Speak No Evil—the tale of two families (one Danish, one Dutch) who meet on vacation and plan a weekend reunion, which one family rapidly comes to regret—is the kind of movie that aims to traumatize the viewer… and succeeds. Now the 2022 Danish horror standout is getting an American remake starring James McAvoy.
It’s important to note that while Speak No Evil does contain violence, suspense, and the expected trappings of a horror movie, particularly in its later scenes, its ability to create just agonizing mountains of discomfort comes mostly from the interactions and conversations between the characters. Social boundaries are tested, pushed, and then completely mangled beyond all recognition; you will scream, you will cover your face, you will have nightmarish flashbacks. “We wanted to make not just a disturbing film, but the most disturbing film in Denmark’s film history ever,” director and co-writer Christian Tafdrup told io9 last year. “That was our promise to each other, me and the other screenwriter [Mads Tafdrup], from the beginning.”
Well, they succeeded. That screenplay will form the basis for the remake, reports Deadline, from the Split and Glass team of star McAvoy and producers Blumhouse. James Watkins (The Woman in Black) will direct, and the movie’s already got a release date: August 9, 2024. There’s no word yet on which character McAvoy will be playing, but he’d be great at either male lead; personally, I hope he sticks with his Blumhouse past and goes villain over victim with this one.
Correction: An earlier version of this post mixed up the nationality of the original movie’s director. io9 regrets the error.
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