Creating a good remake or reboot is a tough. Either you stay so slavish to the original material like Gus Van Sant’s Psycho that it doesn’t need to exist, or you take the Fede Alvarez route with Evil Dead which is arguably better than the original. You also have some people who think nothing should ever be remade, however, I’m very much in the “show me what you got,” boat, and that attitude definitely helped me enjoy Blumhouse’s Speak No Evil, the American remake of one of the darkest and bleakest films I’ve ever seen at Sundance. While this version doesn’t quite hit the levels of terror that one did, it’s well done and definitely more palatable to its new, target audience.
American couple Louise and Ben and their daughter Agnes (Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, and Alix West Lefler, respectively) are vacationing in Italy when they meet the rambunctious couple Paddy and Ciara, and their mute son, Ant (James McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi, and Dan Hough, respectively). Their carefree attitude is contagious, and soon the two couples have built a friendship for the rest of their holiday. Paddy and Ciara invite the others to come spend the weekend with them at their remote cabin, and while they find it a bit odd, they accept and hope the time will help mend some of the cracks in their marriage. Of course all is not as it seems, and as the tension between the families escalate, who knows if any will escape with their lives, let alone their sanity.
The first thing to know is that for people who hate horror movies, this is not one. Blumhouse is known for them, and it’s definitely marketed as such, but this is much closer to suspense or a thriller than any other genre. What perfectly sums this up in one word is, “unease.” From the moment we meet Paddy and Ciara, we know something is off, but we can’t quite put our finger on it. This sense of uncertainty grows once we get to their house until it becomes oppressive and suffocating.
Most of this is due to the fact that the protagonists continually allow their boundaries to be crossed, and in some cases, violated. All of these types of films are essentially fables meant to impart wisdom to those watching them, and the lesson here is prevalent from the opening scene. If you’ve ever struggled with letting people walk all over you, this is what you should see as far as an example of why setting and enforcing boundaries are not only important but vital to protecting your health, and sometimes, your lives.
The elephant in the room though is how director James Watkins adjusted the story and especially the ending in his adaption of the Danish film. I’m not going to go into detail here, but I will say that the changes make sense as far as how this version is presented as well as the audience it is aimed at. While I generally prefer the Danish version, I will say that a mainstream audience would not have enjoyed the ending we got at Sundance.
Speak No Evil is a solid entry for the lead up to Halloween season and the scary movies that are starting to be released to celebrate it. The constant tension oozing from it will leave you physically and mentally tired afterwards, but it doesn’t gut punch you like the original. It does what the best remakes do and stands on its own as a unique creature while still paying homage to what came before. Hopefully more directors will take note on how a project like this is done right.