For a while, this one was simply an uncomfortable watch. Not unwatchable, mind you, just mildly uncomfortable, like when you see a parent disciplining a child in a public place. That feeling comprised almost the entire first two acts of Speak No Evil.
Louise and Ben (Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy) are an American couple living in London. The pair are parents to a pre-teen girl, Agnes (Alix West Lefler). And all of them are on holiday in Italy when they encounter a UK couple, Paddy and Ciara (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi), who immediately rub you the wrong way. In fact, they rub the wrong way so aggressively, I’m surprised the couples’ nationalities weren’t reversed. At the resort pool, it takes Paddy five seconds to draw too much attention to himself, after which he orders his own pre-pubescent son (Dan Hough) a beer. Um, ok.
Despite natural hesitancy, the Americans make friends with Paddy and Ciara when their children seem to be getting along. The boy, Ant (Hough), has speech troubles tied to the lack of a tongue, so naturally, his parents are overjoyed to see he’s made friends and invite the Americans for a weekend stay at their country home.
I suppose you have to ask yourself here if you’re the kind of person who takes weekend stay invitations from people whom you really don’t know. My answer is “no.” A definitive “no,” and my hesitance is confirmed with every little bit of subplot when Louise and Ben arrive at Paddy and Ciara’s remote country home: no internet, forced goose-eating (on a vegetarian, no less), stained sheets, impromptu and strong-armed swimming in “knickers” … you know, all that I could take, but when Paddy, a doctor, pretends
not to be a doctor just to get a rise out of Louise and Ben, that would do it for me.
Meanwhile, Louise and Ben have their own issues. Louise may or may not have been unfaithful and Ben is currently unemployed, all of which makes the emasculated man lash out in predictable-yet-unpleasant ways.
And this is the film until the genuine plot kicks in during Act III, which I cannot in good faith tell you about. Does it make the film worth seeing? Ummmmm, yes, I think so. Did it come too late? Also, yes, I think so. Because for two full acts, the entire movie has been James McAvoy asserting unpleasant dominance while Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy essentially whine about it. It’s not that the first two acts were bad, but I sure would like to have seen something uplifting or memorably positive during the first 75 minutes of film. That didn’t happen.
Speak No Evil is the remake of a Danish film from 2022 that I have not yet seen. Am I going to see it? I dunno. I feel like the surprise has already been given away, and once you know what it is, I don’t think the screenplay is good enough to justify the rest, as opposed to, say, The Sixth Sense or Fight Club, both of which hold up even when you know the twist ahead of time. I’d say this one is good enough to watch once. Once.
A threesome from across the pond
Was invited to the back of beyond
Their hopes of delight
Were adjusted forthright
When they discovered that they had been conned
Rated R, 110 Minutes
Director: James Watkins
Writer: James Watkins, Christian Tafdrup, Mads Tafdrup
Genre: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The paranoid
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Bullies
