Starring: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 110 mins. Reviewed in Sep 2024
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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A family is invited to spend a whole weekend in a lonely home in the countryside, but as the weekend progresses, they realise that a dark side lies within the family who invited them.
The title sets up expectations of unspoken evil. And expectations are fulfilled until the last minutes of the film when evil is definitely spoken. Audiences may have seen a Danish film of 2022 with same title about a Danish family visiting a Dutch family with bizarre consequences. This time it is an American family, about to settle in London, encountering a friendly couple on a European holiday, are invited to their home in England’s West Country.
The holiday is cheerful. It’s a getaway for the American couple who are settling into new jobs and new locations. The wife, Louise (Davis) is a strong character while the husband Ben (McNairy) is more diffident, and the young daughter Agnes (Lefler), shows signs of being troubled. The audience identifies with them. The British couple, Paddy (McAvoy), Ciara (Franciosi) are exuberantly cheerful, funny for every occasion. However, their little boy, Ant (Hough) cannot speak because of a deformity with his tongue.
Everybody gets on so well with each other that there is the inevitable invitation of the American family to come visit . . .
Most audiences who choose to see Speak No Evil know there is some horror in the offing. However, the filmmakers decide that it is more effective to evoke, over an extended period, a sense of menace. This can be powerful. And, this is what happens – small incidents, odd comments, bizarre behaviour, increasing tension between Louise and Ben, their hosts forever cheerful.
However, the drama is heightened when the reasons for the stress between Louise and Ben surface. There is a past failing, loss of jobs, decisions to move, making the story not just simply a family under threat but a tension-racked family under threat.
As the film moves to its dramatic climax, the audience has come to know all the protagonists well, including the two children. In fact, much of the final focus is on the young son, Ant, and revelations about his situation. A final focus on his face, after an extremely disturbing sequence which involves him, there is a jolt for the audience which is reminded that though he could not speak, he was a boy with deep emotions desperate for an outlet.
Which means that this is not just your average horror story, but a dramatic story of families and relationships, manipulation and aggression.
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