SPEAK NO EVIL (2024) Review

Review

Back in 2022 I had to watch a Danish film called Speak No Evil from director Christian Tafdrup (A Horrible Woman). It turned out to be one of the bleakest, most thought provoking horrors that I had watched in a number of years. Flash forward to 2024 and Universal Pictures is on the cusp of releasing its own version of the film The Woman in Black director James Watkins and starring James McAvoy.

The core premise of the original Speak No Evil remains in tact. Scoot McNairy (Argo) and MacKenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate) play married couple Ben and Louise. Originally from the US they moved to the UK for Ben’s work and now find themselves holidaying in under the Italian son with young daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler – The Good Nurse). Whilst on holiday they befriend a British couple, Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi – Stopmotion) along with their near-mute son Ant (Dan Hough – Hollyoaks).

Paddy and Ciara represent everything which Ben Louise are not. They appear care free, uninhibited and are living their everyday life to the fullest. In stark contrast, following the expats move to London Ben has lost his job and a wedge has been driven between them after Louise gets flirty over test with another parent in Agnes’ school. With their troubles mounting, the family takes the invitation of a trip out to the rolling Gloucester countryside to visit Paddy, Ciara and Ant at their idyllic farmhouse. The only problem is that once their, first impressions give way to home truths and a far more sinister motivation for their friendship is revealed.

Christian Tafdrup’s originally film was nail biting. Despite language and cultural barriers it was able to universally communicate the evil of its version of Paddy and Ciara effortlessly. The nonchalance with which Patrick (the original Paddy, played by Fedja van Huêt) explains to Bjørn (aka Ben, played by Morten Burian) and Louise (played by Sidsel Siem Koch) why he does what he does was more than a punch to the gut. It was a sledgehammer. This was a film about evil in its purest form. Uncompromising, unrelenting and entirely for the sake of pleasing the id.

Watkins version of the film has unfortunately lost some of that razor sharp edge. But it’s also not fair to lay that blame purely at its script. Some of the changes to Speak No Evil are inherent to its presentation. The original was a limited theatrical run before streaming on Shudder. It was allowed to be unfiltered in its approach. Here Watkins might be working with Blumhouse but this is a wide theatrical release from a major studio. There are certain chances that a studio isn’t going to make when appealing to a general audience. So fans of the original film need to prepare themselves for a number of differences, particularly during the third act.

Where the original film works based on its storyline, at least to an international audience unfamiliar with its cast. Watkins’ version flips that on its head and works because of a set of incredible performances from the core cast. McNairy’s weak and diminutive Ben becomes an easy target for dominating Paddy. McNairy almost disappears, restraining his personality to a point almost-boredom. But when his families lives are on the live there’s a spark of life which McNairy grasps at with both hands. Meanwhile MacKenzie Davis commits fully to the role of the lost and lonely Louise. She clearly loves her family. But cut off from her family and her support network she’s forced to live with the consequences of her actions. There’s an emotional chasm between Ben and Louise. An almost unspoken void apart from a couple of heated arguments. But McNairy and Davis play in to it heartily to make the strife of this couple believable.

Speak No Evil comes alive whenever James McAvoy is on screen. Watkins adds a new dynamic to the relationship between Paddy and Ciara. There’s a little more going on there which contributes to his twisted persona. McAvoy and Franciosi also have an undeniable chemistry which is equally deranged. Where one goes the other is able to follow in an instant. They can be sweet one second and flip it in to something sexual or something sinister the next. Whilst McAvoy is the more confident, leading the way, Franciosi revels in following that lead down each more grim rabbit hole.

But whilst everyone adds their piece to the puzzle this is really McAvoy’s show. Even now looking back at footage in trailers I can see that it’s him but the character is nothing like his public persona. His trademark Scottish charm melts away in to this Machiavellian demonic creature. He’s loathsome in every way possible and yet undeniably charming. The two shouldn’t sit together as neatly as they do but somehow McAvoy is able to pull it off. It’s not hard to see how Ben and Louise were won over by his charms during their holiday. Yet when the switch flips and he does something unsettling it still comes equally as easily to the performance.

The film follows a similar structure for its first two acts. Certain key moments from the original film remain in place such as the now legendary children’s dance routine sequence. Keeping those key moments in place makes sure the film builds up a similar sense of psychological terror. The lingering sense that other shoe is about to drop stalks the audience like a predator. As Paddy’s smile begins to drop and is replaced by a snarling grimace Speak No Evil succeeds in leaving the audience with a sick feeling in the pit of their stomach. It brings the film to the turning point with a key line of dialogue between Paddy and Ben that is in both versions. When Bjørn/Ben asks Paddy/Patrick “why are you doing this?” the haunting reply comes, “Because you let me”.

From there this Speak No Evil begins to carve its own path. It’s predictable by Hollywood standards but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still gripping. The director of travel becomes fairly obvious and that may be a distraction to fans of the original. But there is still something to gain from walking the path Watkins’ chooses to take these characters on. The conclusion ultimately brings each of the characters to a different place and enables Watkins to deliver a different message. One which is a little less bleak.

Verdict

Speak No Evil may get a little lost in translation, but what it loses in bite it makes up for with a sensational central performance by James McAvoy.

⭐⭐⭐.5