MIDNIGHT REVIEWS Speak No Evil (2024) Review
With absolutely no appearances by Richard Pryor or Gene Wilder.
Speak No Evil (2024) (1hr 50mins)
Directed by: James Watkins
Featuring: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy
Synopsis: A family is invited to stay the weekend at a farmhouse in Devon with another family they met recently. What starts as a convivial holiday starts to quickly turn tense as the resident family begin to unveil their darker sides.
Review: Families are precarious things sometimes. Just when you think you have a handle on them, someone does something to make the entire situation awkward or, even worse, splays their grievances as a matter of confrontation.
It’s in this vein that Speak No Evil spends a lot of its time. Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) invite Ben, Louise and Agnes (McNairy, Davis and Alix West Lefler) to their home after both families meet on holiday, hitting it off somewhat. Louise doesn’t want to go, but there’s already tension between the couple, what with smaller issues (disagreements on their daughter’s stuffed bunny) and larger issues (sexting between one of them and someone they work with). All the brackets featured here only represent all of the underlying things that can only be mentioned under the breath, at the exact right time, lest arguments start.
When they arrive, it seems like the perfect place. Paddy and Ciara have a son (Dan Hough) who Agnes can share a room with and play with on this self-sufficient, countryside idyll. But then Agnes is forced to sleep on a mattress, on the floor. And Louise, a vegetarian, is forced to chew on a mouthful of goose out of politeness. It only gets worse from there and the boulder tumbles quickly down the hill as this lovely family reveal they’re anything but.
An incredibly tense drama [that turns into] a horror featuring some extremely dark comedy.
The whole cast enable the movie to succeed. Mackenzie Davis is great, her performance finding Final Girl territory without any of that trope’s drawbacks. Her anxiety and the tension in her shoulder is what everyone else feels as we mostly see everything through her eyes.
McNairy has throughout his career specialised in put-upon guys trying to get the best out of a situation and here he adds a layer of sad sack who, when put under any kind of pressure, has no presence or authority at all. McAvoy is his opposite; he infuses Paddy with enough horror to explain his actions without ever being pitiable or excusable. The majority of the dark humour comes from his spot-on performance (a stand out scene features him, singing to the radio as he drives down the road).
Franciosi as Clara is terrific, in that she does so much with so little. It’s only in the very last sequence where she lets us know what Clara’s intentions are, which adds a nice wrinkle to the entire movie as we wonder how much she’s truly in on it. She takes the smaller moments afforded to her (out of all four main cast members, she is the most underserved) and pops in very well hidden exposition. This is an underrated skill. If this were a rock band, she would be the bass player.
Apparently there’s been a lot of talk about a horrific tongue cutting scene. While this plays into the plot, the film is never graphic or gory. This isn’t the film for torture porn enthusiasts, thankfully.
Whether you’ve seen the original or not, there are bits from Speak No Evil that you can see coming and other twists on the countryside killer sub-genre that are welcome shocks. The revelation in the photo album (no more needing to be said; as I said earlier, wait for the right time and watch the movie) stands out as layering horror-upon-horror.
In summary, the film turns from an incredibly tense drama based around family manners and interactions with people you don’t really know, into a horror featuring some extremely dark comedy. One of the things the film does so well is shifting between these two whilst keeping the knotty feeling of tension intact. Thoroughly watchable and thoroughly enjoyable.
At time of writing, Speak No Evil is available to see on the big screen.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies and TV shows whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter or listen to the podcast he co-hosts with Leslie Wai.
