A family is invited to spend a whole weekend in a lonely home in the countryside, but as the weekend progresses, they realize that a dark side lies within the family who invited them.

A remake of a 2022 Danish movie, ‘Speak No Evil’ is a psychological horror thriller about the Daltons (Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy), an American family who are invited to spend some time at a remote farmhouse in Devon, with a British family who they connected with on a recent holiday in Italy. The British family are a little uncouth, or at least Paddy (James McAvoy) is, but he’s a doctor, they live in a big house in the country and they have a young mute child, so they must be alright? In any case, the Daltons need a break between problems at work, issues within their marriage and moving to a new country where they don’t know anyone, and it’d be good for their daughter (Alix West Lefler) to bond with another child. What could possibly go wrong?

That is the underlying premise for ‘Speak No Evil‘ and it sets up the story that unfolds once the Daltons arrive at the farmhouse, where they start to become increasingly unsettled by Paddy’s behaviour. The question posed is whether it’s just on account of a culture clash between Americans and Brits, city living and rural life, or something more sinister, and while the Daltons want to believe it is cultural the evidence more and more starts to suggest its sinister. I went into ‘Speak No Evil’ with relatively low expectations, because horror remakes are ten a penny these days and the majority are not very good, but I really, really liked this. I haven’t seen the Danish original so can’t comment on how the two movies compare, but taking this version in its own right, I was impressed.

A large part of that is down to two core aspects – the script and James McAvoy. The script is smart, darkly funny and digs in neatly at modern culture as it explores the uncomfortableness that forms between the two families – Louise (Mackenzie Davis) in particular. It is aided brilliantly by James McAvoy who is utterly magnetic, managing the difficult task of being charismatic and evil at the same time, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his performance. He delivers his lines with relish and you can see the joy he gets from pushing Louise’s buttons, with James Watkins script (in large part borrowed from Christian and Mads Tafdrup who wrote the Danish version, I’m sure) getting a lot of mileage from exploring the social awkwardness that is forming in an almost satirical takedown of middle-class ‘niceness’.

The movie changes in its second half, moving slightly away from the social commentary aspect to the suspenseful horror thriller I was expecting and while it’s not quite as interesting, the hard yards in the set up ensured I was gripped right through to the finish. ‘Speak No Evil’ is an entertaining thriller with some top performances, and I was more than pleasantly surprised by it.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: James Watkins

Starring: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, Kris Hitchen and Motaz Mulhees

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt27534307/