Time: 98 Minutes
Cast:
Morten Burian as Bjørn
Sidsel Siem Koch as Louise
Fedja van Huêt as Patrick
Karina Smulders as Karin
Liva Forsberg as Agnes
Marius Damslev as Abel
Director: Christian Tafdrup

While I have vaguely heard about the Danish horror film Speak No Evil, what ultimately motivated me to check it out was learning about the American remake starring James McAvoy, especially after it had been receiving some praise for actually being pretty good. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the original film and while I did end up liking it, it wasn’t quite at the high level I was expecting considering all the acclaim it had been receiving.

Speak No Evil definitely fits into the horror genre but is a suspenseful drama for much of its runtime. It is a slow burn; the plot is about a Danish family meeting a Dutch family, and the former noticing some strange things about the latter over time. It is that for most of the movie, and there aren’t a huge amount of explosive horror/thriller moments. It instead aims at being an uncomfortable watch, and it certainly succeeds at that. It is unnerving throughout, with an unsettling atmosphere and plenty of awkward scenarios, which only build up the tension further. The film is reminiscent of Funny Games in some ways (but is overall a less effective film).

Thematically, Speak No Evil seems to be about people’s passivity and politeness when facing awkward and uncomfortable situations, with the Danish family continuing to interact with this Dutch family, despite all the warning signs that they see. What might frustrate people is how the main family constantly makes dumb and ill-advised decisions. While I do get the point being made, with the way it’s conveyed, it is a little hard to get on board with it, and many of these choices stretch credibility at points. Ultimately, it doesn’t really work for me because of how things play out in the third act. I will attempt to be vague and not get into spoilers, but the third act takes a particularly bleak turn and really leans into that side of things, in such an overbearing way. I’m no stranger to depressing movies, but there are times where I feel the filmmakers are trying to make the experience unpleasant in such a heavy-handed way. That was certainly the case for Speak No Evil, it just took me out of the movie, and so I can’t even praise it for its boldness. As for the themes about politeness and passivity, the third act is also so heavy handed on that point; the decisions made and the situations felt so contrived that it pulled me out of the movie. 

Despite my issues, Speak No Evil does at least have a good cast in Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt and Karina Smulders, all of whom give fantastic and believable performances in their parts.

This is the first film I’ve seen from Christian Tafdrup and he has directed it well. The production design is solid, its well shot, and effectively created an eerie atmosphere.

Speak No Evil is a decent enough psychosocial thriller, bleak and unnerving with some solid performances and direction. While I can appreciate much of its efforts, by the third act it had lost me, and left me with a negative view of it in spite of its strengths, and not necessarily in a good way. It does however have me curious to check out the remake to see how it compares to the original.