Speak No Evil | 2024 | R | – 4.7.8

Why is “Speak No Evil” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some strong violence, language, some sexual content and brief drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied oral sex scene, a few scenes of kissing and hugging, several discussions of infidelity and references to nude photos sent by text, a man killed by a brick to the head, a woman killed by falling from a roof, a man killed by a hammer, a man being burned by acid, a man being slashed in the face with a box cutter, a child with numerous scars on his body and the implication of his tongue having been cut out, many arguments and threats of violence, and over 30 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A couple (Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis) and their young daughter vacationing in Europe meet another couple (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi) and accept an invitation to visit them in their remote farm. That’s when they begin to feel uncomfortable, and when they try to leave, the sinister truth is revealed. Also with Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough and Kris Hitchen. Directed by James Watkins. [Running Time: 1:50]

Speak No Evil SEX/NUDITY 4

 – A man kisses a woman and they embrace; they talk to another man and woman about role playing and being intimate with people other than their partner, as the woman goes under the table and the man reacts as if she is performing oral sex on him, making the other people uncomfortable; she then stands up laughing and saying that it was a joke. Several people hug goodbye and a man kisses a woman’s neck while holding her, making her and her husband uncomfortable. Several people hug in greeting.
► People talk about how often they have sex. A man sings a love song in a car and looks at another man seated next to him. A husband and his wife argue about the woman having been involved with another man and that the man saw pictures of the other man’s genitals on her phone; they hug and apologize later. A man says, “Cheating is hard to get over.”
► Several people stand on a ledge over water and undress preparing to jump in (we see the women wearing bras and underwear that reveal cleavage, bare abdomens, backs and legs to the hips with partial buttocks; the men wear underwear that reveals bare chests, abdomens, backs and legs). An outline drawing on the side of a mountain shows what resembles a giant man with an erect penis. People at a swimming pool wear swimsuits that reveal women’s cleavage, abdomens and legs and men’s bare chests, abdomens, backs and legs. A woman wears a low-cut nightgown that reveals cleavage and bare shoulders. Two women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage and bare shoulders. A woman wears a low-cut cropped top that reveals cleavage and her bare abdomen. A small sculpture is in the shape of a nude woman (breasts without detail are visible) with a swollen abdomen (it resembles a fertility symbol).

Speak No Evil VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A young boy pounds a brick on a man’s face repeatedly and we see his face becoming bloody pulp as the child yells (the boy’s hands are bloody and his neck is splattered with blood). A man shoots at a woman and two children and another man tries to hit him with a hammer; the two men wrestle on the floor and one man presses the other man’s face toward a shard of glass until a woman hits him in the back of the head with a hammer (we see the hammer sticking in the man’s head) and he collapses. A woman holds a shotgun on a man, a young girl and a young boy while a man forces another woman to do a money transfer; she slashes the man on the face with a box cutter, he falls to the floor yelling (we see blood on his face), and the other people run away.
► A young boy gestures with his hand that his tongue was cut out. A young boy raises his shirt to reveal many scars on his chest and abdomen. A young boy shows a man his tongue (we see that part of his tongue is missing) and tries to speak but is unable to form words. A woman squirts sulfuric acid into a man’s face and he yells; we later see him with burn marks on his skin.
► A man climbs out of a window toward a ladder leaning against the roof, a woman also climbs out of the window and shoots at the man, and another woman hits her in the head and she falls off the roof (we see her motionless on the ground with blood on her face); a young girl slips off the roof and the man catches her arm and pulls her back up, he drops to the ground and we hear a snap as he moans and holds his leg. A man pushes a young boy into a lake and the boy thrashes, unable to swim; another man jumps in to help the child as the boy sinks under the surface, he pulls the child to the shore and sees that the first man is holding his wife and daughter at gunpoint. A man slams into a door with his shoulder and seems to be in pain; he pushes against the door while a woman tries to keep him out, she stabs him in the arm with a fork and he shoots at her. A man holds a gun on another man that holds a gun to a young girl’s head; the girl stabs the man in the abdomen with a hypodermic needle containing a sedative and he stumbles and falls. A man slaps a woman in the face and she hits him back.
► A man lights a bottle of liquor on fire and tries to throw it on a roof, but drops it when he is shot at; he throws it and it rolls off the roof and onto a car that later blows up. A boy and a girl dance together and a man becomes upset with the boy because he is not following the rhythm of the music; he eventually throws something at the child and a woman yells at the man.
► A young girl in the backseat of a car panics when she realizes that she doesn’t have her stuffed animal; she yells and kicks the back of the driver’s seat causing him to swerve on the road and nearly crash head-on into a truck. A man speeds on a narrow and dark road and swerves erratically. A man aims a rifle at a fox in the distance and is unable to shoot. A young girl pokes herself with a thorn and we see blood on her finger; she then presses a thorn into her leg and we see blood on her leg and her dress; when she shows her mother, it is implied that she thinks the child has started her menstrual cycle. A man climbs a ladder to retrieve a stuffed animal from a gutter on the roof and the ladder slips a couple of times. Several people stand on the top of a rock wall over water and jump off, landing in the water; one boy thrashes in the water, unable to swim until a man holds him, and one woman seems uncomfortable about jumping. A man calls for a young boy and tells him that they’ll go easy on him if he comes out of hiding; otherwise, he threatens to put him feet first into a wood chipper.
► A woman wakes up and discovers that her daughter is not in her bed and searches the house for her, finding her in a bed with another man, woman and young boy; she panics and carries her daughter out of the room. A child becomes anxious in several scenes when she is unable to find her stuffed animal and she scratches her arm feverishly while breathing heavily. A young girl goes to her parents’ room because she is anxious at night and she climbs in bed with them to sleep. A young girl tells her mother about a young boy having scars and that there is something wrong; the woman dismisses her. A man lies on a bed (apparently inebriated) and a young boy unfastens a set of keys from his belt. A young boy shows a young girl a room under a barn where there are shelves filled with possessions and clothing and photos of people. A man and woman try to figure out a way to leave a farm and when they approach their car, they see that they have a flat tire; another man insists on fixing the flat and takes the first man to a barn filled with tools.
► A husband and his wife argue about the woman having been involved with another man and that the man saw pictures of the other man’s genitals on her phone. A husband says that his wife was belittling him. A woman says that she and her husband have been deeply unhappy for some time and are likely to break up. People talk about their parents and one woman says that she never met hers. Two men stand on a remote ridge and yell loudly several times before falling to their knees and laughing. A man is introduced as a babysitter and a man and a woman seem uncomfortable about leaving their daughter with him; another man tells them not to worry because if there’s any “monkey business” he’ll have him deported. People drive a long way on dark roads to an isolated farm, fearing that they might be lost. A man offers to give a young girl a ride on a moped and her parents are concerned about allowing her to do so without a helmet; they do let her go.
► A woman describes having lost her young child to cot death; another woman says that she had two miscarriages. A man describes a condition that his son has that makes it difficult for him to speak because his tongue is too short. A woman complains of pain in her neck in a few scenes and a man touches her head and neck trying to diagnose the problem. A woman corrects a young girl for eating with her mouth open and the girl’s mother tells the woman not to correct her daughter. A man talks about shooting foxes when a fox is seen in the woods. A man asks another man how he uses toilet paper (flat or scrunched) and says that one way could likely lead to getting feces on the hand; the second man seems put off and walks away.
► A man talks about having butchered a prized turkey for a special meal for friends and gives a bite to a woman even though she is vegetarian; she takes a bite and spits in her hand when he walks away. A man lights a piece of paper on fire at a dining table and it floats off the table with glowing embers, as people at the table cheer. A woman finds a stain on sheets and is uncomfortable about sleeping in the bed.

Speak No Evil LANGUAGE 8

 – About 31 F-words, 3 sexual references, 8 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (a bit much, not normal, disabled kid, rubbish, cheeky sod, cheeky [anatomical term deleted], sick, bastard), exclamations (geez, monkey business, bloody, oh my gosh, oh my darlin’, playing with your food), 1 religious profanity (GD), 13 religious exclamations (e.g. God, oh my God, Jesus, bless her, thank God, Christ, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

Speak No Evil SUBSTANCE USE

 – Two men and a woman share a marijuana cigarette, a man is injected in the abdomen with a sedative, and a man fills a hypodermic needle with “veterinarian ketamine.” A man and a woman drink glasses of beer at a swimming pool, people drink wine with meals in several scenes, a man gives another man a bottle of cider and they drink together, when a wife tells her husband that she wants to leave the man tells her that he has had too much to drink to be able to drive, and a woman drinks a glass of brandy.

Speak No Evil DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Friendship, lack of honesty, lying, kidnapping, murder, vegetarianism, pescetarianism, cot death, polite debate, imagination.

Speak No Evil MESSAGE

 – When something doesn’t feel right, run away.