Speak No Evil

The original is Christian Tafdrup’s Gæsterne, meaning The Guests, written with his brother Mads. There the guests are Danish and the hosts Dutch. James Watkins changes the pairing: the family are Americans living in London, the hosts are British, and the farmhouse is in Devon. Shooting began in the Istrian villages of Grožnjan, Motovun and Kaldir in Croatia, and in Gloucester in England. Production stopped five days short of its planned wrap in the 2023 actors’ strike, resuming in mid-November at Saxon’s Lode Manor House in Worcestershire, near the Malvern Hills. The house you read as Devon stands in another county. The real difference is the ending. In Tafdrup’s film the family never fights back; the parents are killed in a quarry and the daughter is kept by the killers. Watkins lets them fight, moves the struggle onto the roof, and sends them out with the boy. It was made for $15 million and took $77.2 million worldwide. Dan Hough, who plays Ant, was nominated as young British or Irish performer of the year at the 45th London Film Critics’ Circle Awards; Nykiya Adams won for Bird. A good fit if you want to watch politeness postpone the moment of leaving. Not for anyone after the helplessness of Tafdrup’s close; this version gives the family a way to answer back.