By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy
Written and directed by James Watkins
Universal/Blumhouse
There are two audiences that will be experiencing SPEAK NO EVIL: Those who have seen Christian Tafdrup’s bone-chilling Danish original, and will likely have issues with alterations made to this English-language remake, and the millions of American viewers who will be unfamiliar with Tafdrup’s film and will enjoy the new film as a keenly crafted suspense shocker with a deep streak of black humor. Speaking as one who very much admired the original and the seriously dark places it went to, I also quite liked writer/director James Watkins’ movie, which works some effective variations on its predecessor and is exceedingly well-cast.
Topmost among the ensemble is James McAvoy as Paddy, who’s vacationing in Italy with his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi of THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER and STOPMOTION) and young son Ant (Dan Hough) when they make the acquaintance of Americans Ben and Louise Dalton (Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis) and their daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). For the Daltons, the trip is an escape from their uncertain home life; Ben uprooted them from the States to relocate in London for a job that didn’t wind up panning out. While he’s a recessive type, Paddy is brash and outspoken with no filter, as when he makes fun of a full-of-himself Danish tourist at their resort (a fun call-out to the first film, in which the couples were Danish and Dutch). After a couple of chance meetings lead to drinks and dinner together, Paddy invites the Daltons to come visit their home in the remote West of England, and they decide a jaunt to the country might be good for them. Little do they know…
One of the fun things about Watkins’ take on this material is its inversion of traditional views on the British, who are often characterized as stuffy and overly polite, and Americans, just as often seen as louder and crasser. Paddy, as he initially presents himself, is a lover of life’s pleasures and excesses who has no problem expressing his views–the kind of guy it would be great to have a pint with down at the pub. But spending a long weekend at his home? That’s another story. Once the Daltons have arrived, Paddy and Ciara appear to be gracious hosts, but are soon committing microaggressions that could at first be rationalized as accidents, as when Paddy insists that Louise, who had mentioned back in Italy that she’s vegetarian, have the first taste of a roast goose he’s prepared.
Watkins builds a gradual, uneasy, sometimes amusing tension as it becomes evident that Paddy and Ciara aren’t simply committing social faux pas, but are testing their guests’ tolerance for this behavior. Louise responds to the red flags quicker than Ben, particularly where their behavior toward Agnes is concerned, but even after Paddy and Ciara have clearly crossed a line, the Daltons are convinced to stay. Like Tafdrup, Watkins is exploring notions of propriety, of how we’re socially conditioned to accept and forgive certain kinds of misconduct, and the suspense comes from waiting for the situation to cross the point of no return. And once it does, how will the Daltons respond? The answer to that question, and the final act that results, are very different from what happens in the previous film, and instead take this version into STRAW DOGS territory.
Viewed in that context, it must be said that Watkins comes up with a better “remake” of DOGS than the official one we got 13 years ago. It pays off the apprehension built by the first 80 minutes or so to a very satisfying visceral degree, and allows McAvoy to give full flower to Paddy’s villainy. The actor is terrific throughout SPEAK NO EVIL, bringing a rough-hewn charm and engagingly unfettered personality to Paddy, even as it’s clear the man’s dark side can emerge at any moment. Davis is an impressive match for him, well conveying Louise’s growing intolerance for Paddy and Ciara’s conduct toward her and her family, her resolve to protect them and her frustrations with Ben. McNairy offers a nicely calibrated portrait of Ben, whose weaknesses as a man lead him to fall under Paddy’s hypermasculine spell for a while, and Franciosi is as good as always playing a woman whose devotion to Paddy might hide a touch of victimhood as well.
Kudos also to young Lefler and Hough, whose characters are given more agency and proactivity than in the prior film. Here, it’s Ant who leads Agnes into first discovering some of the frightening truths about the household, and Lefler really makes you feel for Agnes, who already suffers from anxiety before finding herself in a truly harrowing place. This change in emphasis is one of the variations Watkins has made on the original material that works for it, even as he honors quite a bit of what gave that movie its power. SPEAK NO EVIL is a remake that stands as an effective and worthwhile companion piece to its inspiration, while also delivering plenty of taut, startling entertainment to those unfamiliar with it.
