Directed By James Watkins

Starring – James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy

The Plot – A family is invited to spend a weekend in an idyllic country house, unaware that their dream vacation will soon become a psychological nightmare.

Rated R for some strong violence, adult language, some sexual content and brief drug use.

Speak No Evil | Official Trailer (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Remaking a foreign film, especially only two years after its release, is risky territory, but Watkins and the production do a solid job of bringing this story to American audiences, with a lot of similarities, as well as some key differences, that makes this feel like an entirely new experience, even if you’ve seen the Danish original. For starters, to its favor, Watkins effortlessly conjures the awkwardness of strangers getting to know one another, complete with confrontational dialogue and clashing lifestyles that the entirety of its audience have felt at some point in their lives. In particular on the dialogue, the script works overtime in fleshing out these characters where ample time awarded to backstory is left intentionally ambiguous, and in the case of Davis and McNairy’s protagonist coupling, it illustrates a lived-in brand of believability and realism that constantly conveys some deeper sentiment to information that we’re only privy to at a topical level, allowing us to vividly interpret not only the breach of trust that constantly hangs overhead in their marriage, but also lucid food for thought in the constructs of these character designs, which makes it easy to read that Davis is the force to which many of the family’s decisions are made, while McNairy is the constant pushover, who finds difficulty standing up to confrontational adversity. Because the film takes its time with building the many compartmentalized dynamics between these respective families, it has plenty of atmospheric articulation to build with the pressure of a boiling kettle, and when it finally does erupt, it leads to an all out firestorm of emotions and actions that finally delivers on the film we were promised with such frequent marketing. On top of this, the cinematography from Tim Maurice-Jones pitches a perfect game, with intoxicating scenery inside of the British countryside that really evokes a sense of isolation and dread in the established setting. It certainly helps in the minimalizing of the ensemble, which paints a bleak ominousness to the couple’s predicament, but even beyond that, the jolting and eccentric spins of the lens during the climatic third act inscribe emphasis in the tensional anxiety, without downright sacrificing the depiction of its capture, leaving it every bit detectable in the eyes of the audience as it is urgent in the depths of this family seeking escape. Beyond atmospheric channeling and visual stimulation, the one thing that I feel this film does even better than its predecessor is the versatility of its performances, with picture perfect casting in everyone assembled, who never wither in the depths of such eclectic personalities. McNairy is undoubtedly given the thankless role as this husband who is constantly outmuscled by McAvoy, but it’s in Scoot’s demeanor where we cohere to his family’s bleak and forewarning outlook, while inside of a situation where the man of this family doesn’t provide the bravery or muscle to attain levity to so many uncomfortable and disrespectful interactions. Davis also hands in a memorable turn, with stern sensibilities and bold expressions emitting the displacing dispositions of being a guest in another family’s home, and a surprising appearance from Aisling Franciosi, one of my current favorite actresses, makes the most of her minimal focus, with a psychological temperament that mirrors McNairy’s helplessness, but in entirely different ways that appraises value to the magnitude of the mysterious conflict lurking just beneath the surface. However, it’s undoubtedly James McAvoy who soaks in the most of the spotlight, with another grippingly grueling turn as a psychopathic oppressor, which James has the time of his life exuding. While we obviously know the character is evil from the marketing, it’s James’ charms as a nurturing provider that make him easy to fall for, cast aside with time for these stomach-churning expressions, which linger in the movie’s photography just long enough to convey something darker afoot in the crooked smile and soft delivery, that McAvoy unloads with unabashed sincerity. Another primary improvement is the tonal versatility and balance of the movie, which values laughter as a tool for awkwardness, just as much as it does the tension from the conflicts to which they bring. This proves Watkins to be a maestro of his craft, as in lesser hands the abundance of the former could certainly compromise the integrity of the latter, but they’re divided accordingly in the structure of the dialogue in ways that uses them meticulously at just the right moments, taking audiences on a rollercoaster of emotional impulses that provide something completely unique to the character who delivers them.

NEGATIVES

Not everything transfers accordingly to this Americanized version of ‘Speak No Evil’, particularly the dread and darkness of the reveals, which clearly have audience comfortability in mind, this time around. While the film definitely uncovers some devastating circumstances that completely destroy this notion of these strangers being decent people, the depth to which they travel doesn’t quite measure up to its predecessor, and as a result I never felt that overwhelming brand of paranoia and adversity against these protagonists, which definitely could’ve afforded to test the oppressed a bit more than they did. My feelings are that a production doesn’t want to overwhelm an audience with the disparity of a particular environment, but in the case of reveals that articulate the magnitude of the situation, I never felt it matched to what transpired between the situations of our protagonists, leaving the climax feeling certainly effective, but also slightly underwhelming in how said protagonists rarely felt overwhelmed by situations that were out of their control. On the subject of those protagonists, whether intentional or not, they’re not exactly the easiest to invest in or care for, as a result of both the annoying consistencies of their designs, but also the sheer stupidity of their decision making, which had me audibly groaning during moments any sane person would hit the road going a hundred miles per hour, away from such an evidentially dark and terrifying situation. I can forgive momentary conveniences as a means of keeping a story thread going, but when it comes to forcefully forgetting about key ingredients of conflict that disturbed characters in the previous scene, but no longer feel relevant in the current one, I lose all sense of credibility and accountability towards these characters, and eventually I found myself thinking that these people deserve everything that they’re getting, as a result of being so obtuse to the lives that they were constantly hanging in the balance of their own selfish acts. Finally, I previously commended the script for taking time to build these respective dynamics and corresponding characterization, but it came at the cost of some withering pacing for the film, which loses some of the momentum from a beginning of the film that doesn’t waste time putting the pieces to motion. Because it isn’t until the film’s final half hour where the film we’ve been promised comes to fruition, it leaves the rest of the engagement feeling a bit underwhelming and prodding throughout scenes that were already experienced in an overtly revealing trailer, and while those biding moments certainly appraise awkwardness to the designs of their integrity, I could’ve used more prolonged suspense and tension during the film’s second act, where it earns a majority of its 105 minute run time.

OVERALL
‘Speak No Evil’ is a more than credible remake of its Danish original, even if it fails to strike the same chords of crazed chaos and dread of its superior original. To its credit, the film is blessed tremendously by another gravitational performance from McAvoy, who seethes and snickers in hiding a deeper, darker secret as the movie’s antagonist, as well as meaningful direction from Watkins, who grows the story naturally inside of the seeds of isolated awkwardness between strangers, leading to one ruthlessly unrelenting finale that delivers without disturbing.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-