Here’s the story: An American family on vacation in Italy meets a friendly English woman. They really hit it off, and she invites them to spend a relaxing weekend at her countryside home. It all sounds perfect, right? Well, not for long. What starts as dream-like quickly becomes a total nightmare.

This flick is called “Speak No Evil,” produced by Blumhouse—you know they love their thriller vibes mixed with a splash of dark comedy that sneaks into full-blown horror with no escape in sight.

This movie’s an instant redo of a Danish film from two years back by Christian Tafdrup. Here’s what’s interesting: if you’re curious about how this one stacks up against the original—like where they switch things up—checking out both versions is worth it because both bring something pretty fascinating to the table. Both keep you on your toes!

The story kicks off in Italy and jumps right into action. You’ve got Paddy, an outgoing guy from an English family with his wife and little boy, who connects in kind of an unusual way with Ben from the Dalton family—a more laid-back U.S.-born crew now living in the UK, also with a wife and daughter. And just like that, their shared vacation turns… let’s just say intense!
Alright, so you’ve got this movie set in the cool, laid-back Tuscany landscape. The film kicks off by showing us two families and how different they are, with plenty of laughs along the way. The English family looks super healthy and sturdy—though, knowing how James Watkins directs (he’s done some suspenseful stuff like “Eden Lake”), you can sense something might be off. Meanwhile, it’s no secret that the American family is having a rough time.

The whole story hinges on how one family’s falling apart while the other seems to be sticking together more. You’ve probably seen stuff like this before. You quickly pick up that things aren’t exactly what they seem with anyone in this movie, but that’s where it gets interesting. The script slowly digs into each character, building their personalities in a way that’s both steady and inevitable.

Both sets of families are brought to life by some seriously great casting. On the US side, you’ve got Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy as the Dalton parents and their daughter Agnes (played by Alix West Lefler), who’s 11 years old. Then there’s the English crew—James McAvoy plays Paddy with Aisling Franciosi as his wife Ciara and Dan Hough as their mysterious mute son Ant. These younger characters really stand out with roles way bigger than they’d have in any older version of the story.

As for Ben Dalton’s character…
So, there’s this movie with these two main characters: one’s super shy and timid, the other’s all bold and a real leader. Their dynamic is kinda straightforward, but it totally works, especially when the shy guy’s low-key fascinated by the confident one. James McAvoy is in it, and he’s doing his intense thing where he feels like he’s playing a whole bunch of different people at once—it’s wild to watch!

The movie throws in some social commentary too. You know that whole cultural clash between prim-and-proper American families and laid-back English ones? Yeah, it’s in there, shaking things up.

Now here’s where it gets interesting: the film starts out all sunny and Italian with cool Vespa rides and delicious pasta vibes. But then it takes a turn for the dark side when they move over to this gloomy place in Devon, Cornwall. The American family ends up staying with this super chill yet kinda run-down English family. The Americans show up from London all fancy in their eco-friendly Tesla while everything around them screams rough country life.

The farm where they’re staying has this eerie feel to it—super familiar yet unsettling at the same time. It brings to mind spooky vibes from movies like that old classic “Straw Dogs,” except here all the weirdness comes from within rather than outside threats.