Speak No Evil (Cristian Tafdrup)

[Grouchy]

[Grouchy]

Pretty obviously just an extended homage to Funny Games, Tafdrup's movie succeeds in being unbearably tense, nerve-wracking and infuriating, which in itself is a pretty big achievement. But same as with Haneke's film I always find this kind of experiment sort of shallow. After all, what's the pasivity of the victim family here trying to say about current society? That people go out of their way to accomodate others at their own expense? Is that really the case in Denmark? It doesn't look like that in any other part of the world.

Regardless, if you're not squeamish and actually enjoy movies that make you feel assaulted and bad (I kind of do) this is worth seeing, although it doesn't explore any uncharted territory.

[Ivan Drago]

From my Sundance coverage earlier in the year:

Whether it’s at the bar or poolside at a hotel, casual conversations with strangers are bound to happen to everyone at some point in life. But what if a family of passers-by thought of you as a genuine friend and invited you and yours to visit them? That’s the scenario at the center of Danish horror film Speak No Evil. In Christian Tafdrup’s latest feature, Danish couple Bjorn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch) along with their daughter Agnes (Liva Forsberg) meet the Dutch family of father Patrick (Fedja van Huet) and mother Karin (Karina Smulders) walking down the streets of Tuscany while on holiday, and the Dutch parents treat the Danes to lunch before seemingly going their separate ways. However, Patrick and Karin surprisingly re-enter the lives of Bjorn and Louise with a postcard inviting them to their house in Holland for a getaway vacation. Despite Louise’s initial hesitation, out of an internal desire for an escape from the monotony of family life, Bjorn accepts their invitation.

They do just that, only to learn as soon as Bjorn meets Patrick and Karin’s son Abel (Marius Damslev) that something feels very off with their Dutch friends, and Tafdrup does an excellent job at making viewers feel more and more uneasy as the film goes along through both his writing and direction. Tension slowly but surely builds through Patrick and Karin’s minor unpleasantries in front of the Danes that grow more and more inconsiderate and careless to outright intrusive and dangerous as the film progresses. Tafdrup also succeeds in using sounds and shadows to trap and unnerve his characters when their privacy is invaded. An example comes in a scene where brushing teeth has never sounded more frightening.

It’s a shame that the logistics of the story fall apart after a certain revelation in the second half, which is also where Bjorn and Louise become inconsistently written to the point where they make baffling, illogical decisions to get to the film’s main thesis. Even then, Christian Tafdrup said before the film that he likes films that make a difference and inspire change, and while Speak No Evil is bleak, it accomplishes just enough as a cautionary tale about engaging with nationalists, let alone strangers.