Remake of Swedish classic a surprising hit

Director James Watkins has finally done it. Having been in the director’s chair for 16 years making bad remakes, Watkins finally did what I didn’t think he was capable of doing. He made a good horror movie! Watkins struck something with Speak No Evil, and this time it might be oil rather than sewage.

Now granted, Watkins still hasn’t made a good original horror movie. Speak No Evil is yet another remake of a superior film but Watkins does well in retooling the sulky, violent 2022 Swedish horror into a fun yet still bloody flick for American mainstream audiences. It’s a pleasant surprise to see this remake do things differently with its plot versus being a straight rehash of the original film, even though all the changes are done to make the plot more digestible to American audiences.

The film follows an American couple Louise and Ben, played by Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy, with their young daughter Agnes, played by Alix West Lefler, on a vacation in Naples, Italy. While relaxing by the resort’s poolside, our protagonists meet the British family Paddy and Ciara with their mute son Ant, played by James McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi and child actor Dan Hough. After having some drinks and laughs with each other, the couple is lured to the family’s countryside home in the U.K. where, shocker, all mayhem breaks loose.

The main star of the show, and also the biggest reason why this film is Watkins’ most enjoyable, is the man, the myth, the acting legend himself James McAvoy.

McAvoy brings his signature skills of being able to flip from a charming, inviting, and easy going individual immediately to an intimidating, violent force of nature. McAvoy matches the intensity of his past antagonist roles from the Split franchise but with a more grounded performance as the devious and deceptive Paddy.

While watching McAvoy act, I found myself drawn in by his allure. McAvoy’s acting is so convincing that I still had some hope throughout the movie that maybe he really was a hospitable, quirky guy who happened to have a cabin in the middle of nowhere that he invited strangers to versus being the ruthless killer shown in promotions.

When the act drops and Paddy reveals his real intent, he strikes real fear into the heart as he savagely chases the family throughout his cottage of hell. In a scene where Ben, Louise and Agnes are dragged into the garage by Paddy surrounded by hacksaws, hunting knives and machetes hanging on the walls, I started to feel myself suffocate with feelings of dread and hopelessness as he lined up each family member to be executed. Watkins’ most grounded film, his previous works all involve supernatural and science fiction elements, is also his most terrifying as it displays the horrors one person can unleash onto innocent people.

The dialogue is also some of the best from any Watkins film. When Watkins involves himself in the writing process, like with Eden Lake and The Take, his films tend to have stilted and on-the-nose dialogue with a nonsensical story. Here, however, the dialogue held my attention and kept me on the edge of my seat as every interaction between Paddy and our protagonists felt like it could escalate at any moment into something violent and disturbing. The most striking line is during the climax of the film where Paddy seems to have the upper hand, and Ben asks him why he’s doing this to them, to which Paddy coldly responds “Because you let me.”

The one sequence that sticks out like a sore thumb in this film is the scene of the families having dinner outside, which then the Agnes and Ant wish to show a dance they made up to the 90’s novelty song “Cotton Eyed Joe.” Paddy starts to become unhappy with his son’s off beat dancing and starts to aggressively grab his arm and berate him while the family starts to become uneasy and tense. In a film filled with murder, mutilation, and overall darkness it really just does not fit in well and it feels like exactly what it is – a trailer shot to draw in people’s attention to this movie. It does bring a cheap laugh due to its ridiculous nature but it is a distraction nonetheless from the film’s plot and breaks the building tension between our protagonists and antagonists.

Now hopefully we don’t have to wait another 16 years for another good movie by Watkins.