It takes a truly brilliant horror movie to shock you to your core. Those select few that keep your pulse pounding long after the screen has gone black, make you constantly question what they mean and have you replaying the scariest scenes as you're lying in bed. Many films are lucky enough to instill such an intense level of fear within their viewers, but few in recent memory have done this as effectively as 2022's Speak No Evil. Directed by Christian Tafdrup, the film was quick to get an English-language remake, which hits theaters this weekend. The Blumhouse production moves the main setting from the Netherlands to the UK, with a whole new cast led by James McAvoy.

While audiences shouldn't base their entire perception of it on how it stacks up against its predecessor, any viewer would be doing themselves a disservice by not watching the original first. Not only to learn what might be different between iterations but to experience the haunting original story that started it all. Even aside from it getting a remake, if you want to be left truly shaken by a horror movie that ventures out to the darkest corners of human nature, you need look no further than 2022's Speak No Evil.

'Speak No Evil' Introduced a New Kind of Fear

The first Speak No Evil follows Bjørn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch), a kindly Danish couple who begin the movie on a happy vacation through Tuscany with their daughter, Agnes (Liva Forsberg). Their trip only seems to get better once they meet another family, Patrick (Fedja van Huêt), Karin (Karina Smulders), and their mute son, Abel (Marius Damslev), whom they develop an instant connection with as they all begin to galavant across the Italian countryside together. Sometime later, Patrick and Karin eventually invite the trio on another vacation to their forest home in the Netherlands, an invite they gladly accept only for them to arrive and things start to feel... off.

The film's insidious nature begins subtle, picking at the characters' (and in turn, the audience's) sensibilities as they watch the initially charming couple devolve into rude, crass hosts. They seem to relish challenging these newcomers, targeting their insecurities and boundaries in small yet scathing ways to see just how much they can disrespect them and get away with it. These small discrepancies gradually grow into more and more jaw-dropping moments of cruelty, culminating in one of the most horrific finales that modern horror has ever seen.

It's unclear just where the American remake will take this story, though the trailers imply that it will do away with most of the unsettling mystery that blankets this first film. Whereas Tafdrup's original plot focuses on the small ways this family is abused before reaching a sudden climax, James Watkins' 2024 version will feature scenes of intense fighting and shady investigations that were missing from the original. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing; more outright conflict could push the startling physical moments that made Speak No Evil so chilling even further. Showing this new couple, Ben (Scoot McNairy) and Louise (Mackenzie Davis), face off against James McAvoy's devilish Paddy in a much more action-packed affair could provide some great punctuation to the original's psychological torment. There's no telling how far these deviations like this will go and whether they'll change the film completely, but if this new Speak No Evil wants to be as shocking as its inspiration, there is one element it has to include: the horrors of being polite.

The Real Horror of 'Speak No Evil' Isn't What You Think

While there were many terrifying aspects of Speak No Evil, the film's most insidious is how its main villains utilize social courtesy to completely ruin our main family's lives. This style of attack wouldn't work on anyone; many people don't allow others' perceptions to influence their decision-making. But it's undeniable how many folks have been conditioned by their communities to preserve "social peace" at all costs. To always search for reasonable answers in a situation so as not to cause strife or, even worse, to offend someone! It's a toxic form of overlooking valid issues that creates people who (whether they know it or not) are push-overs in certain situations, and allows horrible people to get away with their behavior. The film's antagonists recognize that our protagonists will always make up a reason to stay even when every sign is telling them to run away as fast as they can.

14:24 Related James McAvoy Explains Why We Need Another 'Speak No Evil' Movie

McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis and writer-director James Watkins also weigh in on the horrific social awkwardness the movie explores.

Without spoiling too much, any viewers who have seen the film know what a deeply disturbing finale our main characters find themselves stuck in. Yet the film's terrors aren't defined by that final outburst of fear, but rather, in the small ways we watch Bjørn and Louise be psychologically broken down throughout the movie's runtime. These moments of the couple steadily giving up their own respect and rights don't appear immediately as threatening. In fact, many watchers may agree with the antagonists that these early scenes are no big deal. But this manipulative mentality that turns these once-confident parents into a scrambling duo of useless adults is the most unnerving part of this film. It's this inability to stand up for not only themselves but their daughter that these villains prey on, taking the title of Speak No Evil to horrifying lengths as audiences learn just what the repercussions are for not speaking your mind.

This Petrifying Original Only Makes the Remake Better Close

While the original Speak No Evil excels in its petrifying story, that doesn't mean it's mandated viewing for anyone who wants to watch the remake. In fact, it may be the opposite, as extensive knowledge of this first version could impact someone's ability to watch the new one and take it as its own film. But while it isn't an absolute necessity, missing out on the original robs fans of the petrifying story and themes that first showed viewers how frightening such a simple concept can be. It's due to this one's non-stop discomfort and explosive horror that watchers first learned the disastrous consequences of not speaking your truth -- and the twisted ways others will manipulate you for it. And while the remake may carry those themes over, watching both grants a terrifyingly in-depth understanding of the many ways malicious people will use a person's own meekness against them.

Speak No Evil NR Director Christian Tafdrup Cast Morten Burian , Sidsel Siem Koch , Fedja van Huet , Karina Smulders , Liva Forsberg , Marius Damslev Runtime 97 Main Genre Horror

Speak No Evil is Available to Stream on AMC+ in the U.S.

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