Speak No Evil

Coming into Speak No Evil, I was told this was one of the most disturbing movies of all time. It isn't, in my opinion. Maybe I'm desensitized, because while there is a very terrifying and hard to watch sequence in this movie...there's only one, really. On some level, it's my own fault for listening to the hype, and I was somewhat disappointed the movie wasn't more intense.

Also, I can acknowledge that this movie is a, frustrating, experience to say the least. You know when you watch horror movies and scream at the screen for the characters to trust their instincts and LEAVE? Well yeah, this movie will annoy the hell out of you. (Of course, if the characters did the logical thing, the movie wouldn't happen.) I feel like there are cultural differences here too, which explains some of the character's behaviour.

That all being said, this is a good movie. It's extremely tense and uncomfortable, with a lot of the appeal coming from waiting for the shoe to drop.

The film follows a Danish family - Bjorn (Morten Burian) and Louisa (Sidsel Koch) who take up the invitation of a pleasant Dutch family they met on vacation to visit their home in the Dutch countrside. Normal stuff, until the Dutch hosts begin acting somewhat strange and begin testing the Danes' social niceties and tolerance.

As the movie unfolds, it becomes almost unbearable as every cringe inducing moment seems like the one that will bring forth the inevitable horror. The movie does a good job setting up peaks and troughs, and even adding some complexity to the narrative. The men seem to share a bond, Bjorn, somewhat emasculated and timid, embraces the primal spontaneity and energy of his Dutch counter part, Patrick.

And that's what elevates this movie from another paint-by-numbers thriller. The real message of the film, in my opinion, is an indictment of the Danish middle class, so removed from danger and hardship that their human survival instincts seem gone. That the Danes care so much about being polite that this is more important than removing themselves from a dangerous situation.

I think it was deliberate that they meet a Dutch family, people from, as Bjorn says, "a similar culture, more similar to them than the politically correct Swedes." It would've been easy for an exotic foreigner to be the cause of such horror, but I think the film purposefully does this. It's also refreshing to see a film that doesn't treat masculinity as a toxic trait that must be excised. Instead, Speak No Evil puts forth the idea that a man who has lost his masculinity, to the extent that he can barely put up a fight in the face of death, is no man at all.

Speak No Evil is dark, depressing, thought provoking, and not for everyone. But it's a pretty neat little thriller, has some interesting ideas, and is a roller coaster. Check it out.

This is a peculiarly brutal horror-thriller centered on a Danish family visiting new acquaintances in Holland, who turn out to be more than they can handle. Starting from such a minimalistic and low-key premise, the team builds up its characters through several layers of tension, toward a grand finale, all the more horrifying for being perfectly predictable.

The writing is well-paced, concise and visual, and the characters, their inner life and the tension among them is captured in a few elegant and subdued strokes. The two male leads are particularly impressive, the one providing a great 'on-the-edge' character, the other a particularly subtle rendering of midlife crisis, peppered with masculine insecurities, class issues masquerading as culture shock, and fantasies of authenticity.

The wives are get less air-time but both offer relatable and credible performances. The kids both have thankless roles and the movie might have cured me from ever wanting to start a family.

Finally, the sound is also unusually interesting for a film of this type, for example when setting the mundane hell of adulting, against ominous orchestral music.

This is a very subtle and subdued horror thriller, which has all the qualities of Nordic cinema and few of its defects.

An increasingly unnerving & uncomfortable psychological horror that invokes an air of unease from its opening scene and ultimately descends into an inescapable nightmare, Speak No Evil hints at dark machinations at play even when nothing is happening and makes deft use of the genre elements to deliver a film that's wicked, unforgiving, gut-punching & downright nihilistic.

Co-written & directed by Christian Tafdrup, the premise is simple but the setup isn't hurried as Tafdrup takes his time to acquaint us with the families before disturbing details start surfacing. While it isn't difficult to figure out where the plot is headed and how the unraveling events may play out, it doesn't make the ride any easier as the sense of discomfort only escalates with zero respite.

Brimming with an atmosphere that builds up quietly and is smothering in its intensity once the intentions become clear, the film also benefits from its disconcerting score that forewarns the audience of awaiting malice with its foreboding tracks. The actors chip in with solid inputs but the Danes making awful choices even after several red flags does hurt our investment in them and it only gets worse later.

Overall, Speak No Evil intends to shock, provoke & upset its viewers with its brutal take on the extent to which people choose to stay polite in the face of misdeeds & unpleasantness and at times end up playing an incriminating role in their own torment. And the film takes that idea to the extreme in the finale which will frustrate some. In short, this Danish chiller is a harrowing blend of The Strangers, The Invitation & Funny Games.

I'm Danish, so there is a certain amount of pride in seeing a Danish film receive high marks.

Unfortunately, I don't think the movie deserves it.

It isn't bad, but I thought there were a bit too many things that just didn't make sense. I know horror film and thrillers have to have the characters make decisions you probably wouldn't have ever done, but I think they took it a bit too far here. I won't spoil anything, but if you see it, ask yourself: when would I have gotten in the car and hauled ass back to Denmark?

Slow, manipulative, lies, provoking, ambivalent, awkward, tough watch, pure evil.

***This movie is based on danish culture, and I can understand why some people wouldn't know whats going on or what the point of the movie is. But I will try to make an effort and explain it in short terms***

First of all the movie takes it's time building up suspension. It knows how to manipulate the audience, and it works. Especially if you are danish. The danish couple in this movie acts like most danes normally would in awkward situations. It makes the movie very realistic. The danes would be polite as long as they only FEEL something is wrong. A bit naive maybe, and I think thats what the director is trying to tell us. The danes tend to feel safe, cuz they live in one of the most safe countries on earth and therefore they normally wouldn't be suspecious or think people would harm them. They would see the misunderstandings as culture differences and try to be polite and get the best out of their stay. They wouldn't see that they were being manipulated.

In the first half of the movie the danes gets the sense that something is wrong with the dutch family, but they won't let it affect the mood. But when they SEE something wrong they begin to speak up. The second half of the movie is where the crazy things begins to happen. It's a tough watch, so consider yourself warned.