At The Movies: In psychological horror Speak No Evil, a staycation turns sinister

Speak No Evil (NC16)

110 minutes, now showing
★★★★☆

The story: The Daltons – Louise (Mackenzie Davis), Ben (Scoot McNairy) and their daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) – meet a nice British family while on holiday in Italy. The Americans get along so well with Paddy (James McAvoy), Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and their son Ant (Dan Hough) that they accept the latter’s invitation to spend a few days with them in rural England. When the Daltons arrive, however, they find that Paddy has a more rundown home than they expected, but the Americans try to make the best of it. Soon, they are forced to question everything that Paddy has been telling them.

The best horror films make viewers question the behaviours they see every day.

At what point does high-spirited, laddish behaviour become the actions of a selfish jerk? Where is the line between “supremely confident” and “dangerously conceited”? At what point does “eccentric Englishman” tip over into “violent maniac”?

Scottish actor McAvoy is a revelation as the gentleman hobby farmer who seduces the middle-class Daltons into a holiday at his isolated residence.

Everything about Paddy not only signals “trustworthy”, but he also seems to have a lock on life. He is a doctor who volunteers in crisis zones and is a father to a boy with developmental issues. He and his wife Ciara cannot keep their hands off each other, and they live in a quaint farmhouse far from the madding crowd, eating organic food they grow themselves.

The story would fail if the magnetic McAvoy were not adept at playing the charming sociopath, the spider who draws prey into his web with the lures of sincerity, compassion and alpha-male masculinity.

Every step the Daltons take is relatable, because they are educated, middle-class people afraid of causing offence. That Paddy wears the trousers in his household holds a deep appeal – not for Louise, but for the insecure Ben.

English writer-director James Watkins is a creepy-movie specialist whose resume ranges from Eden Lake (2008), the story of a couple stalked by street toughs, to the terrifying supernatural horror of The Woman In Black (2012).

Watkins, who also adapted the 2022 Danish film of the same name on which Speak No Evil is based, expertly ratchets up the tension, which goes from squirm-inducing social discomfort to full-on horror over the course of the movie.

As in Eden Lake, which taps the fear of British cities being overrun by young criminals, Watkins takes advantage of the urban myths about rural England’s picture-postcard farms and villages, that they are filled with weirdos in rubber boots.

Hot take: Middle-class urban values rub against rural oddness in the violent satire of modern life.