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SPEAK NO EVIL (2022)
4 stars
Acorn Media International. Blu ray, DVD and Digital. 2nd December
I was blown away and gripped by the uncompromisingly bleak SPEAK NO EVIL when it first came out – a Danish horror with social commentary from Christian Tafdrup with a script by him and his brother Mads.
Of course since then we have had the very good remake by James Watkins and starring James McAvoy. Whilst the basics are the same, revisiting the original it struck me that it feels more subtle than the redo – a more realistic psychological thriller and therefore actually much more frightening.
On holiday in Tuscany, a Dutch family, husband Bjørn (Morten Burian), his wife Louise (Sidsel Siemens Koch) and their young daughter Agnes (Liva Forsberg) meet some Danish tourists, who seem very friendly – Patrick (Fedja van Huêt), his wife Karin (Karina Smulders) and their son Abel (Marius Damslev) who doesn’t speak much as he has a condition where his tongue didn’t form properly.
They get on so well that Patrick and Karin say they must come and visit them in their house in the countryside in Denmark. Louise is reticent at first, but Bjørn persuades her and they drive there. After all, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ Well…
As their visit progresses a sense of unease grows. Things happen that are unnerving. The awkward smiles, snatched looks and furtive glances between Bjørn and Louise speak volumes, but nothing can prepare them for what is to come…
The film explores how some people don’t respect boundaries and how far we are prepared to go to accommodate the bad behaviour of others. How we are prepared to ignore little things, in order to keep the social niceties. Trust me in this case that might not be the best course of action.
With believable acting from the whole cast this utterly shocking, with the building sense of tension enhanced by the score by Sune Kølster, often playing over seemingly innocuous scenes.
Not exactly the sort of film you can recommend per se, this is powerful, uncomfortable and will make you squirm in your seat and leave your jaw on the floor with the devastating ending.
Steve Kirkham
