The guest
Danny & Michael Philippou: Australian twin filmmakers and former YouTubers (RackaRacka) who wrote and directed the A24 horror hit Talk to Me.
What this episode covers
Identical twins Danny and Michael Philippou recount growing up obsessed with making violent backyard movies, building a million-subscriber YouTube channel, and the years of rejection before Causeway Films and ultimately A24 backed their debut feature Talk to Me. They describe the gruelling five-week COVID-era shoot, reinvesting their own fees to keep unknown lead Sophie Wilde, and the chaos of its Sundance premiere where A24 made an offer the same night. The conversation ranges across practical effects, the uncanny valley, hauntings and psychics, sleep disorders, and their love of extreme physical performance. Both brothers are deeply tied to combat sports and are making an A24 documentary on death-match wrestling, while developing a Talk to Me sequel and the Street Fighter movie.
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“this horror film called the bubble Duke and I love that movie yeah yeah so Michael was”— Michael Philippou
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The Sixth Sense
M. Night Shyamalan
“so good so incredible”
“the six sense was so good so incredible it's it's so hard sometimes when your best one is your first one”— Danny Philippou
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Everything Everywhere All at Once
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“everything everywhere all at once too oh [ __ ] the Daniels so that's the thing”— Joe Rogan
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Hereditary
Ari Aster
“arasta who did hereditary he came to the premiere and like man it was there was all this hype”— Danny Philippou
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Unbreakable
M. Night Shyamalan
“I liked unbreakable unbreakable was okay it's just the six sense was so good so incredible”— Joe Rogan
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
“she took us to see Texas chainsa masar 2003 the Remake the remake and uh the theater guys”— Danny Philippou
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The Grudge
“so The Grudge and the ring you know those are just as as big and prevalent as those things”— Danny Philippou
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The Ring
“so The Grudge and the ring you know those are just as as big and prevalent as those things”— Danny Philippou
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Mortal Kombat
“there's a video that we did where we recreated Mortal Kombat fatalities and it's the most graphic violent thing ever”— Danny Philippou
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Street Fighter
Capcom
“we're attached right now to the Street Fighter movie really yeah for the Capcom video game and hold on”— Danny Philippou
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John Wick
“imagine you're watching John Wick and uh you know uh Kiana R is gonna get kicked downstairs but you're there in person”— Danny Philippou
BookReferencedISBN verified
Goosebumps
R.L. Stine
“like the Goosebump covers from RL Stein or if you go to the uh VHS when you're looking at all those covers”— Danny Philippou
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The Conjuring
“it's like look at The Conjuring how many movies do they have off of that yeah there's a whole Conjuring Universe”— Danny Philippou
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Friday the 13th
“if you look at Friday the 13th you know with Jason or or Freddy if it was just twoo”— Danny Philippou
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Toy Story
Pixar
“Like Toy Story I think Toy Story was the first film to do it with like we don't need to do that anymore”— Danny Philippou
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The Mandalorian
“some people like they're shooting like Mandalorian on just like screens right you don't even need to go to locations”— Danny Philippou
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Bluey
“who produces a show called Bluey in Australia it's like a cartoon kid show”— Danny Philippou
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28 Days Later
“it wasn't like 28 Days Later or or this is like the Exorcist no it's like very original”— Joe Rogan
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The Exorcist
“or this is like the Exorcist no it's like very original yeah it's something we've been like”— Joe Rogan
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Deadpool
“once we filmed a video for Deadpool promoting Deadpool MH uh and we went to like a junction like a junket”— Michael Philippou
ProductReferenced
Xyrem
“have you heard of zym xyum what is that that's a medication for npy that knocks you out”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Ultibox
“we went there ulti box ulti box yeah and so we went there and like we wanted to have like this exploding bookshelf”— Michael Philippou
Big reveals from this episode
- Danny spent two-to-three years as a paid medical-trial subject, testing over ten unapproved experimental drugs for about $90 USD a day.
- One trial drug paralyzed Danny's entire arm mid-infusion, forcing the whole study to be cancelled.
- Michael says he has been deliberately hit by cars roughly two dozen times as an accredited stunt performer.
- Casting unknown Sophie Wilde as the lead cost them a million dollars of budget; the producer and the twins reinvested all their own fees to finish.
- A24 made an offer on the film the same night it premiered at Sundance.
- Talk to Me has grossed over $90 million worldwide and sits around 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
- The film's hand concept came from Danny's car crash at 16 and his sister holding his hand to stop him shaking in the hospital.
- They are making an A24 death-match wrestling documentary; Danny once had a light tube driven into his ribs during a backyard match.
Worth remembering
- Their YouTube channel hit a million subscribers within a year, largely by accident from fake-fail prank videos.
- Every studio initially rejected the Talk to Me script, citing a stigma against YouTubers becoming filmmakers.
- Sophie Wilde was asked to come to set without sleeping so she could authentically play her unravelling character.
- Shot in five weeks during COVID, they sometimes had to film eight minutes of the movie in a single day versus the usual ninety seconds.
- Actors wore extremely uncomfortable sclera contact lenses and endured up to six hours of prosthetic makeup.
- Joe and the twins debate why model cars look fake, concluding it comes down to light reflection and surface area.
- The original composer's score was scrapped weeks before delivery, nearly derailing the film until a new composer saved it.
- Danny has a lifelong sleep disorder, waking every ninety minutes; doctors diagnosed idiopathic hypersomnia or narcolepsy.
- They helped convince Logan Paul to fight KSI, and Michael fought 1-0 on that event's undercard.
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