Speak No Evil is an English-language remake of the 2022 Danish film of the same name. The film opens in Italy as an American couple, Ben and Louise, played by Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis, meet a British couple, Paddy and Clara, played by James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi, who live a frivolous and free-spirited lifestyle. When the couple become friends through their children, they decide to stay engaged. As Ben and Louise return to their London apartment, they are invited to see Paddy and Clara again on their West country farm. However, as they head to a life outside their cushy city living, they are tested about what normality is.
Throughout their time at the farm, the film asks the audience to question what normality is. How urban living transfixes society to technology, laziness and endless variety, whilst the film shows the rural characters to often be dirty, unhygienic savages. As their stay continues, they become ever more unsettled; for instance, serving a vegetarian with a recently slaughtered goose sets the tone for the awkward experience as two sets of people from different walks of life attempt to co-exist.
Although I cannot attest to how the film compares to its Scandinavian predecessor, it provides an unsettling, gripping experience from start to finish. The film does an excellent job of establishing interesting and flawed characters who each challenge those around them. Ben is weak and insecure, unable to challenge the outlandish and outspoken Paddy. Whilst Clara acts as an antidote for Paddy, she is unable to outweigh his boisterous attitude. Meanwhile, Louise is represented as a drama queen who is unable to escape from her urban habits. This lays the foundations for scenes where the characters struggle whether or not to challenge the events that take place or remain polite.
Scenes involving domestic abuse or inappropriate sexual behaviour can convince the audience at times that this is normal for these rural farmers, making an intriguing piece that challenges preconceived notions. Particularly between the dynamic between Scoot Mcnairy’s Ben and James McAvoy’s Paddy, the question of what it means to be a man comes to the forefront. Paddy is a provider for his family, a hunter-gatherer who rears his own food and cider; whilst Ben is weak and unable to get a job, he fails to fulfil the requirements of the husband and father.
Tied in with the intriguing questions the film proposes are four brilliant performances. The highlight is James McAvoy, who reignites the madness of his performance as Kevin in M Night Shyamalan’s Split and Glass. His performance is physical, with his booming screams acting as a form of unfiltered madness that fits his rural, wild, isolated surroundings. Throughout, the audience, as well as Ben and Louise, are unsure how to perceive Paddy, who is charming and witty, strong-minded and charismatic, but with a dark side he struggles to contain.
The film is also surprisingly funny; it is wickedly comedic, constantly questioning whether or not the family is serious in their remarks or just fooling around. This comedy smartly adds to the unsettling nature of this psychological thriller. As a Brit, the portrayal of the rural British as savages who are out-of-date with American society was a humorous throughline which adds to the theme of an unwillingness to explore the world outside the comfort of everyday surroundings.
Although the film can be slow at times and takes a while to get to moments of horror or fear, it is a genuinely gripping peace about how politeness places us in bad situations and how we view sects of society whose lifestyles and standards vary from our own. Thus, Speak No Evil provides a fun and thrilling time with a thematically intriguing through line.
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