SPEAK NO EVIL (2024)
New in theaters from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse!
Directed by James Watkins.
Written by James Watkins, adapted from the original screenplay by Christian Tafdrup, Mads Tafdrup.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/FjzxI6uf8H8
An American family (Louise Dalton played by Mackenzie Davis, Ben Dalton played by Scoot-Scoot-Scoot McNairy, and their daughter Agnes played by Alix West Lefler) meet an English family (comprised of Paddy played by James McAvoy, Ciara played by Aisling Franciosi, and their mute son Ant played by Dan Hough) while vacationing. After the two families hit it off, Paddy and Ciara invite the Daltons to come visit them at their farmhouse in the English countryside. While the are reluctant to visit this family they hardly know, Ben and Louise feel as if it would be good for them to take some risks and have some fun. Upon arriving on the farm and finding more about their hosts, the Daltons soon grow uncomfortable with the different way this family parents their child and imposes themselves upon their lives. But when the Daltons attempt to leave, it proves to be harder to get away from this bizarre family than they could ever imagine.
Kind of like the groundhog, once a year, Blumhouse takes a break from releasing absolute shit in cinematic form and puts out a decent film. Last year it was TALK TO ME, and this year’s is SPEAK NO EVIL, which for the most part, follows the original story beat for beat until the final act. If you’ve seen the original, and I still recommend you do so, even if it is in Dutch, because it is a far superior film than this bigger budgeted remake. I’ll get into some of the differences later, but first the good.
SPEAK NO EVIL would be nothing without the over the top and bombastically animal performance of James McAvoy. The actor has proven to have a broad range in the characters he plays on screen. From the multiple personalities he displayed in SPLIT, to the eloquent poise of Charles Xavier in the X-films, to the memorable roles he put forth in ATOMIC BLONDE, WANTED, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, ATONEMENT, TRANCE…the list goes on and on and on. He is one of the most versatile and interesting actors working today. So, seeing McAvoy gnawing up the scenery as the vicious Paddy was extremely fun to watch as he worms his way into this naïve family and destroys it from within. McAvoy switches from night to day, caring to savage in seconds. He conveys a character who has a rage that is just below the surface clawing to get out. McAvoy is one of the main reasons this movie is as good as it is. Aisling Franciosi, as amazing as she was in THE NIGHTINGALE, THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, and especially this year’s STOPMOTION, tries to keep up with McAvoy as his wife and does a decent job, but is nevertheless overshadowed by McAvoy’s ferocity.
The rest of the cast is good as well. Mackenzie Davis is wonderful as Louise, a stiff and repressed woman who is overprotective of her mentally fragile daughter and giving to her husband. She looks like a woman who has given up much to make her family work and be happy and that struggle seems to be ever going. On the opposite end of this strong woman is Scoot-Scoot-Scoot McNairy, who seems to be making a profession of playing an ineffectual man. He was a shell of a man in TRUE DETECTIVE, and his wiry frame makes him reek of beta-male vibes. There’s a very real, but very off-putting moment in SPEAK NO EVIL where Scoot breaks down and cries just as the real shit goes down. It’s a moment that will make the audience hate him, but the film and the actor isn’t afraid to play this type of character, despite how deplorable it is.
And at its core, SPEAK NO EVIL is so effective because it is unafraid to go to those uncomfortable places that is often difficult to talk about. Paddy mentions modern society’s tendency to hide behind masks and refusal to tell the truth to people’s faces. This film again, as it did with the original, spits in the face of those who repress themselves when everything to your core tells you to keep your mouth shut. It addresses modern society’s reluctance and downright fear of real conflict that has proven to be contagious the more and more people scheme, scold, sulk, and waste their lives behind the cowardly mask of a social media account. If you feel wormy from watching this movie, then it is doing the job is set out to do. Moreso with the original, but both of these films will make you feel uneasy a time or two.
Not only is this film about crossing the boundaries into uncomfortable areas, but it also has a lot to say about manhood in the modern age. Paddy and Ben are on opposite sides of the male spectrum with McAvoy representing the virile, alpha male that has often been demonized in today’s society and Ben being the timid, flaccid, and ineffectual doormat who folds under the slightest bit of pressure. While many might account this dichotomy as a recent trend in the depiction of males, especially manly males in a toxic light in modern cinema, SPEAK NO EVIL feels more like a film asking questions about these roles, highlighting the positive and negative aspects of alpha and beta male types more akin to the themes from STRAW DOGS than any kind of feminist agenda.
The new ending is more bombastic and, in your face, than the subtle and more impactful terror of the original. I won’t reveal either ending here, but watching it side by side, even if it wasn’t in English, this new release has Hollywood written all over it with the horror justifiably overcome and a status quo returned to. I was surprised how tightly this remake was wrapped up in the end and preferred the more cryptic, nightmarish, and nihilistic ending of the original.
A few little things: I am extremely happy SPEAK NO EVIL was finally released as it was in front of every film I’ve seen in the theater all spring and summer. Though I did have fun watching the trailer every time as I scoffed at the amount of times the trailer referred to Art’s lack of a tongue and signal for scissors by chanting Dave Coulier’s catch phrase Cut.It.Out. every time the kid did it. And while this film has one big laugh centering on a particular Bangles song that is a favorite of mine, the real laugh is that the Daltons were able to drive from London to the English countryside in a Tesla and that it still had a charge after all of that time despite the farm not having any modern amenities. Now that’s the real knee slapper.
SPEAK NO EVIL does have a few Hollywood tropes and it definitely feels like a watered down version compared to the original. That said, McAvoy elevates the film as he gives a memorably maniacal performance. Director James Watkins knows how to cross lines and make you shiver with discomfort since he was the mastermind behind another foreign film that shattered social comforts, EDEN LAKE. Here, Watkins brings forth quite a bit of violence and a lot of the squirmy uncomfortable boundary crossing that was carried over from the original. It’s a fun and creepy film. But if you really want to see this idea, uncut, raw, and fully realized, watch the original.

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