Speak No Evil is a frustrating film in the (fictional?) subgenre of… I dunno? Politeness horror? The kind of movie where good people get in trouble with seemingly normal (yet crazy) people because they are too ingrained with the societal impulse to not offend. Who Invited Them (also on Shudder) from earlier this year was similar. Don’t be rude to the sporadically polite crazy people… maybe you’ve just misread the situation? Maybe YOU’RE the problem!

In this one, a couple runs into another couple on vacation and they hit it off. So they make plans to vacation again. And things seem to start off ok… some odd behaviors but nothing too weird. But then there’s too much public snogging, they won’t turn down the radio in the car, and, I dunno, why doesn’t their kid have a tongue?

I was fairly bought into the movie in the first half… feeling frustrated on their behalf because that’s what the movie is designed to do. But, I dunno, I think it just took it too far and eventually lost me. The protagonist couple went too far in their inertness and the pace of the movie plummeted when it should have finally started to pick up speed. And, sure, the end is pretty shocking out of nowhere… but it’s still stuck in molasses.

There’s a good movie here if you have about 50% more patience than me. I just think their intentional decision to slow things down wasn’t up to my speed… and maybe make your characters a little more proactive?

Score: 72