Speak No Evil

Welcome to the unspeakable.

Only two other horror movies so imprinted themselves into my psyche that I refuse to watch them again: the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (small, low budget, no special effects, utterly terrifying). They are not about things that go bump in the night, providing fleeting frights as many supernatural horror movies do. I am perfectly thrilled to be scared by restless spirits and creaking doors, but they are child’s play. Psychological horror disturbs and terrifies profoundly and at length because it shows the evil humans are capable of.

Speak No Evil, written and directed by Christian Tafdrupt, belongs to this genre. It harbors a humor so dark that it chokes in your throat. This movie haunted me for days after I saw it. But in contrast to the above films, it is so clever that I could watch it again to see if I didn’t miss anything. Horror movies that are well acted and psychologically coherent are rare. Speak No Evil is both.

The movie starts with a shot of a car driving through a dirt road at night with ominous music announcing its arrival. In the morning, we are at a rustic resort in Tuscany where children play and the sun shines on everyone. A nice little Danish family is on Summer holiday: Bjørn (Morten Burian), Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch), their young daughter Agnes, and her toy bunny. Bjørn and…