Speak No Evil

Funny Games turned on its head and made more conventionally, without formalistic filmmaking gimmicks. Nocturnal Animals without the artistic multilayering. However, Speak No Evil is still a great psychological escalation of insecurity and the feeling of “something is wrong here”, with its cards held close to the vest and a surprising climax. This is a powerful yet cruel and evil film that I can recommend to only a few people. (10/23/2022)

A Danish family befriends a Dutch family on holiday in Tuscany and when they receive an invitation for a weekend visit to the Dutch countryside where these new friends live, they decide to accept – because what could possibly go wrong, at most it won't be as nice as that summer in Italy. Well, we see the genre that this film falls into, so we suspect that the visit won't go completely smoothly. While there are some classic genre tropes at the end, the strongest card of this film is definitely the excellent presentation of an utterly unpleasant social situation that I would never really want to find myself in. The hosts act strangely, but not so strangely that it screams "watch out, psychopaths, run away!" Rather, they are teetering on the edge, which can be explained by differences in mood, culture and habits. And the guests don't want to offend the hosts, so they turn a blind eye to one weird thing after another, until the viewer gets social anxiety because it's awfully uncomfortable. The ending is also unpleasant, it can be a bit jarring for more sensitive viewers, although I won't lie, after the Sundance feedback I was expecting something bigger. At the same time, I wasn't completely surprised by the conclusion, the film culminates in something that was predictable from a certain moment (which came quite early); rather, I was surprised that it was actually so banal and without any deeper meaning. And I also agree with the more reserved opinions, according to which the unraveling of the twist and the overall ending don't feel completely focused. I don't understand why what happened happened the way it did. The bad guys make trouble for themselves for nothing, while the good guys could have easily done a few things a little differently to try and avoid the biggest trouble. (05/02/2022)

Two-thirds of the film is marked by a masterful tension based on cultural and character differences. Similar to A Horrible Woman, Tafdrup excels in well-observed situational sarcasm. Then it's time for the explanation, and I consider this a weakness because it is logically lame, generic, and wrapped in "high concept" horror pathos. It is indeed an absolute shocker, but actually very unsatisfying to me after the methodical nature of the previous acts. However, I haven’t seen something this uncomfortable for a long time. (01/28/2022)

Psychological slow burn horror drama is not one of my favourite subgenres, and I hesitated to rate it here too, but I came to the conclusion that this is a noteworthy affair that, despite its slower pace, manages to cause discomfort and chills. The story focuses on a Danish family who receive an invitation to visit from their Dutch friends, whom they met while on vacation. As usual, things don't go as planned. It's interestingly contrived, the Dutch are definitely weird, but at the same time they don't evoke the typical traits of psychopaths that the viewer would expect in a film of this ilk, which I found quite unusual. The Danish protagonist, was unlikeable in his behaviour (the acting is also not great), but the film managed to hold my attention even though nothing much special happens throughout it. It flows at a slow pace, but the atmosphere thickens and the psychological pressure builds up. The final act is decently heart-pounding and unpleasant (weaker characters may find the film hard to take), and the film's attempt to shock definitely succeeds, though again not to an excessive degree, as it sticks to realistic boundaries, managing to be all the more chilling. It won't be for everyone, some will be bored, others will be depressed. I have given a warning. Story 3/5. Action 2/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 3/5. 7/10. (06/21/2022)