Blumhouse’s Speak No Evil was heavily promoted throughout the year and was met with moderate success from audiences and critics.
But one person who isn’t into this Americanized version is Danish filmmaker Christian Tafdrup, the man behind the 2022 original film titled Gæsterne.
In an interview with the Danish radio show Kulturen, Tafdrup was unimpressed with James Watkins’ remake, starring James McAvoy. The filmmaker says the tone and message were lost in translation.
“I don’t know what it is about Americans, but they are brought up for a heroic tale, where the good must win over the bad, and this version of the film cultivates that. When I saw the film yesterday, I could see that they would never succeed with a film… [like] our film,” says Tafdrup.
“These people [in the U.S. version] must fight for their family and defeat the bad guys […] It is a kind of happy ending, and it is so deep in their culture that America must be able to handle it all,” he adds.
The filmmaker compares the reception, saying the American version had viewers leaving the remake “completely over-enthusiastic and clapped, laughed and whooped,” but his original film left people “traumatized.”
Have you seen both versions of Speak No Evil? Head to the Flickering Myth social channels and let us know how you feel…
When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare.
Speak No Evil stars Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate, Halt and Catch Fire) and SAG award-winner Scoot McNairy (Argo, A Quiet Place Part II) as American couple Louise and Ben Dalton, who, along with their 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler; The Good Nurse, Riverdale), accept the weekend-holiday invitation of Paddy (McAvoy), his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi; Game of Thrones, The Fall) and their furtive, mute son Ant (newcomer Daniel Hough).
Speak No Evil is now playing in cinemas. Gæsterne is now streaming.
