‘Speak No Evil’ is a psychological horror thriller that follows a Danish family, Bjørn, Louise and their little daughter Agnes as they vacation in Tuscany. There they meet a family from Holland, - Patrick, Karin and Abel, making fast friends and connecting. Later receiving a postcard from the Dutch, Bjørn decides to take up their offer and visit with them at their rural family home. What had been planned as the perfect weekend soon devolves into an insufferable experience as Bjørn and his family put up with their hosts.
After the Danish family return from their vacation, Bjørn seems disenchanted with having to return to his daily routine, lighting up after having received the postcard from Patrick. Hesitant at first, Louise eventually agrees to visit Holland, even though she is apprehensive about the trip as they do not really know Partick and his family.
Once there, Louise becomes uncomfortable with their hosts as she had mentioned she is a vegetarian but is offered to eat meat many times. On a night out at a local restaurant Patrick also weasels his way out of paying for dinner, sticking Bjørn with the bill. Fed up, Louise convinces Bjørn to leave in the middle of the night, only for them to have to return for Agnes’ toy bunny.
Met by Patrick and Karin, Bjørn and Louise confront them about not feeling comfortable there, but are eventually convinced to remain for the duration of the weekend. That evening, Patrick berates Able as the children put on a dance routine, angering Louise and ending the evening. During the night Bjørn gets up to switch off the TV that someone had left on. Wandering around, he makes his way out to the shed, discovering that Patrick and Karin have previously made friends abroad, invited them to stay and kidnapped their children, showing Abel to be their latest victim, as they had exchanged him for the child they had kidnapped before.
Retreating, Bjørn sees Able to have been drowned in the pool. Realising that Partick and Karin intend to take Agnes for themselves and kill him and Louise, he gathers his family and drives off. Becoming increasingly paranoid, Bjørn drives off the road and crashes the car, stranding the three in a ditch on a dirt road. Seeing a house in the distance Bjørn runs for help, only to return with Louise and Agnes to be in Patrick’s car with him and Karin, as Louise had called them for help.
Seemingly on their way back to the house, the situation deteriorates as Agnes realises something is wrong only for the car to be stopped, Agnes’ tongue to be cut out and for the child to be taken away. Hysterical, Louise screams as Patrick drives off. Stopping by a quarry, Patrick and Karin tell Bjørn and Louise to undress and walk to the bottom of the quarry, where they stone the two to death.
‘Speak No Evil’ is a quiet yet intense experience. The film mainly revolves around Bjørn, played by Morten Burian, portraying him as a slightly withdrawn yet courteous individual. Through things unsaid, it is clear that Bjørn is not content with his station, seeking to create real experiences, live in the moment and remove himself from technology.
After Bjørn receives the invitation, intrigued by the charming personality of Patrick, portrayed by Fedja van Huêt, he seems to light up, as if given the opportunity to pursue something unique and novel. Always simmering in the background is Burian’s unspoken sense of unease however, with the actor masterfully creating a tense atmosphere, unyielding and particularly effective when interacting with van Huêt.
After reaching Holland, the family is instantly met with minor transgressions, such as Agnes’ small bed, Patrick asking Louise to eat meat and later on Patrick’s violent outbursts towards Able. The film doesn’t harp on each separate indiscretion, rather building towards an insurmountable slight that Bjørn ad Louise cannot overlook, forcing them, each at separate times, to come to the conclusion that they must leave.
Conversely, Partick and Karin are initially vindicated for what may have been perceived as minor wrongdoings, suggesting that Bjørn and Louise may have had unreasonable expectations, yet after reaching a certain point they do not care to pretend to hide their malice, acting without the slightest consideration towards the Danish family, with Karin even foreshadowing her adopting Agnes.
The film doesn’t scream horror or thriller, instead it emulates a slow and agonising descent into madness, as each snub and spurn towards Bjørn and Louise drags the pair further down, with the two not wanting to be misunderstood, to be in the wrong or to be seen as impolite, rather allowing themselves to be terrorized.
In parallel to that, Karina Smulders’ Karin and van Huêt’s Patrick encapsulate the perfect amalgam of cheerful and charming that could initially be misconstrued as likeable, yet allows them to go beyond a point of no return when it comes to exacting their cruel and brutal desires, shamelessly testing the limitations of Bjørn and Louise’s patience.
The film delivers a stark and unpleasant revelation in terms of our social interactions, - just like the main characters, no one wants to be seen as a troublemaker, to be perceived as an unpleasant or ungrateful, enforcing an unspoken form of self-policing when it comes to social interactions and norms, highlighting that there are always those who will take advantage of it.
Undoubtedly disturbing, ‘Speak No Evil’ illustrates the very familiar actions many of us engage in just to comply with some unwritten shared standards of acceptable behaviour, leading not only to an uncomfortable level of consternation but far beyond it, instilling fear of the very real and unabashedly shameless lengths that others can push those limitations to.
Score: 4/4
コメント