Speak No Evil
While living abroad the Dalton family, Ben, Louise, and Agnes (Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, and Alex West Lefler), are invited to vacation at the remote home of new friends of Paddy, Ciara, and Ant (James McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi, and Dan Hough). Oddly and subtly things seem off about their hosts, different cultures and customs can only go so far, the Daltons can’t quite place it, or can they? Could it be that their guests are misunderstood well meaning English country folk, or is there something much more evil at work? 
Written by James Watkins, Christian Tafdrup, and Mads Tafdrup, and Directed by Watkins, this re-imagining and Anglicizing of the the 2022 Danish film Speak No Evil from the Tafdrups works to create an effective and bleak psychological thriller that doesn’t work too hard to hammer home motivations but does deliver knockout performances. McAvoy in particular has the charisma of a nuclear dynamo and the rest of the ensemble is aptly energized to match; and, while we may have an inkling of where things are headed story wise, the effective teasing in acts I and II makes the payoff of act III even that much sweeter. Further, dialogue parsed with dashes of irreverent humor and rage make for a deliciously dark watch as we get one step closer to Halloween. Running one hour and fifty minutes, Speak No Evil is rated R.