Review: James McAvoy will creep you out in 'Speak No Evil' remake
It doesn't have to be Halloween to line up for a few good scares at the movies. And "Speak No Evil," now in theaters, delivers suspense by the bucketful, topped with a James McAvoy performance that will creep you out big time. It's not a classic blend of horror and social satire like "Get Out," but it gets enough licks in to keep you glued to the screen.
McAvoy, the smiling devil of M. Night Shyamalan's "Split" and "Glass," kind of sneaks up on you this time as Paddy, a British doctor on vacation in sunny Italy (it's Tuscany!) with his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and their son Ant (Dan Hough), who was born without a tongue and does not speak.
Leave it to the good doc to turn on the charm when his family meets up by chance with young mother Louise Dalton (Mackenzie Davis), who's traveling in Italy with her husband Ben (Scoot McNairy) and their daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler).
Ben's most recent job, soon downsized, has brought these Americans to London for a new life. And when the two families start getting to know each other, they get along like gangbusters.
Or so you'd think. For a hot minute you'll probably be lulled when Louise and her family receive a postcard from Paddy inviting them for a holiday on their remote farm -- "remote" being the operative word. At first, the naturally cautious Louise is reluctant, but Ben, now jobless, thinks, "What could go wrong?" Silly boy.
The micro-tensions begin immediately when Paddy starts coming on a little too strong. And McAvoy, bless him, knows just how a smile can turn sinister when the camera holds on him for a beat too long.
You should know that "Speak No Evil" is an English-language remake of Christian Tafdrup's much superior 2022 Danish thriller. That experiment in terror had the courage of its own dark convictions as a takedown of good manners that can get you killed. Louise and Ben are just too darn polite to haul their butts back home. Big mistake.
James Watkins ("Eden Lake," "The Woman in Black"), the writer and director of this play-it-safe Hollywood retread, does his best to keep the audience on edge. But he jettisons the shocking original ending that turned the original film into a cult classic.
The refurbished "Speak No Evil" replaces the shocking climax of the first film with something tidy and disappointingly tame. It's a shame, really, that Watkins takes the conventional route to something he hopes might be more box-office friendly. Ouch!
Compensation comes in watching McAvoy and Davis go at each other, the Big Bad Wolf versus the Mother Hen. The kids also get into the action as Ant, even without the gift of speech, tries to warn Agnes about the evil doings being planned.
McAvoy is too good a classically trained stage actor ("Macbeth," "Cyrano de Bergerac"), as well as magnetic screen presence (see the Oscar-nominated "Atonement"), to get stuck playing baddies, but he is so dang good at it. Who knew that watching McAvoy rock out to "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles could freeze your blood?
Davis, so good in "Tully," "Halt and Catch Fire," and the Emmy-winning "Black Mirror" episode "San Junipero," shows she has everything it takes to go toe-to-toe with McAvoy in what will be the fight of Louise's life.
The Americans almost get away clean, until they go back to the farm for a child's toy. It's a horror trope so dusty you may want to groan. My guess is you'll be having too fierce and fun a time as this fright fest turns home-invasion clichés on their dumb heads.
The 2022 "Speak No Evil" is still the keeper if you want to toss and turn all night in an unending nightmare. But the 2024 remake knows how to get the job done if you just want to fry your nerves to a frazzle. Your choice.
