Speak no Evil (englische OmdU) || Eröffnungsfilm des Fantasy Filmfest

In the organizer's words:

Speak No Evil

The Fantasy Filmfest is a good place for James Watkins. The British director's debut EDEN LAKE opened the festival once before. Watkins now returns to this venue with a film about a fight for survival in a hopeless situation. On the one hand, this closes the circle thematically, but on the other it also underlines the quantum leaps he has made as a filmmaker: What makes SPEAK NO EVIL so effective is the absolute perfection with which the director affects his material: You can't knit a thriller more tightly, you can't turn on the tension screws more mercilessly. And yet still offer a maximum of playfulness and wicked humor, even when it gets down to the nitty gritty. This movie knows how to make images work.

Watkins' terror scenario about a family who meet a couple on vacation in Tuscany and accept their invitation to visit them and their son, who suffers from a speech impediment, on their farm in the countryside is of course - as the fan community knows - a remake of Christian Tafdrup's Danish film of the same name. There are said to be people who still haven't recovered from it. James Watkins himself describes the original as "uncompromisingly tough in a brilliant way". And gives the story a clever spin by using the same premise but then playing out the action differently. Here it's not Danes meeting Dutchmen, but Americans meeting Irishmen. That makes a difference. And results in a familiar and yet completely new movie with an unleashed James McAvoy in the best "Here's Johnny" Jack Nicholson style. Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy and Aisling Franciosi are no less great in this passionate adaptation that shows us what STRAW DOGS could look like in 2024.

English Version

James Watkins comes back with a brilliant remake of the Danish horror thriller by Christian Tafdrup's SPEAK NO EVIL. In his interpretation an American family meets an Irish one, and from there things get out of hand. James McAvoy's performance recalls Jack Nicholson's unforgotten appearance in THE SHINING. As for Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy and Aisling Franciosi they are no less impressive in this head-spinning tour de force full of bitterly wicked humor.

Film: Speak No Evil (USA 2024)
Director: James Watkins
Starring: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, Scoot McNairy
Screenplay: James Watkins (based on the screenplay by Christian and Mads Tafdrup)
Duration: 110 min
Language version: English OmdU

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