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Summary
- The 90-second rule in “Talk To Me” sets a limit on how long characters can let spirits inside them, with dire consequences for breaking it.
- The rule is metaphorical for drug abuse, as getting possessed by the hand is compared to getting high on drugs, with similar effects and risks.
- The 90-second rule foreshadows the ending, as Mia’s first possession beyond the time limit leads to her addiction and manipulation by a spirit impersonating her mother.
The 90-second rule is central to Talk To Me‘s storyline, but there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Although Talk To Me sets its narrative foundations in some familiar horror tropes, it scares and intrigues by bringing a refreshing take on how its characters interact with spirits of the netherworld. Instead of using a typical Ouija Board as a medium between the living and the dead, the horror movie introduces an embalmed hand that allows humans to let spirits in.
Talk To Me stays light on scares and terrors in its opening arc and takes its time to set the groundwork and rules for the human-spirit connections through the hand. One rule that is instrumental to the movie’s narrative is a 90-second timer, which sets a limit for how long a character can safely let a spirit inside them. While the horrific direct consequences of defying this rule later become evident toward Talk To Me‘s ending, the movie subtly highlights how the rule is even darker than it seems.
Talk To Me alludes that getting possessed by the hand is synonymous with getting high on recreational drugs. Other than having dilated pupils, the characters in Talk To Me also feel euphoric when they let the spirits in through the hand. The movie also draws several other parallels between drug abuse and the ghost possessions from the embalmed hand. For instance, when Mia and the crew meet Cole to ask him about his brother, Duckett, Cole is surprised that they let a minor like Riley touch the hand and even seems to judge them for it. Talk To Me‘s 90-second rule further cements this idea.
Like the characters abide by a 90-second rule and ensure that no one stays in contact with the hand beyond that timestamp, recreational drug users often take a measured quantity to ensure they do not overdose. Just like an overdose can lead to dire consequences, bad things happen when Mia and Riley exceed the 90-second limit in Talk To Me. Talk To Me also highlights that even though the characters try taking provisions to make sure the spirits from the other side do not stay beyond the 90-second mark, the “symptoms” from hand are not always predictable. For instance, nothing instant happens to Mia when she exceeds the time limit. However, as a minor, Riley seems relatively less tolerant of the “intoxication” from the hand.
When Mia and her friends approach Cole for help, he tells them that the spirit’s connection with its human host weakens over time if the host avoids using the hand. However, the spirits will either try manipulating the human host into using the hand or try to kill the host before getting evicted from their body. Mia’s connection with the spirit and her tendency to get manipulated only increases over time because she keeps using the hand. She convinces herself that the hand may offer answers to what happened to Riley, which, in turn, puts her life in danger.
Riley likely survives and eventually evicts the spirit from his body because he is not in the state to use the hand after the first incident. This, too, seems to be a direct parallel to drug abuse. People recovering from drug addictions often feel weak like Riley during the earlier stages of abstinence. However, the longer they go without drugs, the likelier they are to overcome the addiction. This is similar to how the longer a character goes without touching the embalmed hand, the likelier they are to get rid of the spirit from their body.
How The 90-Second Rule Foreshadows Talk To Me’s Ending
Before Mia makes her first contact with the cursed hand in Talk To Me, Hayley half-jokingly warns her that if she allows the spirit from the hand to possess her for more than 90 seconds, the spirit will remain attached to her even after she lets go of the hand. Mia goes beyond 90 seconds during her first possession, which seems to instantly seal her fate — she gets addicted to the high (or rather, lets the spirit in). This opening scene is pivotal in explaining how, throughout the movie, Mia does not see her mother’s real spirit. The spirit of the drowned woman, whom she encountered during her first possession, was merely imitating her mother to manipulate her in Talk To Me.
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