I don’t think I’ve seen the original Speak No Evil, but I was intrigued by this one…especially as I really like James McAvoy as an actor. And he definitely did not disappoint in this movie.
I will say that this movie was basically what you see on the tin…or, rather, what you see in the trailer. A couple with their daughter meet another couple with their son while on holiday, and the couple with their son invite the other couple and their daughter to come on holiday with them. Everything seems fairly normal and straightforward, right?
Well…no. Because once Ben and Louise with their daughter Agnes go to visit Paddy and Ciara and their son Ant, things begin to take a more sinister turn. It starts off as fairly innocent enough, with Paddy giving Louise (who’s already stated she’s a vegetarian) some meat to try, and the sheets on the bed Ben and Louise are given having obvious stains on them. These are both fairly mild things when taken alone, but it doesn’t take long before the situation begins to escalate.
I did feel that the tension built really well in this movie. I liked Louise, and even if I thought Ben was kind of weak at times, the two of them had a depth to their relationship that came across really well. I’m not sure if this was deliberate, but it definitely felt like there was some sexual tension between Paddy and Ben. It would have been good if that had been explored a little bit more, as if Ben had been struggling with his sexuality, that would have added more depth to his character, in my opinion.
I didn’t mind the children characters so much, but I did find Agnes to be slightly irritating at times. For instance, I can understand her anxiety, but her reaction of kicking the back of the seat in the car that nearly resulted in a crash absolutely should have been addressed. I also felt that, for her age, she didn’t seem to pick up on any of the clues Ant was giving her that something was seriously wrong between him and his parents. Given that she had enough presence of mind to fake her period when she finally realised something was wrong, the only reason I can think that she didn’t realise something was wrong was because her character was dumbed down. Really, all of them were dumbed down.
I felt that this movie worked pretty well as an action movie, and there were some great cat and mouse scenes towards the end of the movie. But as I said at the beginning of this review, there were no real surprises in this movie. There are no twists and turns, but the actors and the characters they portray definitely make this movie worth watching, in my opinion.
Ink of Blood 