It's impossible to divorce the American remake of Speak No Evil from its original which was only released 2 years prior to this one. In a lot of ways, the first half follows the original pretty closely. I don't remember exact details, but the general vibe and high level beats seem to be the same. This movie isn't as unsettling as the original in this portion of the movie, trying to be a little more sanitized overall. Still, the general concept of hell being other people is still present here. However, I sort of figured by the marketing campaign which really emphasized some of the horror elements that this movie was not shy about where it is heading, and indeed it telegraphs its second half quickly. The uncomfortableness of living with new people simply isn't as sharp because of it. There's also a bit of an attempt to focus on concepts of toxic masculinity here, and while I think some interesting things could have been done there with the interplay between Paddy and Ben, it just never really is able to breathe enough within the constraints of the plot. Of course, it's the second half which seems to have been the primary focus for James Watkins. While the original left this portion of the plot until the very end, lending itself to a dramatic and shocking ending, this movie instead spends a good portion of the runtime on it, resulting in a second half that feels drastically different. Now, for transparency, I do not love the ending to the original at all, finding it unnecessary and at odds with a lot of the themes built up throughout the rest of the movie. Because of that, I didn't particularly care if this movie changed things up, and it does so in spades. It ends up feeling a bit cliched, pulling from a lot of Western horror movies within this sort of subgenre. However, I found it fairly gripping, and James McAvoy is always fun to watch. I felt Mackenzie Davis is a very good actress, but this isn't her best work (though she's still decent). I also thought this portion of the movie was actually able to connect with some of the themes built up regarding family in a way that the ending of the original just never did.
Overall, this is very much a Hollywood remake of a foreign horror movie, but one that still manages to be engaging. While I think the first half is not nearly as strong as the original, I actually prefer this one's ending, even if it feels a lot more by the numbers (mostly because I do not like the ending of the original).
Review by RG9400VIP 5BlockedParent2024-10-05T04:45:16Z
It's impossible to divorce the American remake of Speak No Evil from its original which was only released 2 years prior to this one. In a lot of ways, the first half follows the original pretty closely. I don't remember exact details, but the general vibe and high level beats seem to be the same. This movie isn't as unsettling as the original in this portion of the movie, trying to be a little more sanitized overall. Still, the general concept of hell being other people is still present here. However, I sort of figured by the marketing campaign which really emphasized some of the horror elements that this movie was not shy about where it is heading, and indeed it telegraphs its second half quickly. The uncomfortableness of living with new people simply isn't as sharp because of it. There's also a bit of an attempt to focus on concepts of toxic masculinity here, and while I think some interesting things could have been done there with the interplay between Paddy and Ben, it just never really is able to breathe enough within the constraints of the plot. Of course, it's the second half which seems to have been the primary focus for James Watkins. While the original left this portion of the plot until the very end, lending itself to a dramatic and shocking ending, this movie instead spends a good portion of the runtime on it, resulting in a second half that feels drastically different. Now, for transparency, I do not love the ending to the original at all, finding it unnecessary and at odds with a lot of the themes built up throughout the rest of the movie. Because of that, I didn't particularly care if this movie changed things up, and it does so in spades. It ends up feeling a bit cliched, pulling from a lot of Western horror movies within this sort of subgenre. However, I found it fairly gripping, and James McAvoy is always fun to watch. I felt Mackenzie Davis is a very good actress, but this isn't her best work (though she's still decent). I also thought this portion of the movie was actually able to connect with some of the themes built up regarding family in a way that the ending of the original just never did.
Overall, this is very much a Hollywood remake of a foreign horror movie, but one that still manages to be engaging. While I think the first half is not nearly as strong as the original, I actually prefer this one's ending, even if it feels a lot more by the numbers (mostly because I do not like the ending of the original).