Kuwait Bans Horror Hit ‘Talk To Me’ Over Non-Binary Actor

The independently produced, low-budget horror picture Talk To Me opened to higher-than-predicted box office receipts when it debuted domestically on June 28, and has a current cumulative gross of over $17 million. The A24-released film also boasts a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 76 on Metacritc, and The Messenger called it “something all too rare: a good, scary and original movie.”

The wins for the directors, Michael and Danny Philippou, end at the borders of the Middle Eastern country of Kuwait, however, where censors have banned the film over the gender identity of one of its cast members. 

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the decision is due to the presence of Zoe Terakes, a 23-year-old actor best known for the Australian television series Wentworth. Terakes identifies as non-binary and trans masculine, and uses they/them pronouns. They will be seen in the forthcoming Marvel series Ironheart on Disney+ in what Deadline calls a “key” role. (Production wrapped last year and the series is expected to debut in 2024.) 

THR notes that Kuwait, and the wider Persian Gulf region, is quick to ban any movies with even a drop of LGBTQ+ content. Recent titles reportedly banned include Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Everything Everywhere All at Once and West Side Story. 

But this case is different. Talk To Me does not include an LGBTQ+ storyline. If one comes to this movie with no foreknowledge of Terakes — which is most everyone who does not watch Australian television at this point in Terakes’s career — you would not know about their identity.

In the movie, Terakes’s gender is not discussed. Their character, who provides some of the film's comic relief, is just one of a group of friends that hosts a basement party for bored kids who want to interact with spirits from beyond the grave in the suburbs of Adelaide. Terakes is part of the ensemble and is not a lead. 

Whereas bans of movies due to content often apply throughout the entire region, the Talk To Me ban is currently only happening in Kuwait. The film was released without any cuts in other Gulf states.