit US theaters on July 28, 2023.