With the arrival of Speak No Evil, the list of English language horror remakes grows longer. The company is already suspect at best: The Grudge, Martyrs, Dark Water, and Quarantine all headline a growing list of mediocrity. Too often, a studio will take a concept, add a recognizable name, and then lean back into genre cliche. The results are creatively unsatisfying, and viewers are often frustrated with the final product because they don’t have the spark of the original. It’s Hollywood padding their coffers without giving anything back.
Outside of Shudder subscribers and Fangoria readers, most viewers would be unfamiliar with the Dutch original, on which this film is based. Speak No Evil caused a stir online in 2022 with its slow burn, lack of formula, and bleak tone. Something cerebral that asked viewers to look inward. Blumhouse quickly set a remake in production. Speak No Evil evoked Michael Haneke’s Funny Games in terms of horror that sickens audiences. When remaking that film in the U.S., Haneke once again directed. Yet that is where the similarities end. James Watkins (The Woman in Black, Eden Lake) replaces Christian Tafdrup in the director’s chair.
If there is one area where Speak No Evil immediately improves upon the original, it’s casting. We get a Halt and Catch Fire reunion with Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis and a chewy part for James McAvoy. Vacationing in Italy, Ben (McNairy), Louise (Davis), and Agnes (Alix West Lefler) cross paths with another family: Paddy (McAvoy), Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), and their son Ant (Dan Hough), who was born without a tongue. After bonding over several dinners on the trip, the English couple invites Ben and his family to visit their charming countryside estate, which they happily accept. The choice to accept feels odd given how quickly the time in Italy is over. More time in the first act would make everything that follows easier to accept. Would you accept an invitation to stay with people you met on vacation days earlier?
Without the glow of the Mediterranean to smooth over misunderstandings, the trip to the UK feels different. More dangerous. Paddy’s demeanor takes a harsh turn, abusing Ant, shattering physical boundaries, and pushing every button possible. Barely contained rage lurks behind every one of Paddy’s grins. A stellar actor, McAvoy is game for his against-type turn as Speak No Evil‘s antagonist. I found it impossible to believe anyone would tolerate Patrick’s behavior for long. While McAvoy is equally capable of menace, he also has the charisma and manipulation to entice a couple to stay at his home. Watching him hurtle from one side of the emotional spectrum to the next is riveting. McAvoy’s done similar work in Split, but he’s a worthy draw to an arguably unnecessary remake.
Even as captivating as McAvoy can be, the fatal flaw that struck the original Speak No Evil is present here. I’m, of course, speaking about the Idiot Plot. Popularized by Roger Ebert, an Idiot Plot is “any plot containing problems that would be solved instantly if all of the characters were not idiots.“ The mental gymnastics a person would have to do to justify Paddy and Ciara’s actions aren’t remotely justifiable. It was frustrating enough during the original film. Watching an American couple (we’re not known for being indulgent of others) persist through such bizarre behaviour is insulting.
Speaking on the original film, Tafdrup said he aimed to depict the danger of people being too nice and an eroding sense of masculinity. Psychological tension exists between overreacting and knowing when someone crosses a line. Child abuse, drunk driving, spying on Ben and Louise during intimacy. All of these things are red flags. And that’s not even including the worst incident in the film. As conflict-averse as Ben is, fleeing the remote area is an option, even for a man who can’t say no, like Ben. The film hints at the couple’s passion for the environment and inequality, but those things don’t hinder sensing danger either.
Yet that discounts how little agency a woman like Louise would have in her marriage. Played by Mackenzie Davis with a flint-eyed resolve, everything in her physically mannered performance reveals unease that McNairy’s oblivious husband cannot grasp. Ben, while unwilling to admit it, enjoys the masculine bravado Paddy offers. He’s drawn to it like a moth to flame. Paddy is thoroughly in charge and Ben never questions that dynamic.
Tafdrup’s film argues “When you are too empathetic, you can actually allow evilness yourself, you are permitting it.” However, his thesis relies on the idea that anyone would find Paddy/Patrick’s behaviour permissible. The problem is no one could.
2022’s Speak No Evil works because of the cultural Danish/Dutch cliches it plays with. Setting a remake with an American couple—even one of affluence and prone to guilt—it’s impossible to imagine them putting up with any of this. Films like The Invitation investigate how social inclination can lead to dangerous situations, but those situations happen among friends or families, not relative strangers. “Because you let me” lets the wrong people off the hook.
Critics praised Speak No Evil because that ending is not what you see in cineplexes. The audience is left as helpless as those onscreen. Much like losing your way in the ocean; you only have enough time to realize you’re dead, not enough time to do anything about it. Only The Vanishing could equal its dread. Any tinkering with that immediately puts the Blumhouse remake of Speak No Evil in hot water. I understand why Watkins felt he had to make the change, but it also relegates his remake to boilerplate psychological thriller status.
Saunder Jurriaans and Danny Bensi compose a score that leaves more to the imagination while still inducing dread. The first half of the film is relatively light on music, leaving the audience to suffer tension in pained silence. Too often, films drone on with heavy overtones, but the composers’ relatively light touch is welcome. The cinematography and production design elevate this beyond video nasties that were popular in the early aughts.
2024’s Speak No Evil is a strong approach to its source material, but this is, for all of its compelling portrayals, an imitation of a film that made a lasting impact.
