Speak No Evil

Ein umgekehrter und konventionellerer Funny Games ohne formale Filmemacher-Spiele. Nocturnal Animals ohne einen künstlerischen Mehrwert. Aber trotzdem eine ausgezeichnete psychologische Steigerung der Unsicherheit und des Gefühls, dass hier etwas nicht stimmt, mit gut versteckten Karten unter dem Tisch und einem Finale, das die Zuschauer*innen überrascht. Ein starker, aber grausamer und böser Film, den ich kaum jemandem empfehlen kann. (23.10.2022)

2/3 des Films sind von einer meisterhaften Spannung geprägt, die auf kulturellen und charakterlichen Unterschieden beruht. Wie schon in A Horrible Woman zeichnet sich Tafdrup durch einen gut beobachteten, situativen Sarkasmus aus. Dann ist es Zeit für die Erklärung, und das halte ich für eine Schwäche, denn sie ist logisch lahm, generisch und in "High Concept"-Horror-Pathos verpackt. Das ist ein absoluter Schocker, aber nach der Methodik der vorangegangenen Akte eigentlich sehr unbefriedigend für mich. Aber so etwas Unangenehmes hat es schon lange nicht mehr gegeben. (28.01.2022)

Psychological slow burn horror drama is not one of my favourite subgenres, and I hesitated to rate it here too, but I came to the conclusion that this is a noteworthy affair that, despite its slower pace, manages to cause discomfort and chills. The story focuses on a Danish family who receive an invitation to visit from their Dutch friends, whom they met while on vacation. As usual, things don't go as planned. It's interestingly contrived, the Dutch are definitely weird, but at the same time they don't evoke the typical traits of psychopaths that the viewer would expect in a film of this ilk, which I found quite unusual. The Danish protagonist, was unlikeable in his behaviour (the acting is also not great), but the film managed to hold my attention even though nothing much special happens throughout it. It flows at a slow pace, but the atmosphere thickens and the psychological pressure builds up. The final act is decently heart-pounding and unpleasant (weaker characters may find the film hard to take), and the film's attempt to shock definitely succeeds, though again not to an excessive degree, as it sticks to realistic boundaries, managing to be all the more chilling. It won't be for everyone, some will be bored, others will be depressed. I have given a warning. Story 3/5. Action 2/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 3/5. 7/10. (21.06.2022)

A Danish family befriends a Dutch family on holiday in Tuscany and when they receive an invitation for a weekend visit to the Dutch countryside where these new friends live, they decide to accept – because what could possibly go wrong, at most it won't be as nice as that summer in Italy. Well, we see the genre that this film falls into, so we suspect that the visit won't go completely smoothly. While there are some classic genre tropes at the end, the strongest card of this film is definitely the excellent presentation of an utterly unpleasant social situation that I would never really want to find myself in. The hosts act strangely, but not so strangely that it screams "watch out, psychopaths, run away!" Rather, they are teetering on the edge, which can be explained by differences in mood, culture and habits. And the guests don't want to offend the hosts, so they turn a blind eye to one weird thing after another, until the viewer gets social anxiety because it's awfully uncomfortable. The ending is also unpleasant, it can be a bit jarring for more sensitive viewers, although I won't lie, after the Sundance feedback I was expecting something bigger. At the same time, I wasn't completely surprised by the conclusion, the film culminates in something that was predictable from a certain moment (which came quite early); rather, I was surprised that it was actually so banal and without any deeper meaning. And I also agree with the more reserved opinions, according to which the unraveling of the twist and the overall ending don't feel completely focused. I don't understand why what happened happened the way it did. The bad guys make trouble for themselves for nothing, while the good guys could have easily done a few things a little differently to try and avoid the biggest trouble. (02.05.2022)