Speak No Evil – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Speak No Evil – A Fool’s Tongue of Horrors: Let’s Be Friends …

To say the word experience is to speak about the journey of one’s mind.  When it comes to seeing what is, the world becomes a manner of instinct and pressure.  For film, the experience becomes a relative thread of circumstance.  If you can feel the journey and characters, you will become a genuine thing.  In this review, I look at the latest horror/thriller film.  Within the subtle marks of human relationships, we head on a journey that becomes an endearing tale of survival.  Even for some convenient moments, Speak No Evil is a riveting hellscape of false friendship.

When a weekend getaway makes a turn for the worse, the Daltons must figure out if Paddy (James McAvoy) is truly a friend or foe.  At the heart of any film is the experience.  From action to comedy, to feel an emotive trait is to find a connection through the journey.  With this latest horror/thriller, it becomes a manner of subtlety and characterization that builds towards raw truths about human connections.  In the beginning, we are first introduced to Ben (Scoot McNairy) and Louise (Mackenzie Davis) Dalton, who have taken a family trip with their daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler).  Through a linear build of convenient scenes and alluring circumstances, they befriend another couple on vacation, Paddy and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), who are on vacation with their son, Ant (Dan Hough).  This new friendship provides the foundation for the film, building to the main plot: the Daltons heading to their friend’s home by the sea for a quick weekend trip.  Once the story centers on this setting, the film builds through its characters, creating a layer of frail like aversions to normality.  This directive choice provides a creative twist to the peculiar gravitas driven by human connection.  As the Daltons and Paddy continue to build their friendship, an ominous feeling starts to brew that leads to weird tense moments and oddities that level within the monotony of everyday occurrences.  These ‘occurrences’ start to fracture the façades of each personal relationship, providing a weird reflection to the Dalton’s marriage through the passive/aggressive nature of Paddy’s personality.  This strong atmosphere provides the thrills of the moment, leading through a genuine experience that goes against the grains of a typical horror film.  

As the weekend getaway continues, its situation continues to level up against the tension, revealing more endearing truths about the Daltons and Paddy’s own family.  This obstruction of normality provides an odd realism within fear, continuing to subvert the typical nature of horror motifs.  Each moment begins to peel back every layer of truths, as everyone starts to face a dire revelation.  When things begin to unravel, we head into a third act that is fragmented between the endearment of themes and cliché driven plot devices.  Even when things are predictable, we head into a strong climax and a welcomed epilogue.  Speak No Evil is a horror/thriller that becomes an endearing motif on human relationships.  If you are a fan of horror, thrillers or strong character pieces, this is one for you.  I believe the tension is worth the full price of admission.

Full Score – 4 out of 5 (Full Price)