Speak No Evil review: James McAvoy is brilliantly creepy
Review Overview
Cast
8Cultural etiquette
8Chills
8David Farnor | On 26, Oct 2024
Director: James Watkins
Cast: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi
Certificate: 15
“Why are you doing this?” “Because you let me.” There are lots of reasons for people to remake a film that’s only a few years old. There’s the commercial suspicion that more people will pay to see an English-language version of an international tale. There’s the artistic vision of a director bringing a fresh take on something that has inspired them. In the case of Speak No Evil, there’s also the opportunity for James McAvoy to go full, frothy-mouthed villain.
James Watkins’ thriller follows the same broad set-up of Christian Tafdrup’s 2022 Danish original, but swaps the West Country in place of Nordic hills. We’re introduced to Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy), an American couple who recently relocated to London and are working through some marital issues, On holiday in Italy with their quietly anxious daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), they bump into Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), a couple who seem to have it all. Despite the challenges of raising their non-communicative son, Ant (Dan Hough), they have a carefree approach to life that gives them a winning charisma and enticing energy.
When Paddy invites Louise and Ben to come and stay with them back in England, Ben is all too keen to take up the offer – and so they head off into the countryside to fnid their remote farm estate. What begins as a friendly weekend getaway, though, gradually, inevitably turns into something darker. Watkins’ script orchestrates a brilliantly dripfed series of microagressions and red flags, as passive-aggressive marks give way to parenting oversteps that slip into more intimidating behaviour, if not outright violence.
The child actors are superb, bringing a warmth and openness to their innocent bystanders. Dan Hough, in particular, conveys so much through subtle gestures and sounds, your suspicions about his apparent shyness hauntingly confirmed in one gesture.
Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy are perfectly cast as the worried guests, always fearful of offending their hosts even at the cost of their own wellbeing. Davis is at once fierce and vulnerable, her protective instincts colliding with past guilt, while McNairy is simultaneously well-meaning and ineffective, his determination to do the right thing undermined by his need to defer to others. The more that Paddy dishes up friendly banter, the more Ben timidly retreats into his shell, a self-perpetuating power dynamic that gives Paddy permission to indulge in his cruellest traits.
“Our normal isn’t their normal,” proposes Ben, effectively apologising on their behalf to the dubious Louise – who increasingly clashes with Aisling Franciosi’s loyal, sunny-smiling Ciara. But social etiquette doesn’t always align with self-preservation – politeness can get you everywhere, but doesn’t always get you back out again. That, in itself, makes for a taut tour of British manners and creepy ulterior motives, and Watkins – who has previously helmed Eden Lake and The Woman in Black – is a dab hand at nail-biting set pieces that teeter queasily into nastiness.
While the cultural niceties translate effectively into English – right down to the rough and ready estate with jarring touches of wealth – what Watkins brings to the table is an additional shade of darkness. That’s partly in casting James McAvoy as the volatile Paddy. McAvoy is as chamelonic as ever, precisely walking the line between reasonable and unreasonable, between intensely deployed friendliness and barely concealed anger. He’s charming and disturbing in equal measure, often at the same time.
As the final act plays with the idea of a possible happy ending, Speak No Evil veers into fresh territory as it reflects on toxic masculinity, and how trauma and retribution are intrisincally tied up in the examples that are set for the next generation.