SPEAK NO EVIL – Good manners might cost everything in ‘Speak No Evil’, a film that uses the comedy of the cringe as a springboard into darkly biblical waters. A Danish couple abroad meet some new Dutch friends and, thinking they’re in for a weekend of cultured chat and civilised outdoorseyness, accept an invitation over to the wilds of Holland. It doesn’t go to plan. The poor Danes find that the Dutch couple’s household is a battleground of painfully feigned politeness, boundary-pushing and mind games, all of which will either make you leer with delight or wince in recognition. But hold on… the silent (because tongueless) child lurking on the side-lines should alert the canny viewer to the cloud of full-on horror that’s starting to brew. Let’s just say that if you winced during the build-up then you’re bound to when you reach the film’s ultimate reel, which, despite almost fairy-tale shades, is bleak to the point of devastating. A fine movie about nasty people, and strangely enough for this day and age it has a moral… “And if you tolerate this, your children will be next” as The Manics once sang etc.
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