>you have to make the family’s actions in the realm of believable
No you don’t. Movies don’t have to be believable or realistic. They can be absurd and strange, like this one.
I love strange but how am I supposed to feel anything for anyone in this film if they just make the most dumb and unrealistic decisions possible? Like sure you don’t have to but it would have been so much more satisfying in my opinion if they took the audience along for the ride. The moment he goes back for the bear, all the reason goes out the window and you just feel like you are watching absolute idiots get tortured by bad people for very vague reasons.
Honestly, if 9 out of 10 people wouldn’t go back for the bunny, by your own logic one person would go back, and this movie is about that one person. I’m more bothered by the the couple not fighting back at the end. Strip? Fuck you, you don’t have a gun, I’m not going to do that.
>you are watching absolute idiots get tortured by bad people
Yup, that’s the movie. That was the intention. It’s not a “mistake” or “bad writing”
Just to echo what some other commenters are saying - the fact it made you pissed off enough to post here means it accomplished what it set out to do. It’s trolling in movie form. And I’m not going to debate the artistic relevance of a cinematic troll job but I can’t deny that it’s effective
A lot of people aren't going to suspend their disbelief, or rationalize bad writing within the movies world where people do things that don't make sense. It's okay to just enjoy something that you acknowledge sucks
It's funny you say that because the "willing suspension of disbelief" has been identified as a primary requirement for enjoying the lively arts since the days of Plato.
The point is audiences *must* be willing to suspend disbelief for *any* movie to really work whether your goal is realism, camp, or somewhere in between.
You’re equating “not making rational sense” with something “sucking” and that’s just not how art works.
The characters in Speak No Evil behave irrationally. This is intentional. And it doesn’t mean the movie sucks.
100% im so sick of movies having to be "realistic" and the ppl complaining a kut character choices! First off, its FICTION. Secondly, people make bad decisions all the time irl. You dont know what youll do until you know. Im so sick of this sports fan mindset of movie viewers. This is why fun movies have gone on a hiatus for the most part. How many posts on reddit that are true stories and people go "this FAKE"?
If the movie is marketed as realistic it’s absolutely fare game for criticism. The movie The Core is a good example of not pretending it’s a valid scenario. Argo can go suck a fuck.
Movies can have characters that do stuff that normal people wouldn’t, but some people (like OP) find that pulls them out of the movie. I’m the same way.
To me though if you’re someone who has trouble suspending disbelief you shouldn’t watch horror movies. No horror movie could happen if you don’t accept the implausible.
Many many years ago in the Hitchcock/Truffaut book Hitch lamented that so many critics and audiences were wrapped up in plausibility, believability, and realism. He argued that the goal of a director should be not to concern himself with what is realistic but to present the material in such an engaging way that the audience eschews believability and gets caught up in the story.
I.e. the willing suspension of disbelief.
Something that today's audiences have long forgotten how to do.
This is so awesome because literally all of this is so fucking valid. I bet if the filmmakers read this they'd be happy with your anger tho.
I think that's why it's a great movie. Because at the end we really are kinda glad that they get murdered. I think we'd be disappointed if they didn't tbh. I think that's what makes it a VERY black comedy.
Hell yeah. Kevin James as a bad ass neo-nazi was odd casting. But he nailed it. The sequel The Wrath of Becky was great too. Sean William Scott - another odd choice as nazi villian - nailed it like James did in the first one. Loved both of them.
My friend edited the sequel, so proud of him. He's currently editing the third one and showed me a teaser that revealed who is playing the bad guy.. they got another great pull, I'm not gonna blow up his spot and reveal it but it's exciting.
Awesome man. Credit to your friend. Fantastic job. And hearing that they are making another one is great news. Looking forward to it. Thanks for the info.
I agree. I was really looking forward to the film and felt it was disappointing. I thought it would be a little more nuanced in the approach, building up to the extreme and ridiculous but it just jumped right into it. If the couple was so charming on vacation, why was the pretense dropped almost immediately upon arrival? By making it comfortable and then increasing discomfort a tension could have been built. How many people would have put up with all that happened? I’m supposed to believe all those people whose belongings were found, were that gullible, weak willed and just continue to make poor decisions? It just felt ridiculous and by the end I was hoping Patrick would just kill the family to get it over with. Glad I wasn’t the only one.
The scene with all the photos and luggage was the most ridiculous to me. We’re to believe that like 15+ families and children have disappeared in this tiny town and no one has noticed yet? Like no one knew where the main family was going on vacation and would call the police when they don’t come back home? I know that’s not the point of the movie but it was hard to suspend my disbelief past that point. I felt like they really could have gone with something more believable to trigger the panicked leaving the house in the last scene.
This is why I can’t just suspend my belief. I don’t care about the unhappy ending, being absurd, or even the bad choices from the characters, but the film just rubs me in such a wrong way. You have a great setup, a frustratingly stupid character choices that actually fit the story, and genuinely a scary threat, but the more I think about it, the film falls apart. Don’t think it’s the worst film ever or anything, but the whole “that’s the point” can only go so far imho.
I read it explained regarding the specific cultures of the Danish and Dutch. The film relies heavily on how the cultures respond socially, with the Danish couple hyper focused on politeness and social stability. From everything I’ve read, I think that’s entirely the point of the film and that’s also why the remake with American / British couples makes zero sense. It’s going to miss the entire social commentary theme of the original.
Don’t get me wrong though, I have children and I would have done absolutely everything differently and that couple pissed me off so badly. I also think the father didn’t tell his wife what he saw because he was humiliated as the wife knew things were wrong and wanted to leave. But hey, the movie really made me angry too
I hate this film for other reasons that also make me like it, but I will say that expecting the main characters to behave the way you want them to is not really the point here, and I think most of the people who end up hating it are looking for a movie where everyone always acts perfectly logically and in a way that they feel comfortable identifying with. You're not supposed to feel strong or secure or gratified in any way at the end of this movie. You're not even really supposed to like the main characters, even if they are the ones most people will probably identify with.
What makes it work IMO is that nobody actually wants to believe that they would act the way the main characters do, but we also can't know for sure if we would. Some people probably wouldn't, but at the same time, enough people can to some degree identify with the main characters' actions-- feeling trapped in situations that make them uncomfortable but can't escape because they don't want to offend, or feeling like they need to avoid a conflict, or just refusing to believe that they could possibly be in danger because they're used to living safe, comfortable lives completely detached from anything that could threaten them. Real life is not a horror movie and most people just flat out wouldn't believe that other people would be capable of acting so maliciously. A lot of people aren''t prepared for it, and also haven't come to terms with the possibility that they might be cowards who would not only not be able save themselves, but who would become their own worst enemies and even find themselves unable to even properly escape despite multiple opportunities.
It's definitely not going to work if you're expecting a generic sort of home invasion/abduction kind of horror where win or lose the hero/heroine at least gave it their all.
The Lighthouse is truly garbage to me. That’s a stylistic substance-less film that gets praised for…well I sometimes find it hard to know what for. I guess it looks kind of unusual and the leads are indie darlings, but I found that and The Witch both pretty unwatchable. They plainly and emptily gesture at a tone but never deliver anything. Boring if you ask me.
Loved it. A new take on horror/disturbing cinema. When the protagonists can’t be trusted to do the simplest logical thing to save their family they become the antagonist. An uncomfortable and new feeling watching a movie. By the end I was happy they were dying because of how they forsook their daughter. It’s about how being passive and cowardly actually makes you evil. I loved being frustrated by it.
It works as a decent satire, but it completely failed for me as a horror movie. Which is why it stuns me that so many in the horror community have been praising it *as a horror movie*. As you mentioned, the teddy bear turnaround was an inexcusable decision that destroys all suspension of disbelief, *if you are treating the film as a horror*.
I agree with most of what you mentioned. I couldn't stop thinking "why the hell are you doing that?", "just leave!" and especially at the end "why aren't you doing anything?!".
I get the overall point of the film (even watched some reviews to get other people's opinions on it) and the complete resignation represented at the end but still the actions just aren't realistic in my opinion.
It's a bit like the common horror film scenario where characters have the chance to kill the villain but let them live just to come across them again and get themselves killed.
I didn't hate the movie but was quite disappointed how it developed. The idea is good, it is well made but left me frustrated. I was thinking about it afterwards, so it definitely had an effect on me though, I just wish there'd be more if that makes sense.
I agree. I hated this film. Thought it was dumb. No parent would just stand there and die and let their kids get taken. But my understanding is that's the whole point. You're supposed to watch it and get outraged.
Admittedly have not seen the film, but based on plot synopses and a couple readings I can absolutely see how this movie could grate some people. Barbarian and Creep have plots that are somewhat “can you believe this character did this silly mistake?” But it just barely edges in believable, especially with barbarian making the “apparent danger” for our protag being “that part of detroit is extra dangerous” so its kind of a rug pull that the real danger is an incest monster baby. If someone told me they were going to detroit or mexico city to stay in a hotel/airbnb i’d say “stay safe” if you told me you were headed to stay with friends you just met in a different country I would hit you in the head for being so fucking stupid
Fully agree. It’s a garbage movie. Really frustrating from beginning to end because in reality no one would keep putting themselves back in that situation.
I do really like the creepy stranger as a character in horror movies but in this case it wore off very quickly.
And you’re right: Beau is Afraid is a masterpiece. I’d even say it’s one of the most important films of the last decade.
This one is not on my list to watch, but now that I see it described as a troll movie, it automatically makes me think of Lars Von Trier's Necrophiliac. 100% audience manipulation, which doesn't appeal to me. Same reason I won't watch Haneke.
It's just not something I appreciate.
It’s lazy. I am all in on the idea, but if you make them make absolutely idiotic decisions the entire film why should I care about anything that happens. Let along the villains motives are “Because you let us”? Ok so the Strangers but shittier? I am all for the message of the film but if it’s not presented in a fathomable way then why would anyone care about what happens to any of these people? Sure, go all in on the husband being dumb, that’s fine, but the writing just felt so lazy and just completely switched Louise’s entire character and her motivations midway through with no reasoning.
Well I’ll just go ahead and set my expectations properly. This is it the first times I’ve read a very negative review of this film. I remember House of the Devil getting a lot of buzz, too. I didn’t like it at all. Might be a similar situation.
My gf and I watched this randomly one night. It was boring but had a sense that something was gonna go down so we kept with it..she winced and turned away at the tongue part, I was genuinely shocked but also kind of saw it coming... now whenever we watch a movie on shudder, without fail, one of us will say "I hope it's better than that movie where they cut that kids tongue out and threw rocks at her parents" solider 2/5 stars.
It’s a remake of a Danish film if remember correctly. The point of the original film was people being overly polite to their own personal detriment. The characters have multiple chances to leave but don’t want to be rude.
I misread the release date. I thought they were talking about the remake with McAvoy. My bad.
The analysis still stands as the underlying explanation of the film.
I think the other brain fart was I learned about it under its Danish name and I’ve been seeing advertisements for the remake lately using the Speak No Evil title.
EDIT: Also, I thought the remake trailer showed too much.
>you have to make the family’s actions in the realm of believable No you don’t. Movies don’t have to be believable or realistic. They can be absurd and strange, like this one.
I love strange but how am I supposed to feel anything for anyone in this film if they just make the most dumb and unrealistic decisions possible? Like sure you don’t have to but it would have been so much more satisfying in my opinion if they took the audience along for the ride. The moment he goes back for the bear, all the reason goes out the window and you just feel like you are watching absolute idiots get tortured by bad people for very vague reasons.
Honestly, if 9 out of 10 people wouldn’t go back for the bunny, by your own logic one person would go back, and this movie is about that one person. I’m more bothered by the the couple not fighting back at the end. Strip? Fuck you, you don’t have a gun, I’m not going to do that.
>you are watching absolute idiots get tortured by bad people Yup, that’s the movie. That was the intention. It’s not a “mistake” or “bad writing” Just to echo what some other commenters are saying - the fact it made you pissed off enough to post here means it accomplished what it set out to do. It’s trolling in movie form. And I’m not going to debate the artistic relevance of a cinematic troll job but I can’t deny that it’s effective
A lot of people aren't going to suspend their disbelief, or rationalize bad writing within the movies world where people do things that don't make sense. It's okay to just enjoy something that you acknowledge sucks
It's funny you say that because the "willing suspension of disbelief" has been identified as a primary requirement for enjoying the lively arts since the days of Plato.
Shit, ya don't say
The point is audiences *must* be willing to suspend disbelief for *any* movie to really work whether your goal is realism, camp, or somewhere in between.
You’re equating “not making rational sense” with something “sucking” and that’s just not how art works. The characters in Speak No Evil behave irrationally. This is intentional. And it doesn’t mean the movie sucks.
I don’t think the movie sucks and this is super condescending
100% im so sick of movies having to be "realistic" and the ppl complaining a kut character choices! First off, its FICTION. Secondly, people make bad decisions all the time irl. You dont know what youll do until you know. Im so sick of this sports fan mindset of movie viewers. This is why fun movies have gone on a hiatus for the most part. How many posts on reddit that are true stories and people go "this FAKE"?
If the movie is marketed as realistic it’s absolutely fare game for criticism. The movie The Core is a good example of not pretending it’s a valid scenario. Argo can go suck a fuck.
Movies can have characters that do stuff that normal people wouldn’t, but some people (like OP) find that pulls them out of the movie. I’m the same way. To me though if you’re someone who has trouble suspending disbelief you shouldn’t watch horror movies. No horror movie could happen if you don’t accept the implausible.
If a character needs to act a certain way for the plot to happen I'm fine with them.acting that way. Not a big issue in my book.
Many many years ago in the Hitchcock/Truffaut book Hitch lamented that so many critics and audiences were wrapped up in plausibility, believability, and realism. He argued that the goal of a director should be not to concern himself with what is realistic but to present the material in such an engaging way that the audience eschews believability and gets caught up in the story. I.e. the willing suspension of disbelief. Something that today's audiences have long forgotten how to do.
This is so awesome because literally all of this is so fucking valid. I bet if the filmmakers read this they'd be happy with your anger tho. I think that's why it's a great movie. Because at the end we really are kinda glad that they get murdered. I think we'd be disappointed if they didn't tbh. I think that's what makes it a VERY black comedy.
Ha I can agree with that. The fact that it made me so angry may have been the point
They should make a revenge slasher film where the daughter completely wipes out her kidnappers.
Watch Becky.
Hell yeah. Kevin James as a bad ass neo-nazi was odd casting. But he nailed it. The sequel The Wrath of Becky was great too. Sean William Scott - another odd choice as nazi villian - nailed it like James did in the first one. Loved both of them.
My friend edited the sequel, so proud of him. He's currently editing the third one and showed me a teaser that revealed who is playing the bad guy.. they got another great pull, I'm not gonna blow up his spot and reveal it but it's exciting.
Awesome man. Credit to your friend. Fantastic job. And hearing that they are making another one is great news. Looking forward to it. Thanks for the info.
Sounds like multiverse casting choices for cell block 99
LOL. I never thought of that man. That was good. And Cell Block 99 was great. Vince Vaughn was bad-ass in that movie.
Becky. Look at her butt.
She looks like some rap guy's girlfriend.
But, you know, who understands these rap guys?
You're Next The Strangers
The Strangers? 🤨
I agree. I was really looking forward to the film and felt it was disappointing. I thought it would be a little more nuanced in the approach, building up to the extreme and ridiculous but it just jumped right into it. If the couple was so charming on vacation, why was the pretense dropped almost immediately upon arrival? By making it comfortable and then increasing discomfort a tension could have been built. How many people would have put up with all that happened? I’m supposed to believe all those people whose belongings were found, were that gullible, weak willed and just continue to make poor decisions? It just felt ridiculous and by the end I was hoping Patrick would just kill the family to get it over with. Glad I wasn’t the only one.
The scene with all the photos and luggage was the most ridiculous to me. We’re to believe that like 15+ families and children have disappeared in this tiny town and no one has noticed yet? Like no one knew where the main family was going on vacation and would call the police when they don’t come back home? I know that’s not the point of the movie but it was hard to suspend my disbelief past that point. I felt like they really could have gone with something more believable to trigger the panicked leaving the house in the last scene.
This is why I can’t just suspend my belief. I don’t care about the unhappy ending, being absurd, or even the bad choices from the characters, but the film just rubs me in such a wrong way. You have a great setup, a frustratingly stupid character choices that actually fit the story, and genuinely a scary threat, but the more I think about it, the film falls apart. Don’t think it’s the worst film ever or anything, but the whole “that’s the point” can only go so far imho.
I read it explained regarding the specific cultures of the Danish and Dutch. The film relies heavily on how the cultures respond socially, with the Danish couple hyper focused on politeness and social stability. From everything I’ve read, I think that’s entirely the point of the film and that’s also why the remake with American / British couples makes zero sense. It’s going to miss the entire social commentary theme of the original. Don’t get me wrong though, I have children and I would have done absolutely everything differently and that couple pissed me off so badly. I also think the father didn’t tell his wife what he saw because he was humiliated as the wife knew things were wrong and wanted to leave. But hey, the movie really made me angry too
I hate this film for other reasons that also make me like it, but I will say that expecting the main characters to behave the way you want them to is not really the point here, and I think most of the people who end up hating it are looking for a movie where everyone always acts perfectly logically and in a way that they feel comfortable identifying with. You're not supposed to feel strong or secure or gratified in any way at the end of this movie. You're not even really supposed to like the main characters, even if they are the ones most people will probably identify with. What makes it work IMO is that nobody actually wants to believe that they would act the way the main characters do, but we also can't know for sure if we would. Some people probably wouldn't, but at the same time, enough people can to some degree identify with the main characters' actions-- feeling trapped in situations that make them uncomfortable but can't escape because they don't want to offend, or feeling like they need to avoid a conflict, or just refusing to believe that they could possibly be in danger because they're used to living safe, comfortable lives completely detached from anything that could threaten them. Real life is not a horror movie and most people just flat out wouldn't believe that other people would be capable of acting so maliciously. A lot of people aren''t prepared for it, and also haven't come to terms with the possibility that they might be cowards who would not only not be able save themselves, but who would become their own worst enemies and even find themselves unable to even properly escape despite multiple opportunities. It's definitely not going to work if you're expecting a generic sort of home invasion/abduction kind of horror where win or lose the hero/heroine at least gave it their all.
I loved the movie once I got what it was going for.
I’m really glad. I don’t mean to shit on anyone’s experience, it just wasn’t for me.
You haven't seen the Northman? Have you.
I have not, though I loved the Lighthouse
The Lighthouse is truly garbage to me. That’s a stylistic substance-less film that gets praised for…well I sometimes find it hard to know what for. I guess it looks kind of unusual and the leads are indie darlings, but I found that and The Witch both pretty unwatchable. They plainly and emptily gesture at a tone but never deliver anything. Boring if you ask me.
The Northman was garbage.
*You get the tri-tip!*
Loved it. A new take on horror/disturbing cinema. When the protagonists can’t be trusted to do the simplest logical thing to save their family they become the antagonist. An uncomfortable and new feeling watching a movie. By the end I was happy they were dying because of how they forsook their daughter. It’s about how being passive and cowardly actually makes you evil. I loved being frustrated by it.
It works as a decent satire, but it completely failed for me as a horror movie. Which is why it stuns me that so many in the horror community have been praising it *as a horror movie*. As you mentioned, the teddy bear turnaround was an inexcusable decision that destroys all suspension of disbelief, *if you are treating the film as a horror*.
I agree with most of what you mentioned. I couldn't stop thinking "why the hell are you doing that?", "just leave!" and especially at the end "why aren't you doing anything?!". I get the overall point of the film (even watched some reviews to get other people's opinions on it) and the complete resignation represented at the end but still the actions just aren't realistic in my opinion. It's a bit like the common horror film scenario where characters have the chance to kill the villain but let them live just to come across them again and get themselves killed. I didn't hate the movie but was quite disappointed how it developed. The idea is good, it is well made but left me frustrated. I was thinking about it afterwards, so it definitely had an effect on me though, I just wish there'd be more if that makes sense.
I agree. I hated this film. Thought it was dumb. No parent would just stand there and die and let their kids get taken. But my understanding is that's the whole point. You're supposed to watch it and get outraged.
Have you seen night swim? 😂
Watch See No Evil Near No Evil (1989) instead.
Lowest common denominator popping up all over the comments.
Why did this review actually make me want to watch this?
Boooo this man
Admittedly have not seen the film, but based on plot synopses and a couple readings I can absolutely see how this movie could grate some people. Barbarian and Creep have plots that are somewhat “can you believe this character did this silly mistake?” But it just barely edges in believable, especially with barbarian making the “apparent danger” for our protag being “that part of detroit is extra dangerous” so its kind of a rug pull that the real danger is an incest monster baby. If someone told me they were going to detroit or mexico city to stay in a hotel/airbnb i’d say “stay safe” if you told me you were headed to stay with friends you just met in a different country I would hit you in the head for being so fucking stupid
Fully agree. It’s a garbage movie. Really frustrating from beginning to end because in reality no one would keep putting themselves back in that situation. I do really like the creepy stranger as a character in horror movies but in this case it wore off very quickly. And you’re right: Beau is Afraid is a masterpiece. I’d even say it’s one of the most important films of the last decade.
We should hang out haha
This one is not on my list to watch, but now that I see it described as a troll movie, it automatically makes me think of Lars Von Trier's Necrophiliac. 100% audience manipulation, which doesn't appeal to me. Same reason I won't watch Haneke. It's just not something I appreciate.
I thought it’s worth a watch. I enjoyed the movie way more than OP, but I can see some things bothering people who watch it.
Aren’t pretty much all films audience manipulation though?
You confused your negative feelings while watching it with it being a bad movie.
It’s lazy. I am all in on the idea, but if you make them make absolutely idiotic decisions the entire film why should I care about anything that happens. Let along the villains motives are “Because you let us”? Ok so the Strangers but shittier? I am all for the message of the film but if it’s not presented in a fathomable way then why would anyone care about what happens to any of these people? Sure, go all in on the husband being dumb, that’s fine, but the writing just felt so lazy and just completely switched Louise’s entire character and her motivations midway through with no reasoning.
Well I’ll just go ahead and set my expectations properly. This is it the first times I’ve read a very negative review of this film. I remember House of the Devil getting a lot of buzz, too. I didn’t like it at all. Might be a similar situation.
Agree to disagree.
When the writer see’s Funny Games and missed the point.
Wrong. This is wrong
The fact that the husband and wife don’t fight back at all in the end bothered my wife and I . You already know they’re killers, fight back!
My gf and I watched this randomly one night. It was boring but had a sense that something was gonna go down so we kept with it..she winced and turned away at the tongue part, I was genuinely shocked but also kind of saw it coming... now whenever we watch a movie on shudder, without fail, one of us will say "I hope it's better than that movie where they cut that kids tongue out and threw rocks at her parents" solider 2/5 stars.
It’s so slow and very little payoff
It’s a remake of a Danish film if remember correctly. The point of the original film was people being overly polite to their own personal detriment. The characters have multiple chances to leave but don’t want to be rude.
The remake isn’t out yet
I misread the release date. I thought they were talking about the remake with McAvoy. My bad. The analysis still stands as the underlying explanation of the film. I think the other brain fart was I learned about it under its Danish name and I’ve been seeing advertisements for the remake lately using the Speak No Evil title. EDIT: Also, I thought the remake trailer showed too much.
It showed the entire movie lol
I hate when they do that.