Speak No Evil (2024)

“Speak No Evil” – Awkward encounters of the first kind.

The major reason I ignore previews is because I want to be completely surprised by what I am about to see in a film. Unfortunately, doing so is also a pitfall for me. If I don’t know anything about a movie, I can’t be prepared for an unfunny embarrassment-humor film featuring Ben Stiller. Or gross-out horror films like The Hills Have Eyes. Or tensionless horror films trying pass off awkward uncomfortableness as suspense like Speak No Evil.

Note that Speak No Evil is a Blumhouse Productions remake of a Danish film of the same title that debuted just two years ago, and apparently the original was extremely well-received and critically acclaimed. I only just learned about the original so, no, I have not seen it to give my own opinion. But I have a hard time believing this remake will be as highly regarded as the original. Then again, I was wrong about how many people would give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a pass based on pure nostalgia, so look for Speak No Evil (2024) to have a Rotten Tomatoes rating higher than Speak No Evil (2022)’s 84%.

While vacationing in Italy, the Daltons – Ben (Scoot McNairy), Louise (Mackenzie Davis), and eleven-year-old Agnes (Alix West Lefler) – cross paths multiple times with the obnoxious and rude Paddy (James McAvoy), plus his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and son Ant (Dan Hough). While the kids seem to get along fine, Ben and Louise are very uncomfortable with Paddy’s pushiness and dismissal of their concerns (like Agnes not wearing a helmet on a moped when Paddy convinces them to let him take Agnes for a quick ride).

Months later, the Daltons get a postcard from Paddy inviting them to stay at Paddy’s secluded country residence for a few days. At first, Louise rejects the idea, but changes her mind because Ben just learned he was rejected for a job. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh here but given how the couples did not seem to hit it off very well, this seemed like a lazy contrivance designed to get the audience to start yelling at the screen and was utterly unconvincing. In fact, inducing that kind of audience engagement seems to be the entire point of the film.

For much of the duration of the Daltons’ stay at Paddy’s house, Paddy is sometimes mildly charming, but usually dismissive, chest-puffing, pushy, or abusive. It’s the kind of behavior that would cause anyone to excuse themselves after a day or two (if not a couple of hours), but the Dalton’s don’t leave because then the movie would be over. We also learn that the Daltons’ marriage is on the rocks, exposed through bouts of bickering and disagreement between Ben and Louise, Louise deeply unhappy. To recap, a couple struggling to maintain their marriage agrees to spend a week with an uncouth jerk and they don’t immediately leave after Paddy, among other things, forces Louise to eat a piece of goose despite knowing she’s a vegetarian. Yeah – disbelief not suspended.

Since we know this is a horror movie and we’ve seen the film’s poster, we expect Paddy is eventually going to violently turn on the Daltons. The problem with the film is the first eighty minutes don’t build any suspense to sell that future violent turn. There is no real sense of malevolence coming from Paddy. He just seems like a jerk in general, as well as an abusive husband and father. At best, the tone of the film is less “crazy murderer” and more “awkward dinner with divorcing friends.”

When the film does explode in a frenzy of attempted murder, it doesn’t feel like it earned it. The trapped-in-the-house climax is prefaced with an overwrought and drawn-out scene where the Daltons are trying to leave after yet another helping of awkwardness. Once the Daltons are finally captured, Paddy’s murderous intentions are revealed (and don’t stop to think about that reveal because it’s nonsensical, even for a slasher flick). And what is Paddy’s motivation for those intentions that the film barely hinted at for the previous eighty minutes? Paddy is annoyed that the Daltons have an electric vehicle, support line-caught sustainable fishing, and – wait for it – “because you let me.” Really? 

Oof, fine – just get on with the slashing already.

If this movie does get a pass from audiences and critics, it’s going to be because of the performances from McAvoy and Davis. McAvoy is very convincing as a boor who cares nothing for social niceties and an anti-liberal to boot. Davis is equally convincing as a frustrated wife growing more and more exasperated with Ben and the situation as their stay continues. But that’s as much as the movie will let them do. McAvoy is restricted by the writing from evincing actual malice and does not convince us that he is manipulating the Daltons rather than just being an asshole. This, in turn, restricts Davis from evincing fear in the situation rather than just annoyance and impatience. Had the film done those things, as well as done a proper job of building suspense and tension, it wouldn’t need a pass. And I’ll probably be in the minority of those withholding that pass.

Rating: Ask for half your money back and leave already. You’re making it awkward.