Anyone out there seen George Sluizer’s The Vanishing?
At first glance that might not seem like much of a loaded question, but your answer may vary depending on which version you’ve seen. If you’ve seen his 1993 remake – you know, the one with Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland and Sandra Bullock – you’d probably admit that it’s a competent, if forgettable thriller; however, if you’ve seen the 1988 original, you’ll probably remember it being an exercise in tension that caps things off with one of the bleakest, most haunting endings you’ve ever seen.
But people who have seen both almost always agree that American remakes need to stay the hell away from devastating foreign movies as nine times out of ten, the result is a sanitized, neutered product that usually removes the aspects that made the original stand out in the first place.
As you’ve probably figured out, I’m bringing all this up because Blumhouse have just released a remake of the incredibly grim and uncomfortably combative Danish thriller, Speak No Evil – so can its American do-over actually manage to earn its existence, or will it be The Vanishing effect all over again as this new version neuters the stark impact of the original.
Despite soaking up the sun on a holiday in Italy, American couple the Daltons are struggling. Husband Ben is stuck in unemployment after moving to London for a job that never quite worked out and wife Louise resents him somewhat as she had given up large parts of her personal and professional life in order to support him. On top of this, their young daughter Agnes suffers from extreme anxiety and still insists on sleeping with her parents despite the fact that she’s nearly twelve.
However, despite their troubles, they manage to bond with a free-spirited British family that comprises of Paddy, Clara and mute son Ant, and they all hit it off so much, that when the holiday is all over, the Daltons receive a postcard from the outspoken Paddy suggesting that they come to their home in the West Contry and spend the weekend.
While Louise is a little dubious, Ben is eager to spend more time with the charismatic Paddy and soon they all pile into the car to visit their new friends.
At first, everything seems fine, although the Daltons seem a little put out at the fact that the other family doesn’t exactly live with all the modern conventions, but as the weekend progresses, it becomes ever more apparent that Paddy and Clara seem to be pushing their guest’s buttons in order to test the boundaries of what they find acceptable. However, because we’re all ingrained to not kick up a fuss and make a scene, the Daltons attempt to shake off their hosts gradually escalating behavior.
But soon, the boorish and combative behavior takes on a far more sinister edge than just serving a vegetarian meat or trying to parent someone else’s child and if Ben and Louise don’t stand up for themselves, something awful may happen.
Okay, first things first – this new edition of Speak No Evil isn’t a bad movie at all. It contains enough strong performances, memorable scenes and some pert direction to be an entertaining and gripping thriller for anyone who is approaching the material for the first time. In fact, if that is the case, I’d actually suggest whacking another star to my rating below as your guaranteed a good time that comes with a few pertinent talking points that’ll no doubt create some interesting questions on the way home.
However, while it may feel that the movie goes pretty far with its warning that we’re all becoming too nice and won’t complain even when forces who don’t have our best interests at heart tell us how to react, anyone who has seen Christian Tafdrup’s searing original will know that the American version doesn’t go anywhere near as far. It’s strange, because director James Watkins is also responsible for the utterly devastating Eden Lake, a movie so cruel and uncompromising, the damn thing left me in a state of rage infused righteousness for about a week. And yet, despite having previous experience in soul destroying third acts, his script veers away from the downbeat denouement of the 2022 version and instead turns into a climax that feels like a more rustic Scream.
Another rather confounding thing is that up to that point, the Blumhouse take follows the original almost exactly, accurately recounting all the more memorable moments such as the two patriarchs bonding further due to a screaming exercise in a remote location and a toe-curlingly awkward moment when Paddy gets ever more frustrated when his son can’t find the beat during a dance routine. The problem is that if you’re going to remake a movie almost exactly and then suddenly deviate from the original punchline for a weaker and safer ending, why bother making the damn thing at all? Of course, these are chiefly problems that only effect those who have been enraged by the original film and a more “fun” third act makes the lesson Speak No Evil is trying to tell more of an amusing cautionary tale rather than a brutal warning.
However, to write off Speak No Evil ’24 completely for these reasons is also not entirely fair for the exactly same way that the American remake of The Vanishing has a really good set up and a fantastic Jeff Bridges performance to boot. So in honor of that, I really do have to tip my hat to James McAvoy who gives yet another typically muscular performance, both in terms of his typically spirited delivery and physically as he sports a pair of imposingly hulking shoulders. He’s played dangerously unhinged people before (mostly in one film in the form of Split), but his portrayal of the toxic, gaslighting, yet utterly charming Paddy is not only impossible to ignore, but it gives the satire of the original a darkly comedic bent that will openly have you gasping in shock as he gleefully takes his latest liberty with his hapless guests. Similarly, the rest of the cast, which includes such stalwarts as Mackenzie (Blade Runner: 2049) Davis, Scoot (Argo) McNairy and Aisling (Stopmotion) Franciosi, also do good work with the Dalton clan in particular being initially so simpering and picky, you start the film actively seeing them as the ones worthy of our scorn as you yell at the screen for them to just grown a spine and just fucking leave.
Of course, in a movie like this, if you’re not hollering at the screen at the blind ignorance of your leads, then something’s really gone wrong, so props have to be given to James Watkins for continuing to make the film so triggering, but adding enough natural humour in order to make the audience participation nice and loud.
Fun for newbies, but mostly pointless for those who have experienced the full force of what the original dealt out, Speak No Evil is yet another frustrating/fun result of studios still being convinced that subtitles and traumatizing endings are far more scary than gas lighting psychos.
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