Hospitality takes a deadly twist in ‘Speak No Evil’
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
In the style of Sam Peckinpah’s still nasty 1971 thriller “Straw Dogs,” the James McAvoy-led “Speak No Evil” has an interesting pedigree, if not much more. It is based on the 2022 Danish entry “The Guests,” co-written and directed by Danish filmmaker Christian Tafdrup. Now, billed as written and directed by Englishman James Watkins of the 2007 murderous-rampaging-teens-in-the-woods “Eden Lake” and co-produced by Universal and horror specialist Blumhouse Pictures (“Insidious”), the rich-outsiders-vs.-crazy locals drama has been transplanted from Denmark and the Netherlands to London and rural England (it was shot in Croatia, of course).
Unfortunately, a lot of the film’s drama depends upon American couple-transplanted-to-London Ben (a gaunt Scoot McNairy) and wife Louise (swan-necked Mackenzie Davis) and their 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) not realizing how nuts a character named Paddy (a buff, bullying McAvoy) really is. Haven’t they seen those “Unbreakable” films? In the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Paddy is an undefined quantity. He may just be someone you might naturally be inclined to avoid. He and his clan, including wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi, “The Nightingale”) and non-speaking, preteen son Ant (Dan Hough), might be much, much worse. Can you guess?
After driving their Tesla down a dirt road cut through a green thicket and past a “war memorial,” Ben, Louise, and Agnes arrive at the idyllic stone house and grounds in West England where Paddy, Ciara, and Ant abide. Director Watkins has already established that Agnes is very attached to her stuffed toy bunny and refuses to go anywhere without it. Ben, a top executive at a company that has just gone bust, and publicist Louise, whose marriage lacks heat, decide that a “change of scenery” might be good. This is the flimsy excuse for accepting an invitation from strangers for “a long weekend.”
The first sign that something might be amiss comes when Paddy insists on feeding vegetarian Louise the “oyster” from a cooked goose marinated in blood oranges. Everything screams, “Get out.” Paddy claims to be a doctor and explains that Ant does not talk because he has an underdeveloped tongue (warning lights flashing madly). Paddy comes across as a menacing clown out of those “It” films, whose uncontrollable, high-pitched laughter shatters glass. Like the character McAvoy has played in the M. Night Shyamalan films, Paddy seems at any moment to morph into a flesh-eating monster. He leads the group on a nature hike across the hills, trilling as he treads. Fee, fi, fo, fum.
Back at the cottage, which has an automatic metal gate, Louise flosses with a disgusted expression on her face. She uses an app on her phone to calm Agnes down. The bed she and Ben share has stained sheets, a not-so-subtle metaphor for their damaged if not stained, marital union.
Much of the dialogue and action of “Speak No Evil” is risible. Paddy and Louise argue over fish. The first big scare is, of course, a jump cut of a gigantic, trumpeting truck. Watkins is both heavy-handed and not in control. Paddy sings along to the Bangles’ 1989 romantic anthem, “Eternal Flame.” Ant shows Agnes something incriminating in the basement. You would have long since run away from Paddy and his wife, who appears to give him oral sex at dinner at a local pub. You can see why McAvoy took the part. It suits him all too well. But why did McNairy agree to play the wimp? Davis and Franciosi are left with the insufficiently sketched wives. “You’ve blown up my car, you cheeky c****,” Paddy shouts at Ben later. Break out the power tools, Ketamine syringes, cider-based Molotov cocktail, and sawed-off shotguns. We’re going to the horror film rodeo. Yippee-ki-yay, etc.
‘Speak No Evil’
Rating: R for some strong violence, language, some sexual content, and brief drug use.
Cast: James McAvoy, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi.
Director: James Watkins
Writers: Christian Tafdrup, Mads Tafdrup, Watkins
Running time: 110 minutes
Where to Watch: AMC Boston Common, AMC Causeway, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, and suburban theaters.
Grade: C
Boston Movie News 