Movie review «Speak No Evil»

On September 12, the psychological thriller «Speak No Evil» starring James McAvoy was released in cinemas. This is a remake of the Danish film of the same name, released in 2022. In this review, we will analyze whether the Hollywood version offers something new and how interesting it looks in general.

«Speak No Evil»

Genre psychological thriller, horror
Director James Watkins
Starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Gough, Scoot McNairy, Motaz Malhiz
Premiere movie theaters
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb, official website

One day in sunny Italy, two couples on vacation meet each other. The Americans Ben and Louise Dalton are raising their 12-year-old daughter Agnes, believe that drinking beer in the middle of the day is an inappropriate idea, and generally seem like a very polite couple. The British Paddy and Ciara can afford a few glasses of brew whenever they want, and allow joking conversations right at the table about how to wipe their asses better. They have a son, Ant, who has a birth defect and hardly speaks.

But the pleasant vacation, as it usually does, quickly passes, and everyone goes home — Ben and Louise to rainy London, where they moved due to certain circumstances, and Paddy and Ciara to some godforsaken wilderness. But soon the Daltons receive a postcard in which the friendly Brits invite their newfound friends to spend an unforgettable weekend at their place. Agreeing to this adventurous offer, the gullible Americans pack their bags and set off on a journey, not even realizing that this stay will lead to tragic consequences.«Speak No Evil» is a remake of a two-year-old Danish film of the same name. It was a furious, provocative and uncompromising social satire wrapped in the suspense of a psychological thriller. If you recall, it dealt with the mental differences between the Danes and the Dutch, and also revised the boundaries of what is permissible when interacting with others. Simply put, how much you are willing to climb on top of unfamiliar characters’ heads, guided by conventional rules of decency and smiles strained on your face. And how not to mention the shocking ending that made the hair on your head stand up

In other words, they do not spray social commentary so eagerly and, accordingly, somewhat to primitivize the meanings of the original film. It is up to the viewer to decide which approach is more appropriate. But where the original offered a shock effect, the remake follows the safe path of a solid psychological thriller.The Hollywood version, on the other hand, adds expressive tension and dynamics to the final act and removes all questions about the understatement inherent in the Danish film Those who will definitely have questions are the viewers who are familiar with the source material, at least in the first hour of the runtime, when «Speak No Evil» is almost a frame-by-frame remake of its predecessor. But after this hour, the English director and screenwriter James Watkins («Eden Lake», «The Woman in Black») appropriately decides to take a slightly different path. Even if, as mentioned above, it is a pure genre one, but a fascinating one.

The actor once again turns on the Beast from Shyamalan’s «Invulnerable» trilogy, and this image works extremely well for him. In one of the scenes, he even resembles Mad Jack «Here’s Johnny» Torrance from the cult «The Shining» by Stanley Kubrick. Lately, the Scotsman hasn’t been making much of a splash with his performances in worthwhile movies, but here, to some extent, it’s his performance that pulls this, let’s be honest, not the most surprising plot out. Mackenzie Davis also looks interesting, and after «Terminator: Dark Fate», almost five years since its release, has disappeared from projects with high-profile posters. The expanded children’s cast also seems appropriate, as the filmmakers were able to add several useful moments to the story.

«Speak No Evil» turned out to be a quite useful remake aimed at reaching a wider audience than the original and a pretty solid psychological thriller. Especially in the context of getting a perverse guilty pleasure from James McAvoy’s madness. At least two movies from now, everyone will definitely feel better about what this sinister guy will do to the plush rabbit named Jumpy.