Thursday, September 12, 2024

Speak No Evil, Remade by Blumhouse

Remember, your new vacations friends probably are not that funny. Most likely, it is really just the wine. Most people realize it would be a bad idea to reunite later, especially at their isolated country home, but the Daltons do it anyway in James Watkins’ Speak No Evil, a Blumhouse-produced remake of Christian Tafdrup’s Danish film of the same name, which releases tomorrow nationwide.

Ben Dalton brought his wife Louise and daughter Agnes to London for a job opportunity that evaporated at the last minute. They are still there, but it is awkward, for additional reasons that will be revealed during their stressful upcoming country getaway. To lift their spirits, they have a miserable time vacationing in Tuscany, until they start hanging with the super-fun Paddy and Ciara, who rescue them from the other boring tourists. However, their mute son Ant is not such a good time. Maybe they should pay more attention to him.

When things get bad again back home, they decide to take up Paddy’s offer to visit their farmhouse. However, as soon as they arrive, they regret it, because their hosts are much weirder than they remember. The Daltons also realize poor Ant endures constant emotional (and perhaps physical) abuse. Yet, they stay, to avoid offending Paddy and Ciara. Ant tries to warn them, but only Agnes picks up on his desperate attempts to communicate.

Watkins’ adaptation of Tafdrup’s original film is taking flak for not being as hopelessly give-you-nothing-nihilistic as its predecessor, but that’s not such a bad thing. Frankly, we already have plenty of horror films in which cruelty is rewarded. Arguably, it starts out as a remake of
Speak No Evil but turns into a much better remake of Straw Dogs than Rod Lurie managed to cobble together. It even takes place back in rural England again.

There is a good deal of sexual politics reflected in the Daltons’ cratering relationship. As a further source of shame, she turns out to be a better, fiercer protector, but mostly due to reasons of coordination rather than
Force Majeure-esque cowardice on his part. Instead, Ben Dalton endures tremendous pain for family, in a climax that would make a Spanish Inquisitor wince. Yet, boy, does that tension build.

Mackenzie Davis is terrific as Louise Dalton, both on a physical and viscerally emotional level. Scoot McNairy is more restrained, but he elevates Ben Dalton above and beyond his “wounded masculinity.” However, young Dan Hough so devastatingly expresses such extreme inner turmoil as poor Ant, it should make some viewers questions the ethics of children appearing in a film like this.

On the other hand, James McAvoy’s crazy routine for Paddy feels very familiar by now. His performance almost approaches the cartoonish level of Bond villains. Conversely, the ambiguities of Aisling Franciosi as his wife, accomplice, and perhaps instigator make the manipulative Ciara much creepier.

Watkins (who also helmed
The Woman in Black) discomfits viewers with the early cringe, but the third act down-shifts into a true white-knuckle ride. It is massively unnerving, but it does not leave viewers feeling bereft and unclean. Recommended much more than its predecessor, for hardier horror fans, Speak No Evil opens tomorrow (9/13) in theaters, including the AMC Lincoln Square.