Interview: Danny & Michael Philippou on ‘TALK TO ME’
Danny and Michael Philippou, also known as RackaRacka, uploaded their first video on YouTube in 2013, exactly a decade ago. 10 years, millions of subscribers and billions of views later, they are about to unleash their very first feature film onto the world.
“Oddly enough, 10 years before that, 2003, was also when we first started making videos,” points out Michael. “We started filming with friends, recording on video tapes. It’s like a 10 year thing.” So what does it feel like for them to graduate from YouTube videos to Talk To Me, a critically-acclaimed horror film that went down a storm when it first debuted at Sundance back in January and has since not only become the subject of a bidding war, but is also currently one of the best-reviewed horror films of the year?
“It’s so overwhelming and like a dream,” says Danny, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film after being inspired by a concept from filmmaker Daley Pearson. “Every day was so overstimulating being on set, like we just could never sleep. It was a dream shooting it, a dream editing it, a dream getting distribution. The whole thing has been a dream.” It’s a sentiment his brother Michael more than shares. “It’s like our whole lives have led up to this moment,” he says. “To have a film that we’re proud of go out and then be able to find such a dedicated audience, it’s unreal.” The experience has also led to Danny fulfilling one of his life-long dreams. “It was always my dream to walk into a movie theater and see a poster of my own movie,” he says. “And it happened! I was not even expecting it. I walked into the AMC in Los Angeles, just to go watch a film, and I saw the Talk To Me poster. I was like, ‘What?'”
Since its debut at Sundance back in January, Talk To Me, which centers on a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, causing them to unwittingly unleash terrifying supernatural forces into their world, has garnered a devoted online following, some of which have yet to even see the film itself. Made up of RackaRacka fans but also horror fans who are constantly on the look-out for the next big thing within the genre, these fans have taken the time to make fan art, alternative posters, memes, fancams and more involving the film, a huge testament to not only the power of the duo’s fanbase but also initial word of mouth from the Sundance screenings. The film has also managed to break out on a global scale, which is rare for an independent horror movie not backed by a major studio. “We get tagged in things, like posts and stories from all over the world,” says Michael. “Posters with the title written in different languages. Commercials dubbed in different languages. It’s so awesome. We’re so thankful.”
RackaRacka’s YouTube videos, which were something of a cultural phenomenon in the mid 2010s, were a blend of genres; horror, comedy, and (very well-choreographed) action all jam-packed into one 5-10 minute video that took viewers on a rollercoaster ride of moods and emotions. So how did they decide which genre to tackle first for their very first feature? “I always loved the horror genre growing up,” says Danny. “I was always obsessed with it. It was like watching something you’re not allowed to watch. It’s a rite of passage for every childhood, and I was really attached to the genre. I was obsessed with it.” However, even though it was the first of their films to get greenlit, Talk To Me was not the first screenplay they wrote. “We’re always writing so many different things” says Danny. “Like the first thing we wrote even before this was just a coming-of-age drama. But this just caught momentum and felt right. That’s the only way I can describe it. It felt right.” In fact, the filmmakers did not actively decide to pursue horror as the first genre to explore with their debut film. “We didn’t go into it like, ‘Our first film needs to be a horror,'” explains Michael. “We had a bunch of different things in the works and that’s the one that really caught momentum the quickest.”
While Talk To Me is a wholly original film, a breath of fresh air in a space dominated by sequels and reboots, it also wears its influences proudly on its sleeves. From the slow-burning scares of the very first The Exorcist movie to the bleak, somber atmosphere of another Australian horror, The Babadook, to the genre-bending tone of Memories of Murder, the duo were inspired by a number of films that they grew up watching. “It’s so many different films,” says Danny. “It’s like infinite size. It’s hard to pin down to one or two [films].” One unlikely source of inspiration? Goosebumps author R. L. Stine. “R. L. Stine was a massive inspiration,” says Danny. “Growing up with [the Goosebumps books], that was the first time I figured out what a writer was and what a writer did. They could tell all those different world, all those different characters, I was obsessed with that.”
One of the more surprising factors in Talk To Me is just how invested viewers will become in the overarching journey of lead character Mia (Sophie Wilde), a young teenage girl mourning the untimely death of her beloved mother who goes from simply navigating her daily life to actively trying to prevent terrifying supernatural forces from overtaking her world. This is a huge testament to not only Wilde’s haunting, searing performance but also the impressive, surprisingly empathetic writing from Danny and writing partner Bill Hinzman. “Some of the characters in the film are based on real people,” says Danny. “James in the movie is based on James in real life, whose friends with my neighbor Riley, who the character Riley is based on. I like drawing inspiration from real life and real experiences. I like having everyone feel as human and as real as possible so when the horror happens, it really hits. We wanted audiences to be really connected to those characters. That’s always the strongest horror films; when it’s based in reality with people that feel real.”
One particular element of the film that has been leaving audiences on the edge of their seats is the film’s impeccable sound design, which Michael painstakingly oversaw alongside sound designer Emma Bortignon. “From a young age, we always used sound to cover up what we were shooting because we were trying to make something out of nothing,” explains Michael. “We’d add sound effects and music to make it feel like something’s happening when it actually isn’t, and that just sort of developed over time. I love sound so much, so having an awesome sound designer like Emma and a phenomenal composer like Cornel [Wilczek] was amazing. To see people that specialize in sound, and then working with them on that aspect, and then seeing it all come together, it was the best thing ever.”
Now that they’ve spent a decade conquering YouTube and have already started making a splash in the film industry with Talk To Me (the duo also have several other projects in the pipeline, including a potential sequel, another horror film titled Bring Her Back and an adaptation of iconic video game Street Fighter), what’s next for the Philippou brothers? “Video games, maybe” jokes Michael.
Talk To Me debuts in theaters in the UK (via Altitude Films) and the US (via A24) on July 28, 2023.