Director James Watkins’ American adaptation of the Danish film, Speak No Evil (2022), was released in theaters September 13, 2024. This psychological horror thriller film stars the commonly crazed actor, James McAvoy, as one of the main characters. The original film, written by Christian and Mads Tafdrup, is based loosely on real life experiences they went through.
Speak No Evil starts noticeably slower than most viewers would anticipate when going into a thriller. We start off meeting a family of three: Ben, Louise, and their 11-year-old daughter Agnes Dalton while on a vacation in Italy. Quickly, our protagonists catch the eye of a strange couple at the resort. The couple, Paddy and Ciara, are immediately off putting and their actions help gradually pick up the suspense of the movie.
Through the twists and turns of this film, I can’t really claim to have been completely invested in the plot. It genuinely took until the final 45 minutes of the movie for something interesting to happen. For an almost 2-hour movie, personally I’d rather not spend the majority of it just waiting for something to happen.
Luckily, once the movie does pick up, it was enjoyable to watch; especially during the final action scenes. The suspense of the final act gave this movie the credits for being a true horror. Without the jolts and holding your breath hoping the Daltons will be okay, the movie’s really just odd and hard to sit through. If the movie had more action sprinkled throughout it rather than packing it into the end, I would have been able to call it a great movie. I just found that the inconsistencies in how the audience should be feeling took me out of the experience.
On the other hand, if movies that keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end when things are finally revealed all at once, this movie is for you! The acting from the children especially heightened the tone of the movie. Ant’s pure fear and desperation was extremely well expressed without giving him a single line.
Of course, I don’t even have to mention how deeply in touch with his character you can tell James McAvoy is in his scenes. Who doesn’t love seeing McAvoy falling into insanity by the end of a movie?!
Although I wouldn’t recommend seeing it in theaters for the sake of your patience, if you’re bored and in the mood to be uncomfortable, I do recommend Speak No Evil. I’m certain it’s someone out there’s vibe, just not mine. I only suggest that before watching, you make sure you know whether the vibe and pace of it fits with your attention span.
