Speak No Evil (2024) review

Ben Dalton (Scoot McNairy), his wife Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and their 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) go on holiday to Italy where they meet Paddy (James McAvoy), his spouse Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and their mute son Ant (Dan Hough) - Paddy invites them to come stay at their English farmhouse (and they begrudgingly accept the offer) except, while there, Paddy and Ciara behave strangely (by taunting them, being abusive to Ant, etc.) and Louise wants to leave.  This is an English-language remake of Christian Tafdrup's 2022 Danish-Dutch thriller (which I have seen) and although it keeps in the plot devices from that movie, it doesn't have the same level of tension ... that is, until the third act when the "truth" of the situation is revealed and McAvoy is permitted to turn into a frothing beast.  I don't like the altered "safe" ending, either: director Watkins said that Americans have a "frontier mentality" and would be compelled to retaliate in this situation, but this decision unfortunately negates the pessimistic conclusion that was the most memorable aspect of the original.  But hey, if anyone ever plans to do an audiobook of an actor reciting Philip Larkin's poems ... McAvoy's your guy.