Have you ever been to a friend’s house and almost immediately wanted to leave?
Maybe their sofa was wrapped in plastic, maybe they’d built an idol to Taylor Swift in the boiler cupboard, perhaps it just smelled weird?
Whatever the reason, you knew you wanted to skedaddle as soon as you went through the front door.
If you answered yes, then boy oh boy does Netflix have the perfect film for you.
It’s called Speak No Evil, and it’s an English-language remake of a Danish-Dutch film of the same name.
The premise is simple. While on holiday in Italy,Ben and Louise, along with their daughter Agnes, befriend a couple called Paddy and Ciara and their son Ant.
In fact, the sextet have such a wonderful time on their hollibobs that when Paddy and Ciara invite Ben and Louise to their family home, they jump at the chance.
Now we don’t want to spoil anything for you, but let’s just say that agreeing to the visit was a big mistake.
Anyway, Speak No Evil has an impressive 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently third on the Netflix film top ten.
All very laudable achievements; however, some believe that Speak No Evil should never have been made.
No, these aren’t puritanical scaredy-cats terrified of anything that goes bump in the night; they’re cinephiles.
Yes, there’s a contingent of people online who believe that the film is too similar to the Danish-Dutch original and that remaking it was essentially pointless.
‘Speak No Evil is a remake of a film made just two years ago, and threatens to overshadow a genuinely compelling work,’ wrote David Renshaw for Fader.
Bleeding Cool were similarly unhappy with the remake, calling it a ‘toothless’ retread that didn’t understand what made the first so scary.
Even Metro’s own fearless entertainment editor, Alicia Adejobi, was annoyed at the decision to remake the film.
‘It’s disappointing that Hollywood can’t allow this relatively unsung Danish gem to have the space to shine and earn props for its script writing, cinematography and acting,’ she wrote.
And yet, the film (as that 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes proves) has its defenders.
Katherine McLaughlin wrote in SciFiNow that the movie’s ‘impressive performances and the specificity in the approach to culture and class sets this remake apart from the original.’
Even cinematic curmudgeon Mark Kermode agreed, saying: ‘As a fan of the original, I really think this did it justice and added a new twist and made its own film.’
Speak No Evil (2024) is available to stream now on Netflix, while the original is available on Shudder.
