Speak No Evil (2024), directed by James Watkins, stars James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, Dan Hough, Alix West Lefler, Kris Hitchen, Motez Malhess, and Jakob Hojlev Jorgensen. This is a remake of the Danish horror-comedy Speak No Evil (2022) but takes a more straightforward approach to the material regarding tone.  It follows Ben (McNairy) and Louise (Davis), an American couple vacationing in France who eventually hit off with another couple: Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Franciosi). Soon after going their separate ways, Paddy and Ciara invite Ben and Louise to spend a weekend at their countryside estate. Along with their daughter, the couple agrees to attend. After arriving, the family begins to notice something is off about Paddy, Ciara, and their mute son, Ant (Hough). As the weekend progresses, the hosts begin to act more and more unhinged. Desperate to leave the awkward situation, the family finds any excuse to depart without conflict – not quite sure if this is all in their heads or if something truly sinister is going on. Is this just an awful weekend, or are their lives truly at stake? 

Although most of the cast members give strong performances, the only one that will stick in one’s memory after the credits role is James McAvoy’s unhinged performance as Paddy. It sort of feels like an extension of the performance he delivered in Split (2016), but a bit more in control of his actions as a character. Because of this, the performance doesn’t feel impressive in the sense that it’s something new, but McAvoy’s mammoth screen presence makes up for it. If only the film’s marketing didn’t spoil some of the character’s best moments…

Because the film often prioritizes tension and awkwardness over traditional scares, scenes of dialogue and character development avoid feeling disposable or boring. It takes its time to build tension between not just the antagonists and protagonists, but also the character’s that are clearly on one another’s side. This works to amplify the tension in the sense that it feels like it’s coming from all angles, becoming overwhelming in the way the effective tension should always be.   

A lot of people criticize the original Danish film for featuring main characters who ignore obvious red flags until it’s too late and something terrible happens. The thing is, those bad decisions are intentionally frustrating and tie in directly to the film’s ending. In other words, this is kind of that film’s most impressive illusion. It makes the audience think the decisions are mistakes in the writing, but they are actually the entire thematic point. The remake retains the character’s questionable decisions but features a by-the-numbers horror climax that doesn’t reframe them like the original. This results in the typical criticism of the original film actually applying more appropriately to this movie. I hate to say it, but if Blumhouse had created a more faithful remake, it would have felt more unnecessary, but also a more enjoyable experience overall. Instead of having a more comedic approach throughout that ends on a dark note like the original, the remake does the opposite and adopts a darker tone that ends on a lighter, more predictable note.

Overall, this is a competently made thriller with a strong lead performance that unfortunately only stumbles in its unoriginal third act. Even though the changes from the original film don’t help the overall experience, I do appreciate that they dared to make them. This avoids making this feel “unnecessary” like so many remakes made in the last 5 years. Comparing it to baseball, the effort feels more like a foul tip for strike three as opposed to strike three looking. There’s also a strong sense of British comedy here that fits well with the material but doesn’t overshadow the darker tone. This isn’t a bad movie, but it sure isn’t memorable either. I think less critical viewers than myself as well as those who haven’t seen the original film will find this to be a an acceptable way to kill two hours. C+