Speak No Evil (2024) Review: Not Evil Enough

While James Watkins’ 2024 take on Speak No Evil is entertaining enough on its own merits, it doesn’t do anything bold or new to justify remaking the chilling original.

Once our protagonists are penalized for longing to be like other couples, the film’s sore climax is gut wrenching and downright upsetting. I am, of course, referring to Danish filmmaker Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil, not the American remake. The brand-new iteration of this unsettling tale is, well, not that unsettling.

Ben (Scoot McNairy, Nightbitch), Louise (Mackenzie Davis, Happiest Season), and their daughter Agnes Dalton (Alix West Lefler, The Good Nurse) are an American family who befriends a British family consisting of Paddy (James McAvoy, The Book of Clarence), Ciara (Aisling Franciosi, The Last Voyage of the Demeter), and their son Ant (Dan Hough) during a vacation trip. After returning to London from vacation, the Daltons receive an invitation to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of the charming British family. What begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare.

As a thriller that you can spend a date night at the movies, 2024’s Speak No Evil is competently made. There are fun set pieces – particularly in the third act – that unfold in entertaining fashion thanks to its cast. To nobody’s surprise, McAvoy is the standout, with a performance that is much goofier than its Danish counterpart, Fedja van Huêt, though he makes it work with his charisma. Hough is a highlight, too, conveying a lot without ever uttering a sentence. The rest of the cast is solid but doesn’t do much to elevate or differentiate their characters from the original film.

In the original film, Tafdrup’s approach is incredibly bitter while balancing its serious tone with dark humor: the comedy is effective because it is uncomfortably subtle. It’s never on your face, nor does it make a point to stop dead in its tracks to draw attention to certain jokes. The way Tafdrup cleverly plays with the movie’s title, our main couple refusing to talk about the evil they are witnessing in their hosts, is thematically impactful. Most of this is lost in Blumhouse’s attempt to recapture Tafdrup’s disturbing magic. The problems with James Watkins’ Speak No Evil emerge through its execution.

Rather than being modest with its humor, 2024’s Speak No Evil tries too hard to make you laugh. McAvoy and Franciosi are treated as twirling villains, not entities of pure evil that easily manipulate our protagonists with their false kindness. Even the way each film approaches its sets makes a world’s difference. There is an uneasiness about production designer Sabine Hviid’s vision in Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil. The country estate feels like hell disguised as a paradise, furthering the filmmaker’s exploration of marriage and desire. In contrast, the production design in Watkins’ take is sinister and ugly, externalizing our antagonist’s intentions. Is this necessarily a bad thing on paper? No, but it does ruin some of the suspense when we’re constantly reminded McAvoy and Franciosi are evil even when they’re friendly and vulnerable.

If you haven’t seen the original Speak No Evil, I won’t spoil the ending, but it is as daring and hopeless as a film of its kind can be, capable of ruining anybody’s day. The American remake opts for a far more rewarding finale, which, again, defeats the purpose of the movie it borrows ideas from. Watkins’ Speak No Evil feels like a thriller you can throw on a Saturday night while folding laundry. In theory, there is nothing wrong with that. Although, when merely two years ago, the gripping Danish thriller saw the light of day, this remake feels pointless and uninspired.

Speak No Evil (2024) was released in US theaters and UK & Irish cinemas on September 13, 2024.