Speak No Evil is such a generic title, I didn’t realize it was an American remake of the Danish film of the same name. It took me twenty minutes to realize it was actively similar in theme but it was well into the second act that I realized, no, this is an actual remake. That’s way too long but it’s on me for not remembering the details of the earlier film.

An American family visits new British friends for the weekend. The Brits – led by beefy James McAvoy – are nothing if not polite… and passive aggressive, saying things that could be meaningless or a subtle dig. Since the protagonists live in polite society, they fall victim to the subtle, snake-like politeness.

The film weaponizes our desire to go along and get along… the kind of mindset that lets cunning sociopaths convince you that YOU were in the wrong, that YOU misunderstood the situation. It’s aggravating to watch since you can see the manipulation but they can’t since they don’t realize they are in a thriller.

The film is well-made and well-acted but it runs long, which is the same problem I had with the original film. There’s only so much frustration and repetitive manipulative that I can take before I start to check out.

However, the third act is very different than the Danish original. It resets the location and amps up the thrills/action, turning the film into more of a home invasion with audience-pleasing catharsis. The original film is bleak, this one lets us off the hook somewhat.

James McAvoy’s guns have been in the zeitgeist lately and he comes across as dangerous and imposing (and Speedo’d). He’s played bad before in Split which lends him the ability to switch states quickly. It’s a pretty great and threatening performance and brings a lot to a film that was losing me.

I hate to say it since we all want to champion originals over remakes, but this version is more watchable. It’s (eventually) faster paced and offers up some audience empathy. I hesitate to give it 3 stars (I gave the original 2.5) since it still has that second act impatience, but since the third act felt good in a way polite society wouldn’t endorse, it makes the cut.

This remake suffers the same issues I had before but Americanizes it in a way that makes it more palatable (if less daring). But it also has a great performance from McAvoy and gives savage catharsis that helps make up for the discomfort and impatience of the first half of the film.

Score: 75