(Be Warned: This review contains spoilers for “Speak No Evil!”)
Image: “Speak No Evil” (2024) Movie Poster via IMDb
If you really consider it, aren’t we all afraid of making a scene in public? As much as we want public recognition for positive things such as winning an award or performing a great public service, the last thing we want is to be the object of scorn by the immediate people around us. Even if it comes at the cost of our dignity, we will allow ourselves to be publicly tarnished because the last thing we want is to be seen as the “other.” This overlooked social anxiety is the subject of 2024’s psychological horror film “Speak No Evil.”
Written and directed by James Watkins, the plot of the film centers around the Dalton family: Ben (Scoot McNairy), his wife Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and their young daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), are on vacation in the immaculate Italian countryside. Things change when they meet Paddy (James McAvoy) and his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), another young family who quickly hit it off with the Dalton’s, even insisting they visit them in the English countryside for an extended vacation. When they arrive, though, the situation goes from awkward to frightening as Paddy and Ciara’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre and pushy. When Ant (Dan Hough), the disabled son of Paddy and Ciara, warns Agnes of the danger posed by his mom and dad, the Daltons must fight to escape with their lives.
The film is a remake of a Danish film by the same name, which was worrying at first. However, those fears were quickly assuaged within the first hour, as Watkins clearly demonstrates his skill and experience within the horror genre.
The performances are the highlight of “Speak No Evil.” McAvoy, who has always been known for playing heroic characters, brings his experience from roles such as in 2016’s “Split,” to create a memorable villainous performance as Paddy, a charming bohemian hiding a murderous thug underneath. Davis and McNairy as Louise and Ben Dalton give admirable performances as Louise quickly deduces that something is not quite right with Paddy and Ciara early on, but is constantly dragged along by the submissive and weak Ben for fear of being “impolite.”
Blumhouse Productions have been very hit — like “Get Out” — or miss — like the “Halloween” prequel trilogy — over the years, but despite their checkered reputation, they do pay attention to the technical aspects of any film production. As such, “Speak No Evil” displays an excellent diligence with creative cinematography and score. The camera constantly frames the actors in a way that makes the audience feel both awkward and insecure, and as the film makes its way towards its hair-raising climax, it creates an air of claustrophobia and paranoia. Meanwhile, the score — courtesy of Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans — is minimalist in its design in the first half of the movie, relying on string and percussion instruments that give the movie an air of anxiety like other great psychological horror flicks, such as “Misery” (1990) and “The Shining,” (1980) and then ratchets up to a nerve-wracking crescendo as Paddy and Ciara’s murderous nature is revealed.
As with all movies, the quality of the script is the secret sauce that can make or break a production. “Speak No Evil,” while an excellent piece of psychological horror, does have its fair share of flaws. For one, the pacing is a little too slow at times, with scenes that could have been re-worked or even cut out entirely to make the picture energized and more concise. Secondly, the big question is whether this remake was even necessary, especially since the original Danish film was only made two years prior to this and was excellent enough that it didn’t necessarily need an “Americanized” remake. While not a one-to-one re-creation of the original film, 2024’s “Speak No Evil” does suffer creatively because of these inherent flaws in its writing.
That being said, the writing is still strong enough that it keeps the audience hooked, desperate to see whether or not this clueless and submissive American family will realize the mistake they made accepting an invitation from a strange man like Paddy and escape for their lives. More to the point, just as with the original Danish film, “Speak No Evil” explores an important custom in society that we often forget about: the need to be civil. We’re so afraid of being seen as “disruptive,” “obnoxious” or “impolite,” by our fellow citizens that we will take enormous strides to be friendly and polite, even when others are publicly berating us to our faces! Had the Dalton’s just stood up for themselves instead of going along with Paddy and Ciara, they wouldn’t have been dragged into a life-or-death situation.
If you’re in the mood this Halloween season for something different from the usual slashers and jump-scare horrors movies, “Speak No Evil” is a chilling experience!
Kelly Baker is an alumnus of West Chester University of Pennsylvania.