Danish director Christian Tafdrup (seen above, what a babe!) who made the 2022 original Speak No Evil -- a film I consider a horror masterpiece (here is my review from when it screened at Sundance that year) -- has spoken out now that he's seen the remake starring James McAvoy, and his words are... incredibly similar to what I said in my review of the remake earlier this week. He was not happy! Now there are spoilers for the endings of both movies in what he says, so if you haven't seen them I suggest not reading this. And also I suggest you go watch the original movie right now -- it's easy to access, it's streaming on Shudder and rentable everywhere else. Anyway a hearty hear hear to all he says:
"I don’t know what it is about Americans, but they are brought up for a heroic tale, where the good must win over the bad, and this version of the film cultivates that,” Tafdrup complained. He went on to say that the changes that were made to the film made it feel “less dangerous,” and more sanitized for American consumption. "When I saw the film yesterday, I could see that they would never succeed with a film where the characters are stoned to death, as they do in our film. These people [in the U.S. version] must fight for their family and defeat the bad guys […] It is a kind of happy ending, and it is so deep in their culture that America must be able to handle it all." Comparing audience reactions, Tafdrup said he witnessed audiences leaving the remake “who were completely over-enthusiastic and clapped, laughed and whooped. It was like being at a rock concert” while he recalled how “people…left my film traumatized.”