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INTRODUCTION
From his name alone you’ll know that Christian Tafdrup has a crazy mind.
The movie Speak No Evil tells the true story of Christian Tafdrup, director of the original Danish version which was released in 2022. He said while he was on holiday in Tuscany, accompanying his wife, he met a Dutch couple who were a bit socially awkward, but they all got along just fine.
Later, upon returning home, he was invited to visit the Dutch family in the Netherlands, but after he had been thinking over this option for some time just as any reasonable person would do, he refused because he did not feel comfortable with the idea of staying with people who were practically strangers.
It was the idea for this film that came to him when he thought about how bad the scenarios of what might have happened had he accepted their offer – even though he has emphasized that the Dutch couple had never given him a reason for concern.
The remake retains none of the original’s national flavors; the characters have been made American and British.
Speak No Evil (2024) is a psychological horror film written and directed by James Watkins, based on the original Danish. The cast includes James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, and Scoot McNairy.
The film premiered at the DGA Theater in New York City on September 9, 2024. Universal Pictures released the movie in the United States on September 13, 2024.
Running just a shade over 1 hour and 40 minutes, it carries an R rating for strong violence, language, some sexual content, and brief drug use.
SPEAK NO EVIL (2024) OFFICIAL TRAILER
WHAT IS SPEAK NO EVIL (2024) ABOUT?
Now, let me tell you how the movie unfolds, and trust me, there will be no spoilers.
While on holiday in Italy, Louise and Ben Dalton, with their anxious young daughter Agnes, make a connection with the free-wheeling British couple Paddy and Ciara, and their mute son, Ant.
Back in London, the cracks in the Daltons’ marriage are growing ever wider. This is because Ben is unemployed, and Louise’s secret infidelity hangs between them like the blade of a guillotine. And then, just when tension seems to have risen to the top, a letter arrives.
Paddy and Ciara invite the family over to their farm in the rural depths of the English countryside. Hoping it will be a new beginning and that perhaps, just perhaps, it will calm Agnes’ nerves, they accept.
The farmhouse is warm, almost idyllic, at the beginning, but there is something off beneath the surface. The smiles of their hosts, who seem so friendly at first, slowly twist into darker expressions.
More and more disturbing incidents pile up: strange noises during the night, piercing gazes that take too long to disappear, and personal space quietly invaded.
Louise becomes particularly disturbed by the cruel, harsh treatment Paddy and Ciara show Ant, who cannot express himself in any other way than by his expression, his pleading eyes.
One evening, the Daltons are persuaded to go out for dinner with Paddy and Ciara in a town nearby, with a mysterious babysitter by the name of Muhjid looking after Agnes and Ant.
As parents know, this feels wrong, but they do it.
During a game of hide-and-seek with Muhjid, Ant reveals to her a hoard of watches and a message scrawled in an alphabet she doesn’t recognize. Dinner becomes increasingly tense.
Paddy teases Louise for being a vegetarian, then proceeds to do something crude with Ciara in that casually horrifying moment right in front of them.
Shaken and uncomfortable, they retreat only to find an even more horrific sight: Agnes has been put into bed between a drunken Paddy and Ciara. Terrified, Louise insists they leave, dragging her family to the car. But Agnes, worried over leaving her stuffed rabbit behind, begs them to return.
Against their better judgment, they do. Now, things get serious.
MY THOUGHTS ON SPEAK NO EVIL (2024)
Speak No Evil is packed with tension, highly uncomfortable moments, and a plot twist. Although it holds many plot points from its mother film, it allows for its own tone and atmosphere, making it more accessible to a wider audience.
I went into this movie with a certain amount of expectation, and I know many of you who saw the first movie went with high expectations, and it delivered on most. Some moments felt truly like the tension between the characters was almost too much to bear.
But, like many remakes, this one doesn’t entirely escape the shadow of its predecessor. It’s a slow burn that teases you, builds suspense, and makes you uncomfortable, but whether or not it improves upon the original will be up for debate.
SPEAK NO EVIL (2024) FILM REVIEW
CHARACTER PERFORMANCE
No question about it, McAvoy is the centerpiece of this film. As Paddy, a charismatic, sinister host, he is magnetically compelling. He catches the balance between charming and unnerving perfectly.
Something is fascinating in the way McAvoy portrays his character which makes it impossible to take your eyes off him. He commands the screen, and you find yourself intrigued yet terrified by him simultaneously.
The character of Paddy seems fleshed out on his own accord, appealing to the surface but hazardous beneath the surface. McAvoy has brought him to life with a vibe of intensity that questions his every motive.
His relationship with other characters on screen gives so much weight to the story; one minute he’s funny and likable, the next disturbingly unpredictable. It’s this dynamic performance that truly raises the movie.
McAvoy’s castmates do their part to match his brilliance. Scoot McNairy as Ben, the uneasy American guest, plays an awkward but well-meaning father, frequently caught in the divide between suspicion and politeness. Davis contributes an emotional weight to the movie as Louise.
You can practically see her wrestling with growing, gnawing fear because her instincts are telling her that something is off, yet the social expectations developed in her seem to inhibit her from acting upon those feelings too quickly.
Then, of course, there’s Aisling Franciosi as Ciara, Paddy’s wife, bringing in yet another layer, this one a curious understanding or ambiguity. An inexplicable kind of character-moving within kinds of kindness and complicity, adds weight to the unease in the overall film.
VISUAL DESIGN AND CINEMATOGRAPHY
The visual design in the movie embellishes the eerie tone of the story. A quaint little English farmhouse with lush and rural landscapes makes one feel comfortable, which isn’t quite there. It’s the kind of place one would think of as the perfect escape from a city, but this seeming Nirvana develops tension that creates a sense of dread.
The isolated setting is wonderfully captured with the cinematography. The wide shots of the countryside provide a sense of it being open and massive, yet all the more confining for that very reason. It’s serene but does not feel quite right as the film progresses.
Effectively, camera work builds tension with tight close-ups of faces of discomfort or longer, drawn-out shots showing them small and vulnerable in this strange environment.
Visually, Speak No Evil is a film that steers away from overt horror conventions such as jump scares and visceral visuals, instead relying on atmosphere. The lighting and color palette of greys and beige tones also reflect this slow descent into unease.
There is a lot of use of body language in the way the actors have been directed to create that sense of impending danger before anything does happen.
WRITING STYLE AND STORY
But it’s in the writing that this movie tries most to deviate from the original Danish film. It did stick to the core, really a story of an American family visiting a seemingly friendly but ultimately dangerous British family – but the dialogue just feels more organic in this one.
It plays on the differences in culture, but not in the same way the original played on European cultural politeness. Instead, this rendition dives right into the psychological games played between characters.
What mostly sets it apart, however, is the fact that characters seem more humane, though at times frustrating, too. You might find yourself yelling throughout the first third of the movie, “Why can’t they just leave?”
Their hesitation is rooted instead in more understandable social dynamics: politeness, not wanting to be rude, and the slow realization that something is very, very wrong.
The story can be slow in several places, particularly in the middle section. Though deliberate, the pacing of the film might test patience. But for those who enjoy psychological tension, this ‘slow burn’ style allows for deeper character development and gives the audience time to feel the dread setting in.
THEMES
One of the most interesting themes in Speak No Evil is how social expectations can be a trap. The American family, especially Ben and Louise, are nearly paralyzed in their urge to be polite-even as instinct implores them to leave.
It becomes the core of this discomfort: how far would you go to avoid confrontation, and at what point in time do you choose your safety over being “nice”?
Another interesting aspect is class consciousness, which is taken up in the movie.
Paddy and his wife, Ciara, represent a sort of upper-class British family. Conversely, the American guests are working-class. The divide plays into power dynamics among characters, subtly influencing their interactions and decisions.
Last but not least, there is also the theme of human vulnerability, particularly about family dynamics. The feeling among the adults of a need to protect their kids serves as a multiplier on tension, given their increasing realization of how powerless they are against a growing danger.
CONCLUSION
Speak No Evil is a well-conducted psychological thriller that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat for its entire runtime. Though not as brutally dark as the original Danish movie, it had its merits.
The undisputed star in this movie is James McAvoy, who alone makes seeing the movie worth it. The rest of the cast did a great job, and the setting, along with the cinematography, helped to build up the atmosphere of dread.
It is by no means a perfect movie; it’s rather slow and audience members who are expecting something much more horrific might be taken aback when, in fact, nothing is terrifying about this movie at all.
If you enjoy dramas where there’s at least a feeling of tension with some psycho-twists, then Speak No Evil maybe your film of interest. Just don’t go in looking for visceral terror at every turn but, instead, a slow-burning sense of dread aimed squarely at drama.
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