Speak No Evil: A Review

SPEAK NO EVIL

One tries to be pleasant with strangers even when they behave in very eccentric ways. Speak No Evil, an English-language remake of a Danish-Dutch film, is respectable and held together by a strong central performance. 

While on vacation in Italy, American couple Louise and Ben Dalton (Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy) bond with British couple Patrick "Paddy" (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi). The bonding includes how Louise & Ben's daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) and Patrick & Ciara's son Ant (Dan Hough) both have issues. Agnes won't let go of her toy rabbit Hoppy despite being eleven years old, and Ant was born with a smaller tongue, making communication hard.

Louise and Ben live in London where they are struggling with professional and personal issues. When they receive an invite to join Paddy, Ciara and Ant on the Devonshire farm, they take it as a chance to recharge. They are unaware of how sinister and dangerous their hosts are. Over the course of their time, Louise and Ben see how Paddy and Ciara behave in strange ways. They simulate sex at a small restaurant and have the Daltons pay. They are quite abusive towards Ant and even have Agnes share their bed. Louise is adamant that they leave in the middle of the night, but Agnes' fixation over Hoppy forces them to return.

From here, we learn a horrifying truth about past guests of Paddy and Ciara, with Ant as their victim instead of their son. Will the Daltons manage to escape this house of horror or will they in turn find themselves the newest trophies for Paddy and Ciara's satanic collection?

Speak No Evil is worth watching for one performance and it is that of James McAvoy. I have always thought well of McAvoy, Victor Frankenstein being a terrible exception. He is the type who can travel smoothly from costume pictures to action pieces and now to thrillers. His Paddy is someone whose seeming pleasant manner is always a bit off-kilter. You sense that Paddy is dangerous and threatening, yet you cannot pinpoint anything specific. McAvoy gives us someone who could fool the Daltons and his past victims, who can come across as menacing but also reasonable.

You also get a chance to see McAvoy show off his extremely buff body, impressive for a forty-five-year-old man of relatively short stature. Most of the cast may physically tower over McAvoy, but he dominates everyone onscreen, making for great viewing.

The other cast members though do not make for great viewing. I think it is because of one thing that McAvoy does that the others at minimum struggle with. It is in taking the premise seriously. Davis and McNairy are at times unintentionally funny and at times stiff on screen. I literally laughed at the end when I saw Davis' face at the end when Ant strikes back. I think it is because due to writer/director James Watkins, they at times seem to be more in a domestic drama than in a horror film. 

I also think that some of Speak No Evil could have been resolved if not for those dumb decisions that the characters make. Given how at one point the Daltons had managed to escape, I find Agnes' insistence of returning for Hoppy to have doomed them. I was with Ben on that issue: no matter how much Agnes hits and screams, they should have fled for their lives rather than return for a bunny to satisfy the emotional needs of eleven-year-old girls. I think that, had they opted to try and quietly leave in the morning, the Daltons could have survived without the horror of the final act. 

Then again, I may be overthinking things.

In many ways, one should know how Speak No Evil will go, separate from it being a remake. There is a familiarity to the story, of those who are lured into danger that will inevitably lead to a bloody conclusion. I think this is the kind of film that gives audiences what it wants: some scares, some suspense and a strong James McAvoy performance. It knows what it is and on the whole, Speak No Evil will please thriller fans. 

DECISION: C+