‘Speak No Evil’: Movie Review, Don’t Ignore This

“Speak No Evil” is a film about two families. The Dane family, who mostly speak Danish with their children, and the Dutch family, who speak Dutch. At first it seems like a perfect match: both parents are teachers; the kids are all around the same age; they both have to be at home while they work. But not everything is as idyllic as it appears on paper. The Danish couple soon starts noticing that there are things in their old life in Denmark that they will never have here in Holland: “it’s not just about being able to get your coffee anytime you want”.

Release Date: March 17, 2022

Country: United States

Language: English

Running Time: 98 minutes 

IMDb Rating: 6.6/10

Cast And Crew :

Directed by: Christian Tafdrup

Written by: Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup [de]

Produced by: Jacob Jarek

Actors:

• Morten Burian as Bjørn
• Sidsel Siem Koch as Louise
• Fedja van Huêt as Patrick
• Karina Smulders as Karin
• Liva Forsberg as Agnes
• Marius Damslev as Abel
• Hichem Yacoubi as Muhajid

What is the movie about?

“Speak No Evil” is about a Danish couple living in Italy and about their interactions with the family they met on one holiday. It starts a little bit weird, but after a while, we understand what is going on between these people. Many things start to make sense and it makes us think back to our own families as well. I expected it to be a little bit more dramatic or too philosophical, but I ended up quite enjoying it. It is a good movie without being too intellectual at times or complex.

What makes this movie so good?

Well, I don’t know if I should call this a good movie, since I’m not sure if that is what they had in mind. But what makes this movie so interesting to me, is that it seems to be an almost documentary film about family. But at the same time, it is also a thriller and an intriguing mystery about how people can live together on purpose or by accident for decades without knowing how their families became so different.

What makes this movie interesting to watch?

It’s a pretty good documentary about what we often see behind the living room curtains of our neighbours: the life of a family. It’s sometimes scary to think that how you sometimes behave might be completely misunderstood by your closest friends and relatives. But that doesn’t have to be as bad as it often is in this movie. I also think it is a good movie, simply because it makes us wonder.

What would I say to someone who didn’t like this movie?

You should watch it again before you decide that you don’t like it. Or at least watch it again, if you didn’t understand it the first time around. I liked the movie and thought it was a little gem. But then again, I’m also a huge fan of “The Wire” and weird/serious movies about families/people.

Would I recommend this film to other people?

Of course! It’s not your usual movie about a family, but rather an almost documentary about how we sometimes don’t notice how different we are from each other and how scary that is sometimes. But what makes it so good is that you want them to get along, even though you know that they can never get along (it is all in the title).