Nerdly » ‘Speak No Evil’ Blu-ray Review

12th Dec2024

‘Speak No Evil’ Blu-ray Review

by Matthew Turner

Stars: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough | Written and Directed by James Watkins

Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake, The Woman in Black) and produced by Blumhouse, Speak No Evil is an American remake of the 2002 Danish thriller of the same name (also known as Gaesterne). Exceptionally bleak and utterly devastating, the original film is one of the most chilling horror films of the last decade, and while the English language version doesn’t quite have the same impact, it’s still a deliciously nasty thriller with a stand-out performance from James McAvoy.

The film begins in Italy, where American couple Ben and Louise (Scoot MacNairy and Mackenzie Davis, who previously co-starred in TV’s exceptional Halt and Catch Fire) are on holiday with their anxious 11 year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). They’re soon befriended by British couple Paddy and Ciara (James McAvoy and The Nightingale‘s Aisling Franciosi), whose mute young son Alfie (Dan Hough) is the same age as Agnes.

Back in London, when Paddy and Ciara invite them to stay in their remote house in Devon a few weeks later, Ben and Louise accept, figuring they could use a break and that some time in the country with a friend her own age might be good for Agnes. However, right from the start, there are red flags in their hosts’ behaviour and the tension continues to escalate until the couple start to wonder if they might actually be in danger.

McAvoy is terrific as Paddy, pitching the performance perfectly – he’s charming and effusive at first, but there are intermittent flashes of darkness and hints of a controlling personality, before the full extent of his psychotic behaviour becomes horribly apparent in the final act. Intriguingly, McAvoy somehow manages to become more physically imposing as the film goes on, so that by the end, he’s properly scary.

Franciosi is equally good as Ciara, oscillating between excusing her husband’s behaviour and indulging it, such as when she helps him pantomime some lewd behaviour over a very awkward dinner. Similarly, McNairy and Davis are both excellent, only gradually letting their own relationship problems show through the cracks, as Louise becomes increasingly exasperated with Ben’s apparent weak-mindedness.

Watkins’ direction is assured throughout – he’s adept at ratcheting up the tension to nail-biting levels and he exerts impressive control over the excruciating slow burn of the first hour or so. To that end, what makes Speak No Evil so compelling is the fact that so much of the tension comes from the very British (despite the fact that they’re American) desire not to make a fuss, despite the fact that their stay is a never-ending stream of red flags.

In fairness, the film does inevitably run slap bang into the ‘why don’t they just LEAVE’ cliché, but the script effectively exploits that to an enjoyable degree, almost with a knowing wink – you just know, for example, that Agnes’ support bunny “Hoppy” is going to cause problems for the entire family.

For the most part, Speak No Evil sticks closely to the events of the original movie, before completely rewriting the final act. There’s a comparison to be made here with Hollywood’s treatment of 1988’s The Vanishing / Spoorloos, which had a similarly traumatising, utterly bleak ending that was completely, and indeed laughably overturned by the atrocious 1993 US remake. In fairness to Speak No Evil, it doesn’t quite do that – the new ending, while mostly conventional, does at least find a way to leave its own shocking impact, thanks to a judicious bit of subtle rewriting, but it ultimately lacks the devastating and unforgettable body blow of the original movie.

It does have a fired-up James McAvoy intensely singing The Bangles’ Eternal Flame to a squirming Scoot McNairy though, and you can’t put a price on that. In short, watch the remake, but make sure you seek out the original film on Shudder afterwards, as it’s genuinely one of the best horror films of the last decade.