Speak No Evil Review
Alongside a manic turn from James McAvoy, Speak No Evil (a remake of a Danish original) brings the tense scares, but sidesteps much of the more ‘out there’ elements of its predecessor.
Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy) are on a holiday in Tuscany with their daughter when they run into Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) who have traveled to the region themselves from their home in the West Country of England with their son. Paddy and Ciara are brash, unlikeable and somewhat wild, but they strike up a fun time with Louise and Ben; a fun time that leads to an invite out for the more demure couple to Paddy and Ciara’s West Country home. When Louise and Ben join them, however, the grating incursions into the realm of acceptable behavior escalate and escalate, until they form into murderous intentions.
The first and most impressive thing about Speak No Evil is the performance of Jame McAvoy. McAvoy, with a tonne of overly masculine swagger, is deliciously annoying, with a hint of danger underneath; a hint that pops up when his cocky grin transforms into a leering snarl, as it often does in this 1 hour 50 minute movie.
The rest of the cast each get moments to shine, but are undoubtedly outshone by the showy performance from McAvoy.
Director James Watkins takes a creepy Nordic original and repurposes it for global audiences. This remake is perhaps not as scary as the original (it does away with much of the third act’s bleakness from the OG, and replaces it with a more mainstream somewhat happy ending), but also goes overboard in trying to explain everything all the time. From a dialogue perspective, and perhaps ironically for the title of the film, this movie spends way too much time talking. A lot of the film has also been revealed in the trailer, in particular a major twist, so it does sort of blunt the impact, particularly for major horror fans. If you’re a regular horror movie thrill seeker, this film will probably be a disappointment for you, but as someone who tends to stay away from the scares, this was one that definitely made me jump.
One other impressive element (alongside a slew of wonderfully shot visuals) is the score, which drops back in the last act of the movie so much that the silence itself becomes a sort of weapon. It’s a unique approach, and one that was very compelling.
