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cassiebones · 2 months ago

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Speak No Evil (2024)

I have so much that I want to say about this film.

There will be spoilers.

First and foremost, Ben Dalton is THE MOST useless character I have ever seen in any horror movie ever made, and that is saying A LOT because have you SEEN some of the useless bitches in horror movies?

Ben is worse. Here is a list of his transgressions.

Loses his daughter's stuffed bunny (to be honest, I think the other family stole it, but still) and then criticizes her about having it in the first place like???? She's an 11yo with anxiety; LET HER HAVE HER BUNNY.

ALLOWS HIS 11YO DAUGHTER TO RIDE THE BIKE OF AN UNFAMILIAR MAN DESPITE HIS WIFE'S OBVIOUS DISCOMFORT. Like, Louise is clearly Not Okay with her preteen child getting on this strange man's bike, no matter how hot y'all think James McAvoy is. Even with his "family" right there next to them. YOU JUST DO NOT DO THAT. AND IN EUROPE OF ALL PLACES.

Just generally acting like his wife is overreacting every single time she doesn't feel comfortable with something weird this other couple does. And I think he only gets away with it partly because she feels so guilty about cheating on him. But she's reacting pretty normally for all the weird shit they're pulling. And he is obvs in love with Paddy (James McAvoy; legit had to look up the name).

There's a line that Paddy says when Ben asks him "why?" and it is actually super good: "because you let us." Because yeah, Ben is such a fucking pushover, but only when it comes to Paddy. Because he thinks Paddy is cool and because he's a bit in love with him, I swear to God there should have been a kiss scene. And, yes, Louise is also a bit of a pushover, but she's constantly receiving pressure from her husband and sometimes from her daughter and she has that cheater's guilt, so she's inclined to do what they want, unfortunately.

ALLOWS AN UNKNOWN MAN TO BABYSIT HIS CHILD. Like?????????? Louise is also guilty of this, but he convinced her it would be fine. Like no??? My mom and dad would have started packing immediately.

DOESN'T GRAB A HAMMER WHEN THEY ARE GETTING SUPPLIES TO FIX HIS TIRE. LIKE YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE ARE SHITTY AND MURDEROUS. TAKE THE HAMMER. BRAIN THE MANIAC.

He didn't do SHIT during any fight scene in this movie. It was all Louise as far as I remember. Literally. All he does is drive and hold a ladder up AFTER breaking his knee. He helps move some furniture for barricades but that is the bare fucking MINIMUM. Louise is the one that sprays acid in Paddy's face. Louise is the one that brains Ciara (creep wife) with a brick that ultimately kills her. Agnes is the one that stabs him with a needle. Agnes also finds clever ways to get her parents in private to talk by faking her period. And then ANT is the one who kills Paddy with a hammer. BEN DID FUCKING NOTHING.

That last thing - not killing Paddy - pissed me the fuck off. He could have at least done that one thing. This man has KILLED dozens of people and tried to take your daughter as a child bride AFTER trying to also kill you and you were just gonna let him live??? Poor Ant took out all his trauma with that brick. He's gonna need so much therapy which hopefully is covered by Britain's healthcare system because they live in London and, oh yeah, BEN HAS NO JOB. HIS WIFE QUIT HERS TO FOLLOW HIM. SERIOUSLY FUCK BEN.

There's probably more, but onto the movie.

This couple ignored way too many red flags. The first would have been Paddy (who was an abject stranger at the time, let's not forget) offering to give their daughter a ride. The daughter, Agnes, is eleven, let's not forget, and so probably doesn't have a strong concept of stranger danger, especially for the man who found her precious bunny, Hoppy. The Protagonist Wife, Louise, is uncomfortable with this (presumably because she is a normal human being and mother/woman) but Dad/Ben is like, yeah it's fine. They'll be right back. Look, his wife and child are here. Surely, he wouldn't abandon them.

Bro what

I mean he brings her back, but that's obviously just to build trust. I'm not sure how they continued to actually hang out with this weird af couple because I would have probably blocked them after the whole toilet paper debate IN PUBLIC because I'd be so embarrassed.

But that's just me.

This couple ignores so many red flags. And Ben pressures Louise into not acting like the normal human being that she is. Because he's in love with Paddy. Obviously.

On their first night at the Creep Family's house, Paddy force feeds Louise (a vocal vegetarian) meat. She is too polite to remind them that she doesn't eat meat. This is definitely another test.

Paddy convinces them to jump into a lake in their underwear which??????? They are wearing coats as they go on a walk. Is it not cold??? What the actual fuck? Red Flag

They invite them out to dinner and all three of them get dressed up in nice clothes, only to be told that the kids aren't coming with them and "hey look, it's our random neighbor with a tragic backstory who's gonna watch your preteen daughter and nothing bad is gonna happen at all, look he did a magic trick surely that means he's a swell guy, right?" Red Flag.

Once again, Louise is uncomfy, but Ben convinces her Agnes will be A-OK. Thankfully, she is.

They pull even more weird shit at dinner. Ciara pretends to give Paddy a BJ under the table and Ben and Louise just watch. RED FUCKING FLAG.

At some point, it comes out that Paddy and Ciara have been married for 17 years, which is insane because Paddy is so clearly much older than Ciara (sorry James, but you are aging, my friend) and Ciara doesn't look like she would have been legal SEVENTEEN FUCKIN YEARS AGO. R E D F L A G

While they're away doing that, Ant shows Agnes the watches and tries to make her understand, but he doesn't know sign language (or English, bc I'm so certain that his real parents were from a Norse or Germanic country) and she doesn't really get what he's trying to tell her, so it's all for nought. They move that one watch, though, and that raises a flag for Paddy later.

A red one.

Back at dinner, they saddle Ben and Louise with the bill. Another test that is failed. Also a major red flag.

Louise's cheating plotline comes out because Ben is being a lil bitch and I sort of understand why she cheated because this man is the definition of Small Dick Energy. They have some kind of convo and make up and go to sleep. Then she wakes up a few hours later and goes to check on her kid and finds her - gasp - missing!

So she goes searching and finally finds her in PADDY AND CIARA'S BEDROOM. My theory is that they drugged these kids because as Louise is pulling her daughter out of their bed (like a normal fucking human being), she is just so lethargic. She carries her to the other bedroom and places her down and she just flops over. She could be tired of course, but that's just very weird to me so I'm gonna throw down another red flag. Also I don't think Ant would willingly climb into bed with those two. Neither would Agnes.

So they leave for the first time.

Or they try to.

Agnes forgets Hoppy. I believe she dropped it in Paddy and Ciara's bedroom when she was being pulled out of their bed, but it could have been lost somewhere else. I just cannot believe that somebody who is so dependent and anxious without that bunny would actually forget it like that. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT MEANS THEY HAVE TO GO BACK.

Tbh, my parents would have kept driving and stuck to that "we'll ask them to send it" and if I had kicked the back of the driver's seat like that? I would not be alive anymore.

But of course, despite Ben being a dick about her bunny, he finally turns around and they go back.

There, he gets out of the car and tells them to stay and he'll be right back.

Do they stay in the car? No ofc not. It's a horror movie.

Louise doesn't wait like twenty seconds before she gets out, too, leaving her daughter. That's a red flag on her this time tbh.

They go in and talk to the family and Ciara says she was just trying to soothe Agnes because Louise wasn't coming (as if you have no idea where she was, bitch? please) and the family is placated and convinced to stay longer.

Fucking. Idiots.

Paddy takes Ben for a walk at some point and I cannot remember when but I think it may be after they come back. They scream into the woods, which is super weird and a lil gay tbh. I expect a kiss here, but I am disappointed. Sigh. Red Flag behavior.

Agnes and Ant show the parents their dance to Cotton Eyed Joe (a song about an STD that already has an agreed-upon dance, remember?) and Paddy just goes insane. Because of his meltdown, Agnes says she doesn't want to dance anymore, but Paddy convinces Ben who convinces her to dance again. Louise is trying to stand up for her daughter (because, once again, she is a normal human being and loves her child) but Ben is like "it wouldn't hurt" Fuck off, Ben. I hope Agnes goes no-contact with you as soon as she's old enough.

They start to do it again, but Ant is awkward and Paddy loses his shit. Again. So they stop. This whole scene is such a red flag idk how they didn't just leave. Especially after he throws something at Ant. Like???

There's also a scene where Ciara tries to parent Agnes and Louise is rightfully like???? Don't parent my child. And they make another BS Red Flag excuse. Fuck them.

Paddy goes and passes out bc he apparently drank too much and Ant sneaks in and grabs his keys.

This kids is smart as fuck, okay? He does EVERYTHING he possibly can to help this dumbfuck man and his family. He gets the key and plays horrible catch with Agnes, leading her into the basement of the shed where he finally shows her the horrible truth about his "parents", including a picture of him sticking out his tongue with his REAL parents behind him. Agnes, smart child that she is, understands immediately and then makes a plan with Ant to escape.

As she's coming back up the hill, she asks her Asshole of a Father to play catch and he's just like no I'm talking, so she goes and stabs herself in the thigh and pretends to get her first period, which obviously warrants her mother taking her into the bathroom to talk her through it. Then Agnes shows her the photos she took of the photo album and the shit really starts.

They try to escape, I'll give them that. If it hadn't been for fucking HOPPY the damn bunny, they would have been safe and sound (not Ant but tbh RIP). But nope. They make an excuse to leave bc this is a big moment for their daughter so they should be home now.

Nope. Flat tire.

They change the tire.

Hoppy is missing. It's up in the gutter ofc.

Ben climbs the ladder with Paddy at the base. Grabs bunny and throws it down before climbing down.

Oh no. Hoppy is destroyed pretty much. Mom says they'll get it fixed at home haha let's go!

Ben does a very nice thing and tells Ant to get the gate for them, presumably so they can take them with them when they leave. Unfortunately, Paddy has a remote for the gate. So they leave. Finally.

Agnes watches out the rearview window as Paddy just shoves Ant (who cannot swim) into their little pond. Ben, being decent I guess, jumps out of the car, telling them to drive away without them, and into the pond to save this poor, traumatized child.

I'll begrudgingly give him this one. It's the penultimate useful thing he does.

The last one is holding the ladder for them to climb from the house after his wife kills Ciara. He barely holds onto his daughter when she's about to fall off the room.

He. Is. Useless.

This is when the family drops all pretense and shit starts to go down. Louise is a Boss Ass Bitch for the majority of the time. She is the Brains, Brawns, and Badass in this relationship. Agnes is also very smart grabbing the needle and stabbing Paddy with it when he holds her hostage.

This is Ben's fault, by the way. When she climbs down the ladder, he tells ONLY HER to run to the car. Not stay with us so we can protect you. Run to the car when we have no idea where the homicidal maniac who has been nonstop trying to kill us is.

DUMB. FUCKING. BITCH. ASS. BEN.

Agnes paralyzes him, though, and they start to walk to the car. Ben stops to stare down at Paddy. He has a gun. The logical conclusion is to shoot him. Everybody in my theater is chanting "shoot him! shoot him! shoot him!"

Ben does not shoot him. I can practically hear his internal monologue going "it would make me the same as him" bc that's what so many dumbfucks SAY instead of doing what they should.

Ant does not have that internal monologue. His is more like "fuck this fucking motherfucker who fucking killed my motherfucking parents" but he cannot say all that so he just screams as he brains Paddy with a brick (probably the same one that Louise used to kill Ciara).

They watch in horror but, to their credit, they don't stop him.

Good. Green Flag.

That child is gonna need some serious therapy.

Anyway, they finally leave in their Tesla, which has bullet marks in the windshield so I cannot imagine how that's gonna look when they get back to civilization. Oh, btw, the bullet marks were put there by the guy who owned the restaurant they'd eaten at. He was also part of this whole thing. I do not remember what happened to him tbqh.

But as they drive away, shocked by the violence they just witnessed at the hands of their new adopted son, Ant stares straight ahead, numb. Agnes, ever the Empath, gives him Hoppy, as torn up as that poor bunny is, and he finally sheds some tears.

He is gonna need therapy. And Louise needs a divorce. Stat.

This movie was so fucked up, but I know it could have a worse ending.

Worse as in more bleak, not as if actually cinematically bad. The original ended the way it probably would have in real life, unfortunately. But they still have that line:

"Why are you doing this to us?"

"Because you let us."

Which is honestly fantastic. It feels like it's their justification for why they keep targeting these people. They're always wealthy. They force them, at gunpoint, to transfer all their money to them and then they kill the parents and the old child, and then they cut the tongue out of the new one so they can't say anything. Rinse and repeat.

But they do allow them to get away. They do allow them certain freedoms. They continuously push the boundaries of what each couple will take until they can't anymore. Then they strike.

"Because you let us" is such a great line because it is victim blaming at it's finest, but the audience who is watching this movie, seeing the dramatic irony of every boundary push forward, is almost inclined to agree with the antagonists.

Like yeah. You didn't have to go to this farmhouse.

But you did.

You didn't have to eat the meat because you're a vegetarian.

But you did.

You didn't have to pay for their dinner.

But you did.

So many times you could have said no, but you didn't. Because you didn't want to break societal norms and be rude, even though you were so uncomfortable. Because it's not that serious. But it was. You had so many chances to just walk away. You did, but then you came back and allowed yourselves AGAIN to be drawn in and have your boundaries crossed. And then it was too late.

Obviously, we, as the audience, know what is coming so it's so much more frustrating for us to watch them make these mistakes over and over again, but they don't. Still, the decisions they make are so questionable and it's a wonder if we, ourselves, wouldn't have made the same decisions.

There's another line in the film: "You give in when it's Paddy, but I see you have no trouble standing up when it's me."

Another reason why I despise Ben. He placates Paddy in all the ways he wouldn't do for Louise. She is visibly uncomfortable with so much, but he needles her into just accepting it. He pressures her into it. And, as previously stated, part of that acquiescence is her guilt over cheating on him, but it's also just him being a fucking asshole.

These characters are done so well.

James McAvoy, as always, embodies his character so well. He's in his thriller era and he's doing so well.

Mackenzie Davis is also amazing in her role. I feel like Louise's character was used to kind of being in charge of certain things, but her cheating thing is just making her more lenient to her husband, but she obviously like things done a certain way. And she has a lot of empathy and understanding toward her child.

Scoot McNairy plays Ben as this kind of not-tough guy. Like he obviously wants to be the leader of his family and has a complex. He idolizes Paddy for being very rugged and manly and wants to be like that (and also wants to be with dat ass). He is easily talked into doing shit because he thinks that's what he's supposed to do and doesn't want to upset his new (boy)friend.

Aisling Franciosi is really good at Ciara because it's so clear throughout the entire film that she is pretty much just an extension of Paddy. She probably wouldn't be there if Paddy didn't need her to play as his doting wife. She clearly has her own issues, which are probably borne from the fact that she is Paddy's first victim. She didn't deserve her life, but she certainly deserved her death.

The kids, Alix West Lefler (Agnes) and Dan Hough (Ant) were so good. Dan Hough had the hardest role in the movies because he couldn't speak and he had to act like he couldn't speak, but he also had to act like he was acting. He had to pretend to be their son while also trying to alert this family. And Alix was so good at Agnes, as a anxious little girl who is on the cusp of growing up, but still kind of socially anxious. She did it so well.

All the actors really acted their asses off for this film and I was very impressed. 10/10 honestly. This was a great film.

#speak no evil (2024)#james mcavoy #mackenzie davis #dan hough #Aisling Francoisi #Alix West Lefler #Great movie tbh

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