When you ask a horror fan what are some of the most devastating and bleak films they have ever watched, Speak No Evil is bound to crop up. Released in 2022, the psychological horror thriller became a word-of-mouth hit online as people flocked to social media sights to share the emotional toll the film had taken on them. It tells the story of Bjørn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch), a Danish couple who meet Dutch couple Patrick (Fedja van Huêt) and Karin (Karina Smulders) while on holiday. They are invited their country house for a weekend holiday, but they soon find their limits tested by Patrick and Karin’s strange and increasingly hostile behaviour.
Speak No Evil became such a success that it attracted the attention of Blumhouse Productions, who released an American remake earlier this year starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, and Scoot McNairy. Though the remake received a lukewarm reception from critics, with many instead hailing the original film for its chilling ending and skin-crawling narrative. As the original film receives a DVD and digital release, we spoke with director Christian Tafdrup about the inspirations behind the modern classic horror film, whether the ending was always set to be so shocking, and his thoughts on his film’s remake…
STARBURST: What was the inspiration behind Speak No Evil?
Christian Tafdrup: I was on a holiday with my own family back in 2017 where we met a Dutch couple at a villa in Tuscany. We kind of made friends with them immediately, but there was something a little bit crazy about them as well. And then they invited us to see them in their private home, but we kindly declined. I just started to imagine how would that weekend look like if we had actually gone? And I immediately thought that it was more fun to place that in a horror setting than in a comedy setting. It’s based on some real events. But, of course, I added a lot of fiction.
A great deal of the horror of Speak No Evil comes from the awkward encounters between the two couples. Why did you decide to make this the focus of the film?
I think it’s a result of me making a horror movie, because I’ve never made horror movies. I’m not a big horror fan, but I thought that there was something about this genre that I liked and something I disliked. I’ve never been into ghosts, vampires, or anything with supernatural elements. The way I used to write is very much dealing with the unpleasantness and awkwardness between people, and there’s a lot of horror in that. And I thought, what if we include more satire, interactions between people, and all the social codecs, and combine that with the elements of horror. Writing the script, we tried to make it more of a classic horror, but it didn’t work for us. But then we kind of just trusted that the real horror is inside ourselves and between people, and what does that look like? Most of the time, this is a very slow burn story towards a horrible ending, but I think that’s why it connected to so many people. It’s such a recognisable situation. Everybody can relate to being uncomfortable and being with people they don’t know so well. The movie is about ignoring your red flags, trying to please others, and be nice, and all these things that are very relatable and that worked for us very well as a horror because you can identify with it instead of the usual jump scare.
A lot has been said by fans about whether they would/wouldn’t be in this situation and criticising Bjorn and Louise for returning to the home. What do you think of this?
It’s very easy when you look at the film and say, “I wouldn’t do that” because you have such a perfect picture of yourself. I related it to things I have done so many times. I have kids now, they’re a bit older at four and nine, but at the time when we wrote the film, my small girl lost her rabbit everywhere. Every time we went on a holiday she lost it, and I knew if I didn’t find it, she would go crazy and it would ruin the rest of our holiday. It was also a way of proving my masculinity to my girlfriend. I can’t fight or anything – I’m a very soft kind of shy person – but I can find this rabbit, and that was a way to gain their love and respect for me. When we watch films, we’re very used to the heroes doing all the good stuff and they beat the bad guys. But in real life, I don’t think it is like that. We are much more afraid, make a lot of wrong choices, but we do it out of humanity.
The ending is infamous now among horror fans. Was there ever a point that you almost didn’t have such a bleak ending?
It was the plan from the beginning. It was a handshake between my brother [Mads Tafdrup, writer] and I. We wrote it together and we decided that we were going to make the most horrible film in Denmark. The most disturbing film in Danish film history. We really wanted to go all the way, because many horror films don’t go all the way. We were tired of happy endings. I love when film endings stay with you. And life is not always pleasant – a lot of tragedy and misery happens in real life – and I think that should be reflected in movies. But we doubted it along the way because other people told us that it wouldn’t sell and that you have to create some kind of hope. We went back to the script, and we had four or five different endings that seemed happier or where they survived, but it didn’t work for us. Our gut feeling was that this will only work, and it will only prove what we have to say, if we go all the way and that they’re not making it. If they make it, it’s another premise. So it took some guts, but we chose to listen to ourselves in the end.
Speak No Evil became a word of mouth hit and really exploded online. What was that like for you to see word of your film spread so fast and with such high praise?
I must admit, it was very nice [laughs]. This is my third feature, and I’ve never experienced such a focus on something I did before. And the attention, of course, pleased me a lot. It was a very difficult film to make because of Coronavirus and a lot of other things, so it was great that it had a lot of attention. But I didn’t expect it. In Denmark, horror movies are like the worst thing you can make, so I thought it was a film that would go under the radar. I also thought it dealt with a very Scandinavian problem – this kindness, trying to please others, and stay polite. But I found it was much more universal and everybody could relate to this. Everybody has a situation in their lives where they did something that was against how they really felt. So even though it has been shown all over the world, people could relate to it. I spent seven years writing and making it, and the film is still alive. That’s just a magical feeling, and it doesn’t happen that often.
There are a lot of really heavy moments in the film. Was there anything you did before or after scenes to decompress?
We knew from the beginning there would be tough scenes, and we worked with children. We really tried to make a good relationship with the kids, but also with their parents. You have to create a set that is a lot of fun. And sometimes I get the feeling when you do a lot of tragic films or horror films, it’s a pretty fun process, but then sometimes when you do comedies, it can be a very hard process. When we did the tongue scene, for example, it seemed silly and people were laughing. It seemed like a children’s theatre, and the girl [Liva Forsberg, Agnes] thought it was so fun because it was all fake. But when you cut it together, and you place the right music with it, it has another effect. So I never experienced somebody being influenced or affected by the cruel nature of the story. Actors know what they’re going into but the children also had a lot of fun with it.
This year, we have had a remake of Speak No Evil. How were you approached about that?
I was flattered. From the beginning, it was not obvious that I should direct it, because they wanted to do something else with the story. I could never do what they did. For me, the film has to have this brutal ending. But I kind of liked that the film does something different, not just repeating what we did. For me, it’s a total other film. I had a very great, entertaining experience when I watched it in the US. There’s just something about the US audience, they love these kinds of stories that see the good guys beat the bad guys. I enjoyed it very much, and I’m very happy that the films are two versions of the same story, but on a personal note, of course, I prefer my own. But they already knew that. I’ve been very proud of being in that process. It’s very flattering when you sit in Denmark and suddenly there’s a worldwide release of your story.
What is in the future for you following Speak No Evil’s home video release?
I spent a couple of years now writing new stuff, and I have two scripts. One is a domestic film that I hope to do this summer, and then the other is an American film that I wrote with my brother again. It’s not another horror film, but we all always work with the uncomfortable and the creepy. I hope to get that in production next year.
SPEAK NO EVIL is now available on DVD and digital.
