Speak No Evil — Speak No Evil( DVD)
Speak No Evil is a Dutch/Danish thriller from 2022- which builds from social awkwardness, onto taut uneasiness, through to deeply troubling and soul-searing bleakness. The film got a remake earlier this year, and while there are similarities between the two- I’d say the original is far more harrowing/heart-wrenching. Here from Shudder/ Acon Media International is a bare-bones DVD release of the film.
Speak No Evil was directed/ co-written by Copenhagen-born Christian Tafdrup, with co-writing credits going to Mads Tafdrup, who I presume is his brother/ relation of some form. Christian has a total of eight director credits to his name- these take in five shorts/ TV credits, and three features. His other two features were family drama meets fantasy Parents (2016), and dark comedy A Horrible Woman (2017). He also has forty-six acting credits ( including roles in his first two films), and eight writer credits. Mads has seven writing credits, as well as one acting credit.
The film centres on a Danish family- taking in forty-something Bjørn(Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch), and their around eight-year-old daughter Agnes ( Liva Forsberg). Bjørn is a fairly reserved/ timid man, but the couple clearly love each other and their daughter. The film opens with the family on holiday in Tuscany- where they meet a Dutch family- taking the more outspoken but friendly doctor Patrick( Fedja van Huêt), his blond-haired wife Karin(Karina Smulders), and their son Abel ( Marius Damslev)- who similar age to Agnes, though has a condition that means he can’t speak.
The two families bond quickly on holiday- so much so, that just after they get back home Bjørn receives a postcard from Karin inviting them to spend a weekend at their house in the Netherlands. He’s most keen to go, as Patrick clearly brought out Bjørn's formally masculine/ more confidante tendencies- but Louise is uncertain, as they don’t know the family very well….but after Bjørn pressers the point they decide to go.
They arrive at Patrick and Karin's house- but from the off, things seem awkward- they pushily offer vegetarian Karin some freshly cooked meat- being polite she takes & eats it. But as things unfold Patrick and his wife start bending-then- breaking more socially expected norms.
The film nicely moves from awkwardness to unease and fear, to downright terror. All of the cast is excellent really playing their roles in a naturalistic and believable manner, and by the downright grim resolve, you truly do feel very deeply troubled.
I’ve now seen both versions of the film this original, and its 2024 remake which featured James McAvoy. And I’d say to give a brief comparison- the original is far more soul-searing/ bleak bringing to mind the work of Michael Haneke. The remake is fine and certainly recreates some of the original troubling elements- though, in its last quarter, it rather shifts to more formal thriller tropes.
Moving onto this new DVD release. We get the option to put subtitles on or off, I suggest putting them on- as while the film is initially English spoken, it fairly soon switches into Danish- thoroughly oddly when we get brief moments of Dutch- there are no English subs, So whether this is an error with the subtitles, or an artistic decision I’m unsure- but it is tad frustrating.
As mentioned early on this is a barebones release of the film- this is a true pity, as it would have been nice to have a commentary track- from the director/ writers, or even from respected genre commentators such as Kim Newman. Or even an interview or two, as it would have been great to find out more about the film's inspiration, its making, and its impact.
If you are a fan of slowly building and troubling thrillers, which have a truly grim/ troubling sting in their tail 2022’s Speak No Evil is well worth checking, even if you have seen the remake. Let us hope we get UK releases of Christian Tafdrup's other two films, and I’ll most certainly be keeping my eye out for future work from him. I was a little torn mark-wise on this release, as the film itself is an easy four nearing a five, but due to the subtitle issue/ lack of extras I wanted to go for a three and a half, but as we only do whole marks I’ve gone for a four.