Speak No Evil | Review & Score

About: A dream holiday turns into a living nightmare when an American couple and their daughter spend the weekend at a British family's idyllic country estate.

"Of course I'm a bloody doctor."

I'm a massive fan of the 2022 Danish film of the same name, so naturally I have been curious to see this version of the film.

James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis stole the show in this 2024 American version.

McAvoy is definitely gonna be playing more psychotic characters in the future, because he is just too damn good at it. He was nothing short of menacing with his turn as Patty here. I knew once his role in Split came out a few years back that casting directors would wanna see MORE of psycho McAvoy, and here we are.

This is probably my favorite James McAvoy performance of his career, certainly believe it's his career best.

Another gem here is Mackenzie Davis. I haven't seen her in anything since that Terminator: Dark Fate film came out, and I was introduced to her in Ridley Scott's THE MARTIAN. She is a fantastic actress and has a ton of appeal to herself, so seeing her in this was pretty refreshing. Her performance here as Louise Dalton is one of her absolute best. She's fierce, confident and brave -- as Louise.

Davis' scenes with the children and McAvoy are some real scene stealers. Really great work from Davis.

Scott McNairy's character was the only thing that bothered me a bit about SPEAK NO EVIL. He comes off too whiny, insecure... mostly for good reason as it's mentioned why he feels the way he does throughout the movie, but he plays the part well, McNairy does. But I like that he redeems himself a lot towards the end, no spoilers.

The child actors Dan Hough and Alix West Lefler's performances are very well done, particularly Hough as the mute, Ant. Hough's performance is one of the best child performances I've seen in a minute. Both children characters have a lot more to offer in this film than the Danish version.

The whole cast were terrific in their roles and I enjoyed the pacing, tone and menacing feel and build-up of the inevitable turn from the 'bad' family. It's all worth the build-up towards a very solid third act.

I saw some people were not caring of the third act for this version of the film, but I actually liked it and thought it was very justified, especially for one particular character. I liked it. No problems with it at all.

SPEAK NO EVIL is a great psychological thriller with some outstanding performances and a great tone. The feel of it is nice, the setting feels natural and the isolation feel, much like the original film, is all top notch for me. Well done by all and I would HIGHLY recommend it.

4.75/5