Movie Review: Speak No Evil (2024)

Speak No Evil was fighting an uphill battle with most audiences from the jump. Cinephiles were pissed that a 2022 Danish film was getting an American remake so soon after the original's release while more casual movie fans that make regular treks to the theaters have been exposed to both of the film's trailers a whole hell of a lot over the past several months (particularly following the release of Twisters on July 19th) since Universal had no other imminent releases aimed at adults to promote. I'll admit to being neutral on this issue as I haven't seen the original and with the notable exception of The Bobs Burgers Movie a couple years back, am not someone who gets annoyed by seeing the same trailer over and over again in theaters. It's kind of a shame that Speak No Evil '24 had so much negativity surrounding its release because it's a good darkly comedic thriller that's legitimately great in spurts.

For those who aren't familiar with the Danish version or the trailer for this one, Speak No Evil focuses on an American family (Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Alix West Lefler) vacationing in Italy who meet and bond with a free-spirited British family (James McAvoy, Aisling Francosi, Dan Hough) during the final few days of their trip. Soon after returning home, the Brits send the Americans-who live in London-a postcard inviting them out for a weekend stay at their farmhouse in the countryside. Feeling a trip to go see their new friends will be good for them as they navigate several issues on the domestic front, the Americans accept their invitation. After a warm welcome, things soon take a turn for the uncomfortable as their hosts engage in increasingly erratic, hostile behavior. As it becomes increasingly clear that something really sinister is afoot, the Americans have to find a way to covertly escape their host's clutches or risk being banished to a permanent resting place somewhere along the desolate British coast.

The entire mission statement of Speak No Evil is to explore and mock just how much bad behavior from other humans are willing to tolerate in the name of maintaining civility. Writer/director James Watkins (The Woman in Black, Eden Lake) does a really good job of gradually leveling up the passive aggressive/uncomfortable actions of the aggressors and displaying just how far they can go before the passive Americans finally get the nerve to confront them over it. This slow burn structure makes the film every bit as much of a behavioral study as it is a thriller and through some pretty good writing and strong performances-particularly from McAvoy, who brilliantly alternates between being disarmingly charming and an aggressive lunatic-we get a well-defined idea of who these characters are and how they got into this predicament by the time situation inventible really gets out of hand.     

When Speak No Evil does evolve into a violent full-blown genre exercise in the final act, Watkins maintains his steady hand. The (expected) departures it takes from the original pretty much all work since the suspense level is steady and there's some gruesome exclamation point moments tossed alongside the contrivances that pave the way to for an ending that is much more of a crowdpleaser than what Christian Tafdrup put into his version. Any remake that puts real effort into its craftmanship and doesn't just mindlessly regurgitate the previous film back up onto the screen is worth a watch and Speak No Evil definitely qualifies as that in my book.                          

Grade: B