Speak No Evil review – James McAvoy’s British Get Out is the best film of 2024

Speak No Evil is not what you think it is… it’s so much more.

The trailer for the Blumhouse remake of the 2022 Danish film of the same name promises what looks like a nasty horror but in reality is more akin to an extremely funny comedy turned psychological thriller.

Of course, there are some disturbing and violent moments but what could easily be described as the British Get Out is really somewhere between an unsettling psychological mystery and biting satire.

So if you’re someone like me, who usually avoids gruesome jump scare horrors, then this Black Mirror-esque movie is for you.

Speak No Evil follows an urban American family who are invited for a weekend at a countryside farmhouse owned by an eccentric British couple they met on holiday.

James McAvoy stars as the husband of the latter family, giving a charming and chilling performance that’s truly a career highlight.

A muscular passive-aggressive role based on Andrew Tate, Paddy embodies a toxic alpha masculinity in contrast to Scott McNairy’s non-confrontational dad, who struggles to stand up for his wife and daughter when they’re being walked all over.

Their stay at the farmhouse is filled with strange and awkward situations from there being no vegetarian option at dinner for Mackenzie Davis’ frustrated American mother to the unwashed bed sheets in the guest bedroom.

At first, they brush these inconveniences aside as a hospitality culture clash, before Paddy’s mute son starts to alert the visiting family to the disturbing mysteries surrounding what is really going on.

Seeing Speak No Evil with a cinema audience is an absolute must from the cringe “Nooooo!” moments, through the edge-of-your-seat tensions to countless genuine belly laughs at the awkwardness of it all.

This jet-black comic folk horror places the viewer inside each twisting and turning “What would you do?” situation, leaving you both thoroughly entertained and imbued by the surprise film of the year.

Speak No Evil hits UK cinemas on September 12, 2024.