Netflix And Chill: Speak No Evil (2024)

There are times when everyone else seems to make time for a film that I know I won't get around to for quite a while, for all kinds of different reasons. Speak No Evil was one of those films. I just couldn't bring myself to be enthusiastic about it, despite the amount of people I know who said it was a surprisingly good remake of the original film. 

While those people were quite correct in their general assumption, I think they should have also admitted that, despite the content throughout most of the runtime, there are a number of mis-steps in the third act that make this absolutely on par with so many other remakes that exist simply due to people not wanting to read subtitles. Speak No Evil is dark and mean-spirited, for the most part, but it's defanged and neutered just in time for the end credits to roll, leaving anyone who was impressed by the original sorely dissatisfied and disappointed.

Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis are Ben and Louise Dalton, a married couple with one daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), and a lot of obvious tension in their relationship. While on holiday in Italy they meet Paddy (James McAvoy), Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), and their son, Ant (Dan Hough). Ant is unable to speak, but his parents are very friendly and chatty. And they invite Ben, Louise, and Agnes to visit them when they're all back in the UK some time. But things quickly become a bit strange and uncomfortable when the sheen of that "new holiday friendship" has gone and Paddy continues to tease and antagonise his guests.

Based on the original screenplay, this has been written and directed by James Watkins, possibly still a bit infamous for the darkness and horror of his debut feature, Eden Lake (one of the few films I rate very highly and never want to rewatch). Watkins is a great choice to helm this, and he's helped by the casting, which makes it even more of a shame to see how things ultimately play out. It's good that he didn't feel the need to change too much for the set-up though, which basically creates a twisted comedy of manners around the nightmarish notion that people who made casual mention of some future time socialising together actually meant what they said.

McAvoy is the overwhelming dark star of the film, dancing his way from mirth to menace repeatedly in a performance that taps into the impressive depths of scariness he's displayed in a number of other features. As the one who finds herself most often the target of his questions and barbs, Davis is also very good. Both she and McNairy play their characters with a slight snobbery and fragility that allows viewers to consider their downfall with some glee until the scales start to tip in their favour as they strive to remain calm and polite in the face of ever-increasing unpleasantness. Franciosi is on a par with everyone else, and both of the younger cast members are enjoyably natural and believable, whether they're just playing around or becoming afraid of the situation developing among the adults.

This is a good one to try and endure. And it's slightly easier to endure than the original movie. That's what makes it more entertaining and enjoyable. But it's also what leads to the biggest weakness. So, weighing up the good and the bad, I would have to rate this on a par with the original. It's a very solid thriller, and impressively dark. Until what feels like an obvious number of concessions in the third act.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: The Nightingale (2018)

While it's not a hill that I am willing to die on, or even willing to risk any minor injury on, it's worth noting that I wasn't as big a fan of The Babadook as so many other people. I also wasn't really taken with Jennifer Kent's episode in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities series. So, despite hearing some good things about this a few years ago, I was in no rush to watch The Nightingale, a 136-minute grim tale of abuse and revenge. I'm glad I got around to it at last though, it's easily the best thing that Kent has done so far (although you may find that I am the only person to hold that opinion just now).

Aisling Franciosi plays Clare Carroll, an Irish convict who is working as a servant for some British forces serving in Tasmania in the early part of the nineteenth century. With the promise of freedom being held over their heads, Clare and her husband, Aidan, are kept in check by soldiers who think they can pretty much do what they want without any fear of repercussions. They go too far though, way too far, but think it won't matter when they are just about to set off on a lengthy journey through the dangerous Tasmanian wilderness. That leads to Clare enlisting an Aboriginal tracker, Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), to help her find the soldiers she is determined to make pay for their horrific crimes.

With Kent once again assuming both the directing and writing duties, this is another film that allows her to accept all of the praise or criticism headed her way. It's praise from me, although I can imagine a few people being put off by some of the content here, and I'm so impressed by this film that I'll now be quicker to check out whatever she does next. There were a few moments here that had me slack-jawed with astonishment, but even the many scenes without any shocks or bloodshed were livened up by a look at class divides, colonialism, and the mistreatment and mislabelling of people simply due to the colour of their skin.

Franciosi has been doing very good work for some time now, even if there's nothing yet to declare as a breakout role, and this is one of her best performances. She's very believable and sympathetic, whether being emotionally devastated by the actions of men overpowering her or trying to dig deep within herself to find the conviction to exact her revenge when faced with the reality of what that entails. Ganambarr is also great, portraying someone who sees in Clare a strength and rage that he knows should be shared by himself, and many others like him. He helps to carry Clare along when she stumbles, but she in turn helps to strengthen his own resolve when he considers some extreme action. Sam Claflin may be a bit hammy in the main villain role, but he's entertainingly loathsome and someone you want to see get their comeuppance in the most protractedly painful way possible, and the same goes for Damon Herriman and Harry Greenwood.

The cinematography from Radek Ladczuk helps beautify some real ugliness, there's a fantastic selection of music from Jed Kurzel (who seems to enjoy working with Kent as much as he enjoys working with his brother, Justin, in between his other jobs), and the tone is balanced in a way that allows viewers to endure both the misery and the sense of jubilation that the main characters experience on their journey through some very dark territory. It could have been a bit shorter, agreed, and there could have been a different way to portray the villains without them being so ready to twirl their moustaches, figuratively speaking, and leer in an over the top style, but neither of those things made me dislike the film. I almost rated it even higher, but the fact that I would be hesitant to rush to a rewatch made me consider dialling my enthusiasm down just a bit.

8/10

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The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (2023)

Based on one specific chapter from Dracula, this is an old-fashioned horror movie that makes great use of modern effects to depict, and enhance, a classic bit of text. Directed by André Øvredal, who is yet to helm a real stinker in his filmography, it's as easy to appreciate and enjoy this as it is to, sadly, see why it failed to find a big audience.

Corey Hawkins plays Clemens, a man who ends up getting himself hired as a crew member on the Demeter. Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) is a fair taskmaster, but he soon finds himself overwhelmed by numerous incidents that make everyone suspect their voyage may be cloaked in misfortune. It may well have something to do with their mysterious cargo, which won't be a surprise to anyone familiar with the source material.

Despite the inherent limitations of the source material (meaning the film takes place mainly in one location and with a fairly limited cast of characters), The Last Voyage Of The Demeter manages to come up with a number of inventive and entertaining ways to wander through very familiar territory. Writers Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz have less consistency than Øvredal, but they seem to work together well on something that approaches the trappings of the vampire movie with an impressive sense of reverence and earnestness.

While the cast are a mixed bag (I don't want to spend too much time discussing the accent work by David Dastmalchian, nor do I want to try to list those who play the more forgettable characters), the leads are excellent. Hawkins is the right person to carry this on his shoulders, especially when he can occasionally share the burden with Cunningham, Aisling Franciosi does very good work as a stowaway who knows the danger of the "cargo" being transported, and Javier Botet delivers yet another physical performance under heavy make up that puts him right alongside Doug Jones when it comes to being able to bring supernatural beings to life in solid humanoid form.

The runtime may be a touch too long, as the runtime clocks in at just under the 2-hour mark, but there's plenty to enjoy here, from start to finish. There's wonderful music from Bear McCreary, gorgeous cinematography from Tom Stern (although I did thing things a bit hard to see in a finale that sets everything in the middle of a dark and foggy area of the sea . . . but maybe that's more to do with my ageing eyes than the professionals working to create the visuals), and beautiful design work throughout every department, from sound to wardrobe, and everything in between.

It's far from perfect, especially when the screen has too many characters that aren't really memorable enough to do more than add to the bodycount, but this is an enjoyable and surprisingly bloody little film that makes good use of modern movie-making techniques to deliver something comfortably old-fashioned at heart, yet garnished with some impressive effects and bloodshed. Not recommended for the impatient, but tentatively recommended for vampire movie fans.

7/10

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Shudder Saturday: Stopmotion (2023)

If you're a fan of Robert Morgan then you will probably have a good idea of what to expect from his first feature film, especially with it being titled with his favoured form of animation. It's interesting to see Morgan prove himself as a feature director though, and this is a debut that perfectly blends elements of his brilliant shorts with the added luxury of a runtime that allows him to nurture a growing atmosphere of unease and dread.

Aisling Franciosi plays Ella Blake, a woman who is often shouted at and belittled while working on the stop-motion animation being filmed by her mother, Suzanne (Stella Gonet). Things change when Suzanne is suddenly indisposed, leaving Ella to carry out the work all on her own. Leaving Ella with some creations that she start to invade her subconscious. Does Ella have a problem, or are things around her getting very weird?

Co-written by Morgan and Robin King, who has worn many hats throughout his own career, and is certainly no stranger to dark animation, this is a fairly obvious and standard bit of psychological horror that is elevated by those horribly off-kilter and downright queasy creations that Morgan puts onscreen. While it would make an interesting companion piece to something like Censor, I much preferred this. The big difference being that an artist is at the heart of this particular journey through a landscape blurring reality and unreality, whereas Censor was about a poor . . . censor (yes, I am still side-eyeing all of you who absolutely and unreservedly loved it, and probably will forever, but I know I am almost alone in just liking it).

I loved Franciosi in the lead role here. While I don’t think I have personally seen her in any of her orbiter features, she gives the kind of brilliant and confident performance that assures you that she has been honing her craft for some time. Gonet is impressively mean and callous, which she does well enough to immediately make you stay on the side of our put-upon lead, and both Tom York and Therica Wilson-Read do a very good job as people who think they know what it takes to make such impressive art, but really REALLY don’t. The great James Swanton (if you don’t know his name then I implore you to seek out some of his work) makes an impact with his character, and, last hut not least, young Caoilinn Springall is an extra window into this world, and an extra person who may be in danger, as a curious little girl just credited as Little Girl.

Fans of Morgan have been waiting for him to deliver a feature for some time, which saddles this with some extra weight of expectation. Try to leave that aside once you start watching this though. The film itself is nicely in line with what should be expected from Morgan, even if it feels a bit light and tame when placed alongside his memorable shorts. Morgan knows what he is doing, and he knows the pros and cons of different formats and runtimes. Put a bit of faith in him and you should be duly rewarded. This was great. It wasn’t really like his short films, but then . . . what is?

8/10

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