Welcome back to the blog readers. As you know by now, I have a deep love/hate relationship with horror films. But I do not give a fuck. Every horror film that comes out the rest of the year will not be anywhere near the level that Alien: Romulus (2024) was at, because that is my favorite film of the year so far. I have been anticipating this film though, because I am a big fan of James McAvoy and the premise seemed interesting enough. Would these two things lead to me enjoying the film? Stick around to find out.
Speak No Evil was written and directed by James Watkins, based on the 2022 Danish film of the same name directed by Christian Tafdrup and written by Mads Tafdrup. The film stars James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Scoot McNairy, Dan Hough, Alix West Lefler, Motaz Malhees, and Kris Hitchen. In the film, an American family finds themselves guests at the estate of an idyllic British family, only for the getaway to turn dark when a secret that could cost them their lives is revealed.
The main problem that I have had with horror films as of late is that they do not do enough to make themselves stand out as horror films in my opinion. Take a look at Alien: Romulus and Afraid (2024). Both are labeled as horror films, but one of them actually is a horror film, and that is Romulus. In other words, these films calling themselves horror don't actually take enough risks to have them be deserving of the label. I bring this up because although Speak No Evil is a great film with a menacing performance from James McAvoy and a great premise, it does not take enough risks to be a horror film, more so a thriller.
I did mention that James McAvoy had a menacing performance in this film, and I will stand by the opinion that this is one of my favorite performances of the year. He starts out as a sociable and cool guy who knows a lot about a lot but is kind of awkward, but in the final third of the film he completely transforms into a unhinged lunatic that would make Jack Nicholson very, very proud. I have seen some people likening McAvoy's performance to Nicholson's in The Shining (1980), and I can absolutely see it, especially in a scene in the climax of the former film very reminiscent of the latter film. I loved every second McAvoy was on screen, and ate up every single minute of his performance.
The next performance I want to praise is that of Scoot McNairy. McNairy has been in high-profile films that I have seen such as my favorite film of al time Argo (2012), Gone Girl, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), but I never pointed him out or noticed him...until now. I believe that save for McAvoy's performance, McNairy's performance is the most powerful of the film. One of the chief elements of the film is regret and guilt, and I think that he is a master of conveying those emotions that his character has. And I see this, especially in his scenes with Mackenzie Davis where the two of them express their regrets and their guilt.
The final performance I want to praise is that of Dan Hough. The child actor who is our gateway into the sinister forces surrounding the film says so much without saying a single word. And that is where I believe this young kid excels. So much of his performance is based on the physical motions of the body. It is all physical acting for this character and Hough does these things perfectly. From a certain motion that he makes to one of the other characters to a crucial action he takes in the climax of the film where we hear him for the first time make noise, Dan Hough gives the best child performance of the year.
Next, I want to talk about the story of the film, and I will be talking about the writing of the film in tandem. As I stated in the information paragraph, this is a remake of a Danish film from only two years ago. I only learned that as I was getting excited for the film leading up to it, and I read the plot description of the original. Yes, there are things that are kept the same, but there are major differences, especially the ending of the two films. Now I never saw the original (and probably do not plan on it), but I do appreciate the writing of the film for not being what Afraid was: all good while we were left waiting for the other shoe to drop. I loved how we got subtle hints that things were not as they seemed with this couple and we were able to piece some things together until we got to the reveal near the halfway mark of the film. Then, this film turns into a claustrophobic cat-and-mouse game that ends in a different way than the Danish version. And a note on that, I do hate how American filmmakers don't take enough risks and have the heroes always come out on top. There are a few exceptions like in Hereditary (2018), but I would like to see more of it.
Now to talk about the writing in full depth. I definitely think James Watkins was inspired from the films The Critic (2024) and White Noise (2023) (and obviously the Danish film), but the area in which those films fail and this one doesn't is the fact that this film is not littered with profound dialog every other line. White Noise was the biggest offender of this, and the chief reason why I hated that film. But in this film, all of the profound stuff that James McAvoy's character was saying is absolutely fucking true. It feels more relevant to today's issues than it does Shakespearian, and that is the biggest compliment I can give this film.
To conclude my thoughts, Speak No Evil is a wicked good time with stellar acting (and one menacing James McAvoy) and a story that feels fresh and relevant. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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