Vacationing with strangers sounds like my own personal hell, if we’re honest. But everyone is a stranger first, and society has conditioned us to put politeness before virtually all else, lest we be shamed for being rude or be seen as “unlikeable”. Entire facets of culture from all over the world are built on the blocks of being seen as inviting and upbeat. If you are not perceived to be these things you are socially shunned. If you are, you can get away with anything.
Writer-director Christian Tafdrup’s SPEAK NO EVIL, written with Mads Tafdrup, pulls from personal experience to ramp up its terror. Fresh off its Canadian premiere at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, it is inspired by his own tense encounter with a persistently polite couple on holiday, and the strain socially expected politeness puts on even our most unusual interactions with strangers. For some of us, being polite is the only way to survive. But sometimes it can be just as dangerous as standing your ground.
SPEAK NO EVIL is an invasion movie of a different kind. Rather than invading the victim’s home, Tafdrup’s film turns the house into an invader itself, displacing the victims into a state of constant discomfort only amplified by the consistent invasion of their personal boundaries. It uses our own socially conditioned ideas of what’s acceptable and polite to turn the story on its head and terrify us. What begin as fairly innocuous, albeit awkward, interactions soon develop into increasingly tense moments of violation and passive violence. As tensions rise and the motivations crystalize, Bjørn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch) must do everything they can to protect themselves and their daughter Agnes (Liva Forsberg) from the simmering violence of the Dutch couple whose invitation for a weekend getaway they accepted out of politeness.
Without treading too far into spoiler territory, suffice it to say, SPEAK NO EVIL brings new meaning and vitality to the old adage “don’t talk to strangers”, and international horror is making it more clear than ever they have no interest in pulling any punches. The reveal of the Dutch couple’s motives is horrific, and the last thirty minutes or so of the film are guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat.
SPEAK NO EVIL is an exceptional playground for the actors to exercise their abilities, and each proves to be terrifyingly good at their job. Burian’s turn as the insistent but simmering Bjørn, who has intense emotions of his own that he suppresses for the sake of appearing normal in the nuclear family sense, is troubling to its core, but an incredible performance of the influence of strained social constructs and the damage they can do to our psyches if we allow them full control. Fedja van Huêt’s performance as Patrick, the insistent Dutch patriarch, is a standout. He makes shifting from endearingly awkward to breathtakingly sinister look effortless. Marius Damslev, who plays the young Abel, who Patrick explains was born without a tongue, also gives an impressive, understated performance that is vital both to the foundation of building the film’s terror and setting the emotional stakes.
Set to release later this year on Shudder, SPEAK NO EVIL is yet another in Fantasia’s stellar and deeply disturbing lineup of debut horror.
Tags: Christian Tafdrup, Danish Horror, Fantasia Film Festival 2022, Fedja van Huet, Film Festivals, Invasion Horror, Liva Forsberg, Mads Tafdrup, Marius Damsley, Morten Burian, Shudder, Sidsel Siem Koch, Speak No Evil
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