SPEAK NO EVIL (2024)
Starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, Kris Hitchen and Motaz Malhees.
Screenplay by James Watkins.
Directed by James Watkins.
Distributed by Universal Pictures. 110 minutes. Rated R.
American remakes of foreign horror films almost never quite work. This one is better than many, but it still feels the need to change the very dark and downbeat ending of the original Danish film (called Gæsterne [The Guests], but eventually renamed Speak No Evil in its international release) into a pretty cookie-cutter, overly violent and much more clichéd Hollywood denouement.
Which is really kind of a shame, because the first 2/3rds of the movie, which was much more faithful to the Danish film, was actually pretty terrific. Particularly good was James McAvoy as the charming alpha male predator who traps a hapless, squabbling American couple in a gilded cage. (The couple is played by Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy, reunited several years after their fantastic old TV series Halt and Catch Fire.)
That American couple is Ben and Louise Dalton. They have uprooted their lives, moving to London for Ben’s dream job, which disappeared quickly. Although Louise is miserable having given up her career, and their 12-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) appears homesick for the US, they have decided to stay in London while Ben regroups. This caused friction in their marriage – and Louise’s near affair didn’t help things.
Trying to heal the rifts – or at least to forget their problems – the family takes a vacation in the scenic Italian wine country. There they meet Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and their boy with speech disabilities Ant (Dan Hough), a fun and charming, but slightly strange family, from deep in the British countryside of Devon. They befriend the couple during their trip and Paddy invites them to spend a weekend at their house so they can see another part of England.
The Daltons have no intention of taking them up on it, but when they return to their broken lives in London and receive a note from Paddy and Ciara reiterating the invitation, they decide they need some more distraction, and it may be an adventure.
Little do they realize.
Paddy and Ciara’s farmhouse is literally in the middle of nowhere. Quickly upon arriving, they are reminded of their new friends’ strangeness, particularly Paddy, who is oddly combative in conversation, seems to have an anger problem, and constantly is dropping very backhanded compliments.
As the stay becomes more and more disturbing, the Daltons discuss leaving, but Paddy and Ciara keep seeming to block their plans.
The audience figures out basically what is happening well before the hapless Daltons, but eventually the American family realizes that if they ever want to leave this nightmare behind, they will have to fight their way out.
And this is where Speak No Evil sort of loses the plot and becomes much less interesting than it had been previously. However, despite the kind of cookie-cutter final act, Speak No Evil has enough interesting twists and scares to make it worth the watch.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: September 13, 2024.
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