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Go behind the scenes of Speak No Evil with James McAvoy and other cast members
Featurette: Universal Pictures/Blumhouse

Speak No Evil
Directed by James Watkins
Rated R
Silenced 13 September 2024
#SpeakNoEvilMovie

Unfortunately, Speak No Evil has nothing much of value to say.

Eternal Flame

Awkward.

That’s the best word to describe Speak No Evil. It’s not just the awkward situations the protagonists find themselves in – or their equally awkward responses to those situations. It’s also the awkward way the movie tries to shoehorn in some sort of social commentary (which, ultimately, is what horror movies traditionally have been about, aside from all those scares and screams).

There are unconvincing stabs at political correctness, toxic masculinity, and push-button topics like the environment, climate change and child rearing, as well as the impact of social media (where, it’s posited, everybody’s talking and nobody’s being honest). But the lead message – from a certain point of view – is most definitely off-target: the notion that society has become too polite. C’mon. Step outside. Impolite people behaving rudely are everywhere.

Regardless, that’s the situation Ben Dalton (Scooter McNairy, A Quiet Place Part II) and Louise Dalton (Mackenzie Davis, Terminator: Dark Fate) find themselves in when they encounter Paddy (James McAvoy, Split) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi, The Nightingale) during a warm, sunny summer vacation in Italy.

The Daltons are American ex-pats living in London, England, and they’ve hit some of life’s roadblocks. Career setbacks. Infidelity. A smidge of boredom. Loads of insecurity. Paddy and Ciara, on the other hand, are a seemingly happy-go-lucky couple from the English countryside. They appear to offer a bit of fresh air, a more lively approach to life.

But, of course, not everything is as it seems. And that’s hardly just because this is another Blumhouse horror flick.

Double Jeopardy

Speak No Evil is a remake of a 2022 Danish movie that garnered 11 Danish Film Awards nominations (the Danish equivalent to the Oscar). While it won none, its recognition actually says less about its merits and more about the apparent lack of quality in Danish cinema that year. Granted, it also stacked up awards on the film festival circuit, but ultimately it’s simply not that good.

And neither is this remake, which runs 13 minutes longer than its source of inspiration.

A portion of that time is spent making Paddy and Ciara more appealing; they seem playful and almost, maybe, under the right light and other circumstances – including the alignment of the planets – as possibly a couple with whom it might be worth spending some time. At least a short amount of time. Such as lunch. In a public place. In the original, it’s a Danish couple being drawn to a Dutch couple. But neither couple is particularly appealing. Most certainly there’s no reason for the Danish family to accept an invitation to visit the gruff Dutch couple and their speechless son. Aside, of course, from boredom and a desire to shake things up.

The bulk of the extra time in this Blumhouse version is spent setting up and executing a dramatically, wildly different ending that can best be described as Blumhouse’s version of the traditional Hollywood happy ending. While this Hollywood version is hardly a ray of light, the original Danish flick is dark almost from the very first frame and by the end, it’s borderline depressing and as dark as the darkest pitch.

Blumhouse – by way of writer/director James Watkins (The Woman in Black) – takes the material in a starkly different direction, effectively making one version a companion piece to the other. But the Hollywood version veers off course and becomes a ridiculous exercise in grown-ups making stupid decisions and – like lost teenagers – completely and utterly lacking any sense of self-confidence. (Maybe there’s some social commentary in there; the emasculation of men, perhaps.) While some of the laughs (yes, laughs in the thick of the macabre) are genuine, the characters become wholly laughable caricatures.

This Be the Verse

It’s commendable Blumhouse’s Speak No Evil isn’t a simple cash-in, frame-by-frame remake that can conveniently ditch any and all subtitles. While the first two acts follow the action fairly closely to the Danish original, the third act is a complete rewrite. But two lines of dialogue unite the two movies.

"Why are you doing this to us?!"

"Because you let us."

Maybe, then, the commentary is on the unfettered, permissive state of society today. A lawlessness that, left unchecked, leads to destruction. Unless, of course, somebody finally stands up and says, "No." Even if that leads to the hurt feelings of the abusive boundary crossers.

As the Daltons and their daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler, The King Tide), hang out with Paddy and Ciara on their home turf, the conversations quickly turn tense and challenging. Louise makes it known she is vegetarian, but she doesn’t bother to stand up for herself when chef Paddy presents her with a prime chunk of freshly prepped meat.

Oh, the horrors.

The awkwardness should be at least part of the fun, but that’s a tough proposition. A reasonable person would simply say, "Nah, sorry, Mate. You’re disrespecting me. You’re creepin’ me out and I’ve gotta run." In a global environment where their paths will – with a roughly 99.999% degree of certainty – never cross again, the notion of one couple hurting another couple’s feelings is inconsequential to the grueling awkwardness of dirty bedsheets and domineering behaviors. Plus, who goes on vacation to do somebody else’s yard work?

Maybe, in the thick of all this, the sunny notion of being out in the country, in a remote place that’s perfect for "digital detox," the ex-pats might get a little anxious about their inability to communicate with the outside world.

Take it from a person who’s survived plenty of uncomfortable lodging arrangements around the world. Get out early and live.

Which is advice that sounds eerily like a line from the Philip Larkin poem recited by Paddy.

Only the Strong Survive

It’s like a twisted Dateline story (wait, that’s a redundancy). Paddy and Ciara have ulterior motives in befriending the Daltons. It’s pure evil. And, through a jaundiced eye, reasonably credible, particularly for a horror flick designed to evoke all sorts of creepy sensations.

There’s also a smidge more wit in this new version. Sometimes the wit is a little buried in the context, which makes it all the more biting. Such as when it’s revealed Paddy and Ciara have been together for 17 years (mind you, Ciara’s pretty young as it is). She, with a smile, points out, "You get less (time) for murder."

And there’s that moment when, while out hunting with Ben, Paddy makes something of a confession, "It’s not about the kill. It’s about the hunt."

It’s not surprising James McAvoy is the best part of the movie. He’s the kind of actor that can portray a remarkable range of swings. That extends far beyond going from character to character, such as the innocent new kid in Wanted (starring Angelina Jolie) to Charles Xavier in a slew of X-Men movies. Here, he seamlessly moves from fun-loving parent to imposing menace with – as weird as it sounds – a tremendous amount of theatrical grace.

McAvoy – who’s looking mighty buff – is the biggest reason to see Speak No Evil, but even he’s not quite enough to save the movie from its own sins.

• Originally published at MovieHabit.com.