Speak No Evil ending explained: What did the remake change from the original 2022 film and other details 

An intense scene from Speak No Evil 2024 | Image source: Universal Pictures
An intense scene from Speak No Evil 2024 | Image source: Universal Pictures

Speak No Evil is a 2024 psychological horror-thriller movie and a revamp of the original Danish film, released in 2022. After Christian Tafdrup directed the first film, James Watkins is the new man behind the lens for the remake.

The original story of Speak No Evil is about two couples (Bjørn-Louise and Patrick-Karin) and their children(Agnes and Abel) who meet on a holiday in Tuscany. The two families' crossing paths lead to unprecedented events, during which the two families spend time together, and Louise discovers disturbing facts about Patrick.

Eventually, the Bjørn-Louise duo (Morten Burian and Sidsel Siem Koch) end up dead, and their daughter loses her tongue at the hands of Karin. Patrick (Fedja van Huet) and Karin (Karina Smulders) are serial killers who kill couples by deceiving them into their hospitality and eventually abduct their children to use them to lure their next prey.

Even though the 2024 film is a remake, the characters' names have been changed a bit, and the ending is quite different. This has led to a lot of speculation among the fans. Read this article to learn more about the ending of Speak No Evil 2024.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Speak No Evil. Reader discretion is advised.


How does Speak No Evil 2024 end?

Ben, Louise, and Agnes in Speak No Evil 2024 | Image source: Universal Pictures
Ben, Louise, and Agnes in Speak No Evil 2024 | Image source: Universal Pictures

While the first movie's tragic ending saw the innocents turn up dead, James Watkins has given his work a different tune. An American couple (Ben Dalton by Scoot McNairy and Louise Dalton by Mackenzie Davis) winds up at the farmhouse of a British family ( Paddy, Ciarra, and their son Ant). They met on a vacation in Italy on account of an invitation from the latter. Ben and Louise's daughter Agnes has anxiety troubles, and Ant was born without a tongue, as his parents say.

As time passes, Louise finds out their British friends are passive-aggressive, and Ant's mistreatment by his parents also seems disturbing to her and Ben.

As the story unfolds, Paddy and Ciarra's inappropriate behavior towards Agnes immediately prompts Louise to leave the place with her family. But they somehow get stuck. An encounter between Ant and Agnes reveals dark secrets about Paddy and Ciarra - who are nothing but serial killers. They had trapped people like this before also and kept hunting tools, photographs (of other families they have preyed upon), and recording equipment in a secret barn.

With Ben's help, Louise learns that Ant is not Paddy and Ciarra's real son. Eventually, the two couples face off as the former tries to escape. Paddy's accomplice, Mike, helps him capture the Daltons but fails and ends up dead along with Ciarra amidst all the commotion.

Finally, the Daltons can escape because of Agnes' bravery, who injects Paddy with an anesthetic drug, leaving him to be beaten to death by his so-called son, Ant.


What is the difference between the endings of Speak No Evil 2022 and 2024?

What we see in the first movie of Speak No Evil is that Bjourn and Louise's daughter Agnes survives the attack from the couple turned serial killers, and she also loses her parents while Abel also turns up dead by drowning.

Christian Tafdrup has reportedly mentioned,

"I did not want to explain why they did what they did. I didn't want to say, “Where are the police?” I wanted the story to symbolize evil in the world and how we react to it.

This justifies the theme of the movie and explains the sinister element where two serial killers prey on innocent families and abduct their children, who are then used to lure the next victim. The ending shows that the loop does not end here and leaves a traumatized Agnes at the hands of the killers.

However, the ending of Speak No Evil 2024 is different. Agnes manages to escape with her parents, and Paddy is killed by his son Ant, who is left behind at the farmhouse as Agnes leaves her stuffed bunny with him.

According to reports, James Watkins added to this ending by saying,

"I love Christian’s movie, but I also thought there was an opportunity to take the themes of his movie and the set-up of it, but to slightly push it in a different direction. I wanted these characters to try, when faced with mortal danger, to find a way out - but they're pretty cack-handed about it, particularly Ben, who has followed this kind of weird, toxic-masculine mentor.

The statement explains the difference between the two films' endings as Watkins mentioned he wanted his characters to try and face danger but did not want a dark ending. However, the questions about Ant's whereabouts remain, keeping the movie an open ending.


Where to watch Speak No Evil 2024?

youtube-cover

Speak No Evil will be available for purchase or rental on Amazon and Apple TV starting October 1, 2024. The movie premiered on September 9, 2024, at New York's DGA Theatre and was later released through Universal Pictures on September 13, 2024.


For more information, stay tuned to Soap Central.

comment icon
Comment

Quick Links

Edited by pshmueni