‘Why are you doing this?’
What I love about horror films is that no matter how many of them I watch (and I watch far too many), no matter how many of them I sit through with barely a flinch, no matter how many identical 80s slashers I endure (and enjoy), it is the only genre that genuinely has the ability to shock me. And while finishing a horror movie and feeling like I’ve been slapped in the face has become a rare experience that just means that when it happens it’s more special. Anyway. Bottom line. This film is fucking brutal…
Bjorn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch) are an introverted married couple who accidentally make friends with a much more outgoing couple (exquisitely played by real life couple Fedja van Huêt and Karina Smulders) and end up going to stay with them in their house in rural Holland. Upon arrival, the previously affable couple begin to act strangely. Something is amiss.
Firstly, the thought of talking to strangers on holiday is terrifying to begin with, particularly if, like me, you abhor pretty much all human interaction. Speak No Evil takes that perfectly rational fear and follows it to its natural conclusion. Writer-director Christian Tafdrup penned the screenplay along with his brother Mads based on his own experiences. He did meet a couple on holiday and they did invite them to stay at their house. While he didn’t take them up on the offer, he did consider what the most hellish potential consequences of such a meeting could be and then fed them into this film. Having said that, much of the actual horror arrives during the film’s grisly conclusion. Up until then, Tafdrup focuses on the very real and very common anxiety that comes with social interaction. The red flags becomes glaringly obvious by the end but in the first act its an offhand comment here, an unnerving glance there. This slow build of tension is successful because they acting is so great. The two relationships that form the crux of Speak No Evil feel lived in and authentic. As do the interactions between the first more passive couple and the second more dominant one. That’s what makes this film so frightening. Everyone will relate to the social awkwardness in the set up and so by the time the conclusion hits we feel an affinity with these characters. Even worse… we can put ourselves in their unfortunate shoes.
Despite the slow build, Speak No Evil is a wildly entertaining film with a haunting and violent conclusion. There are moments here that I’ve been turning over in my head since the credits rolled and while this film’s most memorable moment is perhaps a little too close to that famous line from The Strangers for comfort (if you were being generous you might describe it as a homage), I am delighted to say that this is a film that genuinely gave me nightmares. Now, that is horror.