“Speak No Evil” is the Most Disturbing Horror Movie of 2022, and That’s Saying Something!

You’ll think twice accepting the invitation of a couple met on vacation offering to host your next holiday at their home after watching Christian Tafdrup’s unsettling suspense thriller Speak No Evil (B+). This is icy social satire of the highest order on a slow slide to all-out horror, filmed mostly in English with some sequences in Danish and Dutch, although nobody’s tourism bureau is likely to claim this prickly cautionary tale. The story showcases ways we dole out small compromises to accommodate and keep the peace with folks we don’t know all that well. Morten Burian and Fedja Van Huêt make the biggest impressions as two men with opposite approaches to nearly everything in life, which makes for a cauldron of conflict. Sidsel Siem Koch is also magnificent as the mom who’s a canary in the coal mine; the shock in her eyes based on different parenting approaches portends even more horrifying chasms. There’s very effective, absorbing drama here and hardly a false move, although the final act wraps a little too terrifyingly tidy. Fans of tightly wound, misanthropic movies will get their fix on this one.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.