Speak No Evil

LSR is back with another one. Ladies and gentlemen, today we’ll be reviewing, the Danish psychological horror, Speak No Evil by director Christian Tafdrup.

On a vacation in Toscana, a Danish family instantly becomes friends with a Dutch family. Months later, the Danish couple receives an unexpected invitation from the Dutch family, inviting them to come over and spend the weekend with them at their remote home.

Speak No Evil was first released in Denmark on the 15th of March 2022 but later came to be released to the rest of the world on the 6th of September 2022 by distributor Nordisk Films with a run time of 1h 37mins.

Before I start the review I would like to mention that I had not seen the trailer for this movie ahead of watching it and that this is possibly the first Danish film I’ve watched, however, is it worth it?

Though the opening act is slow, I appreciate the time and effort director Christian Tafdrup offers to the audience into forming a bond between both families.

Letting us discover who they are, and what kind of people we’re dealing with from both the Danish and Dutch families, but no matter how beautiful things may seem at first, you can’t help but feel this eerie discomfort following you around.

Speak No Evil is by far the most Uncomfortable movie I’ve seen all year.

Whilst most people enjoy taking walks in the open plains of the wilderness, I could only feel discomfort, awkwardness, and an extreme level of anxiety.

The second act begins to reveal the cracks in the characters of the Dutch family when all of a sudden, you’ve gone from being treated as friends to more like servants.

Little by little the truth begins to illuminate the cracks and this is where you start to see the psychological aspect of this film at play.

Bjorn played by Morten Burian is the father and leader of the Danish family, however, he refuses to speak up to Patrick and his wife Karin about the things he finds unsettling and uncomfortable, which in turn, only gives Patrick more power over the situation to the point of…

Speak No Evil certainly delivers on its purpose of invoking emotions throughout the film and none of this could have been achieved if it weren’t for the phenomenal acting from its cast.

Patrick and his wife Karin played by Fedja van Huet and Karina Smulders both deserve some kind of award for their incredible performance, I won’t see strangers the same after this, and I won’t be visiting strangers’ homes without a police escort.

Are there any concerning things about the film, yes.

The reveal about the Dutch family and what they did to the people they invited over, I found it overwhelmingly disappointing, perhaps that’s because it was easy to figure out or perhaps in the way in which it was revealed, I don’t know.

Secondly, Bjorn and Louise played by Morten Burian and Sidsel Siem Koch, at first, I could relate to them and understand the reason for making the choices they took.

However, somewhere during the second act, it felt more as if they were making decisions to prolong the film instead of being realistic. That for me destroyed the connection I had with the characters which killed all the tension and buildup as well as the reveal for the rest of the movie.

As soon as Louise said let’s get out of there, I would have been out, rushing to the nearest Mcdonald’s to get myself a Spicy McFeast regardless of what time of the day it is, that Dutch family was unbearable.

Sorry to all the Dutch people out there, but I won’t be visiting your country anytime soon.

Overall Speak No Evil is a mystery thriller that will you keep you engaged with its unorthodox yet beautiful cinematography mixed with small unsettling moments that play at the back of your head warning you to run as far away as possible.

For its awful reveal and unrealistic decision-making, I give it a 3 out of 5 rating.

Let me know in the comments section below whether you watched Speak No Evil or not, if so let’s get the conversation started and leave a comment.

Any other Danish films you would recommend, let me know.

And thanks for reading another review from, LSR…