Speak No Evil
McAvoy shines in this remake of the 2022 original.
Film fanatics will realise that this American psychological horror is a remake of the Danish film Speak No Evil which only came out two years ago. This will allow them to compare the two movies and see what changes the remake has made, where it succeeds and how it falls short compared to the original.
If you’re like me, this was the first time you were exposed to this story in which an American family strike up a friendship with a British family whilst both are holidaying in Italy. Everything seems innocent and wholesome until Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) invite Ben and Louise Dalton (played by Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis), and their daughter to the West Country in the UK.
This is when the film takes its dark turn and tests the audience’s resolve as the Daltons are more concerned with being nice than addressing the troubling behaviour that Paddy and Ciara let them witness and engage in. Some notable scenes are when Ciara is simulating sex under a restaurant table or when Paddy starts shouting at Ant for his poor dancing.
McNairy and Davis do a fantastic job of playing characters who you want to shout common sense at. The story does a great job of showing their inability to show tough love and make difficult decisions. From the medication they take to their hesitation to take their daughter’s worry Bear away, as they know she is too old to be having one.
Meanwhile, Paddy and Ciara do a fantastic job of playing unhinged characters who know how to manipulate the Daltons, constantly luring them back into the spiral of madness that will ultimately put their entire family at risk. Dan Hough does a great job of playing Ant, Paddy’s and Ciara’s son. His defeated body language on first impressions could be attributed to his condition leaving him with a smaller tongue and unable to speak. But not everything is as it seems, and a darker truth to his condition reveals itself later in the story.
The film offers a lesson on having a moral obligation to speak against behaviour that is unacceptable and not to conflate that responsibility with social niceties. It’s this inability of the Daltons that leads them into the dramatic showdown they face at the farmhouse and realise they have to fight for themselves to stay alive.
Prepare to feel on edge, frustrated and in disbelief all the emotions the director, James Watkins wants you to feel. It’s entertaining but don’t be surprised if you throw your arms in the air because you can’t believe what you’re seeing.
Liam Donohoe