host – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: We cannot be ordered to speak no evil.

Vampire Bat: You can surely live without speaking evil for a day.

Vampire Owl: But we are supposed to be the true undead evil.

Vampire Bat: There are no written rules about the nature of evil.

Vampire Owl: So, there is no chance of being pure evil above them all?

Vampire Bat: Well, you have already watched See No Evil.

Vampire Owl: Yet, I find no relation between that movie and this one.

Vampire Bat: Yes, this is a Danish movie and the first of its kind reviewed here.

Vampire Owl: That took some time to find a review.

Vampire Bat: Well, you know the world – as busy as it can get.

[Gets a vegetable pizza and three cups of cardamom tea].

What is the movie about? :: Bjørn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch) are a couple from Denmark who is having a long vacation in Tuscany, having some fantastic Italian food and becoming part of the culture. Their only child Agnes (Liva Forsberg) is also with them. During one of their explorations of the tourist destinations, they come across another interesting couple Patrick (Fedja van Huêt) and Karin (Karina Smulders) with their child Abel (Marius Damslev) who cannot talk, as he was born without a tongue, seemingly suffering from congenital aglossia. Even though this family is Dutch, they get along with the Danish family quite well. Bjørn and Louise find the new friends to fun-loving and respectful to other cultures as much as people. Later, the Dutch couple also provides them with an invitation to visit their house in the countryside of Netherlands. The two are excited about another foreign trip, and this time, they could drive all the way to the location and would be able to stay at a new place without spending that much, like the best offer ever. It is eight hours of drive, and when they final reach the new destination, the hosts seem to be really polite and understanding.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The two groups seem to get along, but not for long. The hosts seem to intentionally forget about Louise’s vegetarianism and also seem to be abusive to their own child. One day, they go on a dinner in a restaurant where there are more arguments which also occur on the way back. Back in the house, the couple find the hosts intruding into their privacy again and again, while also making strange decisions for Agnus. They decide to leave and finally does the same, only to return for the doll which had gone missing in the house. The hosts apologize and convince them to stay. But this reconciliation does not stay for long, as the hosts seem to repeat similar if not the same mistakes again and again. Then, Bjørn discovers a cabin just behind the house, and there he finds a secret which he should not have known. Now, as he knows this truth, there would be no more staying at this house. He decides to leave with his family, but it is not so easy. The sinister mysteries of the hosts might have enough backup to keep their secrets hidden from the outside world. Can he save his family in time or will he realize that nobody gets out alive from these things heard and seen?

The defence of Speak No Evil :: The movie is a beautifully evil reminder that humans are inherently evil, and trusting strangers would only land you in terror. The idea that people have a lot of capacity for goodness is proven to be wrong, but you would have already known that if you had a look at the rich keeps earning for, and moves on walking on the bodies of the poor. A charming family with a kid can easily be evil, make no doubts about it, as people point to living with families with children and staying close to them as safer options. The dark visuals add to the same, and it is a fine deviation from the light and colourful visuals of the beginning stages. There are some nice twists and revelations in here, and the moments where we feel that things are going to be better, but then darkness engulfs them all. The script is indeed well-designed with mastery over the proceedings to make sure about it. The fact that this movie explores evil as a natural thing rather going deep into its roots makes us remember to be careful about strangers again – a long time after our parents told us to keep away from them. Well, this is the psychological thriller with class that teaches the same.

Positives and negatives :: The movie can be rather shocking with its revelation, as it uses kids as bait to create an atmosphere of safety – but this is a terrifying reality for kids as much as adults. The feeling that children would be spared is a myth here, as the movie points to a fate that will repeat itself. There is a certain twist related to that, and a clue is left with the kid in the early stages of protagonists’ stay there. It also points to the title of the film itself, as evil shall go unspoken. The next big clue is indeed about the profession, and that also leaves something for the viewers to hold on to. The movie could have been a little bit quicker with the early moments though. But once it opens the box of weirdness, the level is elevated all of a sudden – then we remember that there were moments which pointed to this situation with some shots and music earlier itself. This is the kind of movie which makes one think twice before going on a cheap trip with family just because someone provided a sweet invitation. Well, the wise has always said that cheap cannot mean better, and there are many hidden terrible costs that one would have to pay.

The performers of the soul :: The performances here surely deserves an applause, as only four adults really get the chance to do a lot in this movie. None of these characters go against evil here, as some are part of it and others are too weak to stop the never-ending progress of evil. Among the main characters, it is Sidsel Siem Koch plays the most balanced one – she feels that there is something wrong much earlier, and wants to leave. Here is a character played naturally and realistically without pretensions. Morten Burian plays the main character who makes a little too many mistakes and has his family paying for it in the end – the feelings are well-justified in his case. Fedja van Huêt plays the psychotic character really well, and we feel that there is something more about him early enough. Karina Smulders who plays his partner in crime might feel like a sweet young lady who can be nothing less than a lovely host, but the peaceful side of her enjoying the terror can also been seen. Liva Forsberg and Marius Damslev makes children with scope for some nice roles. Hichem Yacoubi plays the other notable character here, and does that pretty well.

How it finishes :: Speak No Evil is that one film which deserves to be among the creepy horror with a misanthropic side to it that feels very realistic. It could be the reason why it will return in 2024 in the form of an English film starring big names like James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis. The movie serves as a cautionary tale against going for cheap options instead of the safe ones and trusting strangers in remote location. It reminds us that not all invitations mean that we are welcome, and not all smiles are truly what they seem to be. It also adds that a family with a mother and a kid does not mean anything, and living with families rather than bachelors do not make the situation any safer. The protagonists of the film learn this the hard way, and the movie happens to be an entertaining dark adventure related to the same. This is the first Danish movie reviewed on this website, and I am only glad to have chosen this one instead of the many others. This is the thriller that dares to take the risks and manages to score high due to its ability to go beyond the limitations.

Release date: 17th March 2022 (Theatre); 14th October 2022 (Amazon Prime Video)
Running time: 98 minutes
Directed by: Christian Tafdrup
Starring: Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt, Karina Smulders, Liva Forsberg, Marius Damslev, Hichem Yacoubi

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: I have always enjoyed encounters with aliens.

Vampire Bat: Yes, you have always been looking for vampire aliens.

Vampire Owl: If a species requires blood to survive, they would just vampires and not aliens.

Vampire Bat: Well, if they are from another planet, they are surely aliens.

Vampire Owl: You are questioning their basic nature of existence.

Vampire Bat: When on Earth, they are still aliens.

Vampire Owl: Drinking blood is in their nature, and that counts as vampires only.

Vampire Bat: This one is worth a debate at the Dracula Castle.

Vampire Owl: I am sure that Uncle Dracula will accept them as just vampires.

Vampire Bat: You don’t know him well enough after the Corona virus pandemic.

[Gets some French fries and three glasses of strawberry shake].

What is the movie about? :: Malik Khan (Riz Ahmed) is a dishonorably discharged Marine who is having a tough time living the usual kind of life. He sees that there is so much of riots going on the nearby cities, and the is bothered by increase in violence all around the state and the country. His former wife Piya Khan (Janina Gavankar) and children Jay Khan (Lucian-River Chauhan) and Bobby Khan (Aditya Geddada) are now living with her present husband Dylan (Misha Collins), a long distance from him. The sons, especially Jay is not happy with the situation, and has turned extremely arrogant. He visits Jay and Bobby at takes them away in his car, saying that this is a road trip which their mother has kept as a surprise. The boys feel that this could really be a fun ride, but there is more to it than what he says. Malik seems to be waiting for something bad to happen at all times, and there is a lot of worries that he seems to have here.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: When they are stopped on the road by a police officer, he is forced to tell the boys the truth about what has been happening in the last few days. He tells them that there are some non-terrestrial microorganisms taking over the planet, as these aliens are using human bodies are used as hosts – most of the humans are no longer in control, and some heavy research is required regarding this, for which they hope to reach a safe place. He also feels that at least half of the population has been infected. The idea of a parasite growing inside one’s body frightens the boys, but they decide to fight and make it the safe place with their father. As Hattie (Octavia Spencer) is the one who is in charge of Malik’s parole understands that he took the children after tying up Piya and Dylan, she understands that he is in trouble. Back home, FBI is in charge of the investigation on the kidnapping of the boys, and they feel that he might be going to keep his children.

The defence of Encounter :: The beginning of the movie was really good, and it keeps us interested throughout most part of its run. Most of the things which were shown in the beginning turns useless in the end, but they had a fine role in making the whole film engaging. This has the strength to work as a post-apocalyptic movie after the worms, parasites, or anything takes over later, but it chooses to go ordinary, and that is indeed a shame. The performance are really good, and the visuals are also nice, when we look at them. Some action is also added here and there, but there is almost no horror being part of this, even though there was the chance for that too. It is basically what we thought about the movie before watching it that has kept us interested, and one has to say that the talk about the film before its release did go well to create an image – the same is not reflected well here though, as we stare at it.

The claws of flaw :: Encounter is very much a confused movie, as it doesn’t really seem to know what it is aiming for, with a beginning as an alien invasion movie, and then going on to be a strange family drama. This change that the movie brings at a point of time does no favour to it – if everything happened the other way around, things would have been much better. The movie is called a science fiction thriller both on IMDB and Wikipedia, and one really has to wonder how this film gets into that particular category, especially in the second half, as the path seems completely lost. Even though the ending does look realistic, it is not the kind of finish that are looking for, and for a climax like this one, not many people would wish to buy the tickets – well, this is on Amazon Prime Video and when you have already taken the subscription, one might just end up watching it quickly for the sake of it. Promoting a movie as what it really is, would be the right thing to do, in my opinion.

Performers of the soul :: It is the performances that score for the movie which struggles with confusion over its own identity, as Riz Ahmed does a very good job as the former Marine who seems to be trying to end an alien invasion, but is as confused as the movie itself. His feeling of paranoia, worries and strange acts are all things which work well for us. If the movie could have actually stepped it up well enough, this could have brought wonders for him, but unfortunately, he also struggles with the film as we reach the disappointing end. Janina Gavankar has some fine family moments in the beginning, but that doesn’t carry over as the protagonist doesn’t really feel the need to save her from aliens. Octavia Spenser also has some fine moments, as one of the most likable characters that we see anywhere. Rory Cochrance is the typical FBI agent that we see in different movies in similar forms. The two children are good, especially Lucian-River Chauhan who has a little more to contribute in comparison with Aditya Geddada.

How it finishes :: Encounter makes another science fiction alien invasion thriller entry to Amazon Prime Video after The Tomorrow War did the same thing a few months ago. Still, our movie here is rather different, with no big alien attacking people around, and no huge action scenes – in this case, we don’t have too much of sci-fi being thrown around, as no certainty about the alien attack is provided. Almost all the movie, you keep thinking if there is really an alien, a doubt which won’t favour you if you are looking for full action alien flicks. This movie is more drama when we consider the case here. You have an alien movie here without the certainty of the existence of the aliens, and that is indeed not the science fiction that you want. Well, when there are so many alien invasion movies at your disposal, and which a good number of science fiction films waiting for your eyes, this one which degrades into a family drama might not be the one you prefer, but it is still an interesting watch, especially during the first half.

Release date: 10th December 2021
Running time: 108 minutes
Directed by: Michael Pearce
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Janina Gavankar, Rory Cochrane, Lucian-River Chauhan, Aditya Geddada