Blumhouse’s Speak No Evil, a remake of the 2022 Dutch-Danish horror film, may have received mixed reviews, with some feeling it lacks the complexity of the original’s discovery. For me, it’s an intriguing film that features great performances and some genuinely engaging commentary on toxic masculinity and environmental virtue signaling. Both Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis really sell the fear of parents in danger of losing their child, and the way that care also extends to Ant (Dan Hough) portrays the inherent goodness we hope for in humanity, that the protection of the young and innocent comes above all. The treatment of Ant by Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) is simply barbaric and disturbing, but despite all of this pain, the greatest tragedy isn’t Ant’s suffering, but his revenge. Not only does his revenge prove Paddy’s theories about his parents, but his tragedy is made even greater by his innocence, compared to someone like Ciara.
‘Speak No Evil’s Bloody Ending Will Have Permanent Consequences For Ant
At the end of Speak No Evil, whilst McNairy’s Ben leaves Paddy without executing him, seeing him as a beaten animal, Ant cannot help himself and bludgeons Paddy to death with a brick, screaming into the night sky in a similar vein to how Paddy and Ben did earlier, invoking the idea of the destructive masculine tendencies being embraced by Ben. What’s so heartbreaking at this moment is how it proves Paddy’s theories about the cycle of violence and suffering parents perpetrate.
Related
‘Speak No Evil’ Still Has Some Scares Left at Domestic Box Office
The horror film stars James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis.
Earlier in the film, McAvoy’s Paddy argues parents only mess up their children, continuing the mistakes made in previous generations. While Ant is bludgeoning Paddy, Paddy mutters “That’s my boy.” It speaks to the greater exploration of toxic masculinity throughout the film, as Ant has fallen into the violent nature that Paddy encourages. Whether it is justified or not, killing Paddy has meant Ant has fundamentally changed in his core, as demonstrated by the tears falling down his face as they drive away. Despite the physical scars he now carries, the psychological ones could well be far deeper and haunting for this young child.
Ciara is a Victim But She Isn’t Innocent Like Ant
It’s also worth mentioning Ciara here as another great tragedy, yet also distinguish why she isn’t anywhere near as great a victim as Ant. During the family’s initial escape, Ciara reveals Paddy kidnapped her too at Ant’s age, around 17 years ago, as Paddy mentions earlier. One could argue this makes her the greatest victim in all of this, as she is one of, if not the earliest victim of Paddy, and certainly spent the most amount of time under his thumb, with her Stockholm Syndrome undoubtedly causing her insane self-hatred and conflict. However, whilst she is obviously a tragic figure, what stops Ciara from being as great a victim as Ant is the time she has spent committing evil acts and failing to reflect on them. She may have had self-doubt, but it is highly unlikely that in the 17 years she has been with Paddy she has never had an opportunity to at least attempt to help, or save, one of the many children Paddy took.
In contrast to this, Ant is a completely innocent party, yet has lost his innocence to the evil Paddy and Ciara drew out of him. It’s a fascinating example of how perspective can change our outlook on characters, as there have certainly been characters who commit evil acts yet have the audience’s sympathies, such as Game of Thrones‘ Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Yet, the perspective coming from Ben and Davis’ Louise puts our attention on the innocent children, making Ash’s loss of innocence the greatest tragedy in Speak No Evil.
- Release Date
- September 13, 2024
- Director
- James Watkins
- Runtime
- 110 Minutes
- Writers
- James Watkins
Speak No Evil is available to rent or buy on Amazon in the U.S.
Source link
