Rent Speak No Evil (2024)

Awful - Speak No Evil review by mh

Really not for me. A waste of an evening. Typical Hollywood thriller with everything you would expect.

starts okish, but tanks big as it goes on - Speak No Evil review by JD

Mcavoy is fine here, putting in his usual great sinister character performance.

But regardless of this, the stand out features of this film arent good.

First, we get a hammer blow of a message around half way. I think i was missing the hints, but in short we have the man of the family apologizing for being betrayed after being humiliated. This then leads to a series of events where its made clear he is useless, has no say or real interest in protecting his family and defers to his superior (his wife)

And as if that message wasnt enough - the other side we have a controlling male who's partner is only bad because he made her that way. yeh, its very yawn.

BUT, and this is a massive achievement - those arent even the bad bits. When things take a change - things get incredibly silly. Everyone makes the most stupid decisions and some really, really daft stuff happens.

And its not like one or 2 incredibly odd decisions, its a catalogue of them. Then of course the action bits are just girl boss must win. Makes zero sense, just make it happen and move the plot on.

Its really, really bad. 2 stars is generous and really just for Mcavoy

Tense & Compelling Thriller - Speak No Evil review by GI

This is a thriller that thrives on the great build up of tension driven by a captivating performance from James McAvoy. It's a loose remake of a 2022 Danish film although this one deviates from that film's finale. This is a film that delves into the ridiculous influence of societal manners that often override natural caution and even sense of danger leading here to uncontrollable violence. A London based upmarket American couple, Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy) along with their highly strung daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler), are on holiday in Italy healing some relationship issues where they meet Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), an English couple who seem full of life and joy. They have a young son, Ant (Dan Hough) who is melancholy and has a speech defect. Back home Louise & Ben get an invite to join Paddy & Ciara at their large West Country farm for a week and readily accept but slowly they begin to have a sense that Paddy and his family are not all they seem to be. The speech impaired Ant keeps trying to secretly tell Agnes something and before long the film turns into a desperate fight for survival. MxAvoy is really excellent as the deranged Paddy but the reveal of his nature and motives is subtle and disturbing. McNairy underplays his role as the husband who abhors violence and this works superbly against the alpha male character of Paddy. And Davis is excellent as the mother whose natural protection instincts ultimately come to the fore. The film's climax is horrific and has some Straw Dogs (1971) vibes to it. It's certainly a tense film and plays into that arena of English country paganistic horror without actually fitting into that genre. A film well worth checking out.