Speak No Evil
Hey everyone and welcome today we will be talking about the film Speak No Evil. Fun Fact, This film is a remake of a 2022 Danish film of the same name. This film came out in 2024 and stars James Mcavoy, Mackenzie Davis, and Scoot Mcnairy and was directed by James Watkins. So without further ado let’s get right into it.
While on Vacation in Italy, An American couple and their daughter befriend a British couple and their son. The British couple later invites the Americans to come and visit their farmhouse in the countryside where things turn into a nightmare.
Speak No Evil is a psychological thriller. It has similar vibes as Ready or Not, Last Night in Soho, or Get Out.
Speak No Evil caught my attention because James Mcavoy is a great actor and the trailer left questions that I needed answers to. I know a lot of people online said they saw the trailer a lot before the film release because it kept playing before every movie but for some reason, me being late to movies, I didn’t see it that much. While I enjoyed the movie I remembered after seeing it that it’s a remake of a Danish film that came out in 2022, that I will say I haven’t seen but is wild, can’t even let that one settle before they were off making an English version. When it comes to foreign films that are well received, I always feel like it’s best to leave them as is but often they are readapted in the English language. It makes me think of Bong Joon-Ho’s speech when he won for parasite where he said “Once you overcome the 1-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films”. I hope in the future we see less remaking of well-received foreign films and more pushing those to the masses for them to consume.
James McAcovy stars as Paddy who is the British dad and wow he gave such a great performance. Paddy was the personification of toxic masculinity and how this thought has some men thinking they can do whatever they please. He was so unsettling on screen to the point that I was starting to feel uncomfortable. There were certain times he would do these long looks at one of the characters and it made me realize how uncomfortable it can be to have someone just staring at you like that. There were a few scenes where he would go from goofy to super serious like the scene of Ant and Agnes doing a dance which had me sitting there like ummm what is his problem? The lines for this character were written well and I loved including him saying small little quips that not only were socially unacceptable but would also make you question who you are with and if you are safe. He made the Americans feel welcomed and turned on his charm to lure them in and then snapped once they were about to leave. In the end, I was happy that he ended up dying and that it was Ant who did it considering he killed Ant’s parents, cut out his tongue, and tortured the poor boy.
Even Though Ciara, Paddy’s wife helped him, I do think she may have actually been a victim too. it seemed like a Stockholm Syndrome type of situation. I feel that she was in too deep and felt the need to help him out of fear for herself which still doesn’t justify it at all.
Mackenzie Davis plays Louise, the only adult in this movie who was not getting on my nerves or completely psychotic. I loved how she actually listened to her daughter’s concerns even though I think she was biased because she was looking for a reason to leave. I felt that she was very logical and always pointed out weird stuff going on and wasn’t afraid to speak up when her husband would not. There is a storyline about her cheating which is put there to explain the tension in the marriage but for some reason, I just couldn’t care about that plot line because there were just so many more interesting things to focus on and also her husband was pissing me off so I didn’t really care. I love in a movie when a character fights back because I hate when people are dying and you just sit there and take it when you have the chance to fight back. Even in her fighting, she was smart and without her, they would’ve been dead.
Scoot McNairy plays Ben who is a bit of a pushover and oblivious to most of the weird stuff going on. It seemed like Paddy was trying to justify his actions to Ben in a way that made this toxic masculinity seem like a good thing. His behaviors reminded me of how in society we give into peer pressure when we are constantly asked something and agree to do it because we are scared of confrontation or how we think a person will react. He pissed me off for most of the movie becuase he wouldn’t acknowledge his daughter’s feelings and understand why she needed that doll and it was as if he didn’t have a backbone because he was not standing up for his family. He reminded me of how sometimes you see men who consider themselves the head of the house and that everyone should follow their rules but they themselves aren’t bringing much to the table and definitely aren’t giving their family a reason to conform to that idea. He should’ve actually listened to his wife’s concerns more instead of justifying why they should stay as if they had no choice, if your family is uncomfortable and everyone else wants to leave then you should be like ok let’s go. Anywho he annoyed me for the majority of the movie and I wished that he would have moved smarter.
Ant and Agnes were so smart and even with everything going on they were able to offer some help. Like just imagine what Ant had to go through yet he managed to keep it together long enough to tell Agnes what happened and let her tell her family. They did a good job showing the horror you would feel having to deal with going through with this ordeal.
The setting for this movie is perfect to really hone in on these unsettling vibes. Like there is so much free space but for some reason, it felt like they were locked on the property for most of the time. It was a space that Ciara and Paddy were familiar with and knew that with the crimes they were committing no one would be around to help. It truly added to the suspense and the uncomfortableness of it all. It just proved once again that going somewhere in the middle of nowhere is a no for me especially not with some people I barely know.
Throughout the film, I was trying to figure out what happened with the British family. At first, I was under the impression that the son was there and they mutilated him so that he could never speak about how bad his parents actually are. To my surprise, it was much worse when I found out they replaced kids and killed the family which is just crazy to me.
My Favorite part of this film was James McAvoy’s performance. I often watch horror movies and love the jump scares and this movie doesn’t have those jump scares but with James’s performance, it really just made me scared as if I was in that situation. He was making me so uncomfortable while watching and I’m in the comfort of a movie theatre. I just felt like he really shined in this movie and gave a fantastic performance.
Speak No Evil is a psychological horror movie that will have feeling unsettled. I thought the cast was great and the story had me invested and kept me on my toes.
