Speak No Evil may be a lot "less explicit" than the original horror movie, but it's still "horrific"

Sep. 11, 2024

Exclusive: Total Film talks to lead actor James McAvoy and director James Watkins about manners, mentors and mullets…

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealers Wheel never sounded quite the same after Quentin Tarantino used it to accompany Michael Madsen’s ear-slicing torture of a tied-up policeman in Reservoir Dogs. Anybody who saw the David Fincher version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, meanwhile, may feel Enya’s Orinoco Flow was equally tainted when Stellan Skarsgård’s Martin Vanger used it to soundtrack his shackling and suffocating of Daniel Craig’s Mikael Blomkvist.

Couple’s retreat

Having worked with Blumhouse himself on Split and Glass, the second and third parts of M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 trilogy, James McAvoy was just as happy to be the remake’s Patrick (now Paddy) and to head an ensemble rounded out by Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate), Scoot McNairy (Monsters) and Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale). “I thought it was really fun and really fucking scary,” he says of Watkins’ adaptation. (The Scottish star chose not to see the Danish original until the remake was completed.) “But it was also an examination of modern life and how we relate to rules, manners and compliance. The best stuff that Blumhouse does, the stuff of theirs I love, is usually underpinned by social or sociological commentary. So this film ticked all the boxes: it entertained, shocked and scared and it was about something as well.”

When we first encounter Louise (Davis) and Ben (McNairy), they’re a couple in crisis. Stymied at work and miserable at home, the vacation they are taking with 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) is a last-ditch attempt to salvage a relationship that has become, in McAvoy’s words, “an absolute pain in the arse”. Small wonder, then, that Paddy and Ciara (Franciosi) are a breath of fresh air, even if they do come with a sullen young lad (Dan Hough’s Ant) who can’t speak a word. “Not only are they fun, but they seem to have it all figured out,” McAvoy continues. “They’re really intelligent, they have been together for years and are clearly having great sex. They invite Ben and Louise to their beautiful home in the countryside and it seems like a dream, like they’ve been invited to Hobbiton. Who wouldn’t aspire to be like them, especially if you’re in a relationship that’s just getting by?”

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

“Ben is a guy who’s a bit lost, and he sees this guy who’s a bit unshackled,” Watkins elaborates. “But there’s a cautionary tale here. I don’t need to mention any names, but when you look at the political world in America and the UK there are these demagogic figures who present themselves as against-the-system mentors who can solve all your problems. ‘Follow me,’ they say, ‘and I’ll take you back to this untrammelled version of masculinity.’ It’s a false, bullshit promise.” In one sequence, Paddy takes Ben to the top of a hill and has him scream with him as loud as he can to expel his anxieties. It was not, says McAvoy, his favourite scene to shoot. “It was quite draining so I didn’t enjoy it,” he tells Total Film. “As I get older’ – he is now 45 – “when there’s anything where I’m screaming, I’m always like, ‘God, I’m going to be knackered after that!'”

“He also had a slight hint of a mullet,” laughs Watkins, who felt the much-derided hairstyle suited Paddy’s atavistic aesthetic. “Basically I went for something that was a little bit bogan,” says McAvoy, referring to an Australian term for someone with low social status deemed uncultured and uncouth. “I wanted him to wear shorts a lot and look like a farmer. Even though Paddy’s a doctor, I wanted him to look like he had his hands in the soil every day. So we went for a kind of farmer chic, tinged with something modern and masculine that might be judged to be a little bit toxic.”

The idea, says Watkins, was to offer a clear contrast with Davis and McNairy’s more buttoned-down characters, with Franciosi’s Ciara serving as the conduit between them. “James and Mackenzie are Alphas, Scoot is a bit more Beta, while Aisling is the secret weapon,” the director reveals. “She’s the one who brings a sort of softening and heart to their subterfuge.”

Another aspect of Tafdrup’s take that made it a tough watch for viewers was the way it depicted extreme violence against children. As much as Watkins admired the original, it wasn’t an element he wanted to replicate. “Our film is a lot less explicit,” he says. “It’s a psychological thriller with a horrific concept embedded in it, rather than a straight horror film. It’s easy to get scares or shocks out of horrific actions. Since I’ve become a parent I guess I am more mindful of not just having clockwork horror.” For his part, McAvoy was keen to ensure the young actor cast as his on-screen son would not wind up in any way traumatised. “I spoke with Dan and his parents and said, ‘If this gets uncomfortable for you at any point, just say, ‘Stop’.’ But Dan was up for the play; he understood what acting is and the line between reality and fiction.”

Speak No Evil is out in theaters on September 12. Read ourSpeak No Evil reviewhere. For more scares, check out our guide to the bestupcoming horror movies.

You can also read our interviews withJames McAvoy about approaching the remakeandhow the director was inspired by The White Lotus.

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic who has written for several publications, including Total Film. His bylines can be found at the BBC, Film 4 Independent, Uncut Magazine, SFX Magazine, Heat Magazine, Popcorn, and more.

Andrew Garfield says he’s “disappointed” he couldn’t do Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, but Jacob Elordi “needed it more” than him

A possible Cillian Murphy cameo in the first trailer for horror sequel 28 Years Later puts a horrible twist on the original’s ending

Pathfinder: The Dragon’s Demand devs say Baldur’s Gate 3-style level caps help make games shorter, because not everybody has “time for 100-hour RPGs”