The story draws on the experiences of Christian Tafdrup, director of the original Danish Speak No Evil (2022). While holidaying in Tuscany with his wife he struck up a friendship with a Dutch couple. Although the Dutch pair were somewhat socially awkward, the two couples got on very well, and after returning home Tafdrup was invited by the Dutch family to visit the Netherlands. He briefly considered the offer but decided he would feel uneasy staying with people he barely knew; the idea for the film emerged when he let his darkest imaginings roam over what might have happened had he accepted (he has maintained that the original Dutch couple never gave any cause for concern). In this remake, the nationalities of the two families have been changed to American and British.
James McAvoy said he deliberately avoided watching the original Danish Speak No Evil (2022) before commencing work on the remake, so it would not influence his interpretation of the role. He watched it within 24 hours of filming concluding and was highly impressed.
The message Ant leaves for Agnes is written in Danish, signalling that the birth family who were murdered came from Denmark (this is further confirmed by the Danish inscription on the back of his father's watch, which Paddy has kept as a trophy). It serves as a nod to the original Danish–Dutch film that this picture remakes, and the language barrier also explains why Ant has never managed to communicate with any of the victims his captors have brought to their home. The words on the note can be roughly translated as "Please help me escape. This place is unsafe."
The ending differs from the original Speak No Evil (2022). In the 2022 picture, the Danish couple Bjorn and Louise are tormented and murdered by the Dutch pair Patrick and Karin because they are too terrified to fight back. The Dutch first kill their own mute son Abel, then have Bjorn and Louise's daughter Agnes abducted via the immigrant babysitter Muhajid; they cut out Agnes's tongue and keep the traumatised girl as their own stepdaughter (as they did with Abel).
Director James Watkins regarded that version as a sharp satire on Danish acquiescence, but for the American remake, after discussions with his cast and audiences, he decided Americans, with their 'frontier mentality' or 'can‑do culture', would be less quiescent and at least attempt to run or fight back. Consequently the remake gives a more hopeful ending in which Ben and Louise, together with their daughter Agnes and the captive boy Ant, get away from Paddy and Ciara, killing them in the process. The babysitter Muhjid plays no role in Paddy's conspiracy; instead Paddy has another associate, Mike. To avoid turning the Americans into implausible superhumans who suddenly become 'Rambo', Watkins intentionally made their defence and escape efforts clumsy and messy.
Ciara says she and Paddy have been together for seventeen years and later asserts that she was the first child he kidnapped and groomed. If Ciara is being truthful and is meant to be the same age as Aisling Franciosi (the actress who portrays her), she would have been only fourteen at the outset of their 'relationship'.
Director James Watkins was considering making a film with Blumhouse and was unfamiliar with the Danish film Speak No Evil (2022) when he was handed a copy for inspiration. He was taken with it—describing it as 'a strong brew, an 8% beer or something'—and felt its very bleak ending echoed the conclusion of his own Eden Lake (2008). Unbeknownst to him, Christian Tafdrup, director of the Danish original, had cited Eden Lake as one of his reference points when making Speak No Evil.
A remake of the 2022 Danish–Dutch film bearing the same title.
Principal photography was carried out mainly in Gloucester, United Kingdom, with an additional week of shooting in Croatia.
The inscription on the watch that Ant shows to Agnes is in Danish and is roughly rendered as "Happy 40th birthday", accompanied by some initials.
Director James Watkins said that at test screenings many viewers — predominantly men but also a fair number of women — labelled Ben (Scoot McNairy) a "wimp" after his mental collapse in the third act, when he contemplates giving up, and wanted him to be firmer. Watkins, however, explained he deliberately made Ben a "beta male" who stays true to his character, and that "the alpha is actually Louise (Mackenzie Davis)."
The poem Paddy quotes when the two couples go out for dinner is "This Be the Verse" by Philip Larkin.
With only five days of filming remaining, production was halted in July 2023 because of the writers' and actors' strikes. Filming recommenced in November 2023.
James McAvoy was recommended to director James Watkins by his editor Jon Harris, who had previously cut several films featuring the actor. Watkins immediately endorsed McAvoy as his top choice, had him read the script over a cup of tea, and was pleasantly surprised when he agreed to take the part (typically only the second or third choice sign on). Watkins also commented that McAvoy's presence acted as 'actor bait' for other performers keen to work with him, and he liked how McAvoy's performance created an intriguing dynamic tension with Scoot McNairy's restrained turn.
In a 2024 interview with Empire magazine, James McAvoy (Paddy) said he modelled the toxic masculinity of his character in Speak No Evil after Andrew Tate, the far-right social media personality and influencer whose philosophy has been widely condemned as misogynistic.
The Danish couple appearing at the start serve as a homage to the original 2022 film, which was a Danish–Dutch co-production.
The film opens and closes on the face of Ant (Dan Hough) seated in a moving car. Writer-director James Watkins said he intentionally avoided a neat ending in which everyone is safe and all is well: although the family survives, there is a tragedy to it because of the human cost, and he wanted to honour the sadness of that final image. The boy has lost his parents and endured a horrific ordeal — he has suffered physical and mental abuse and was forced to commit an act of violence — so there is an emotional release that Watkins finds deeply affecting. He also wanted to leave no doubt: they have survived and will continue along this road, but it will not be easy.
Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy had earlier collaborated on the television series Halt and Catch Fire.
Director James Watkins has become recognised in the horror genre for both writing and directing Eden Lake (2008) and The Woman in Black (2012).
Towards the end, Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) asserts that she is another of Paddy's victims. Writer-director James Watkins keeps it intentionally ambiguous whether she is being truthful or merely attempting to manipulate events: he describes Paddy and Ciara's relationship as deeply toxic — there is genuine love, but it is distorted. He points out the oddity that the central couple, Louise and Ben, look at Paddy and Ciara and see, on the surface, a better relationship: carefree, fun, and seemingly full of passionate intimacy. Yet it complicates matters. Watkins suggests two things can be true about Ciara: when she says at the end, "I'm a victim too," she is a victim, but she is also manipulating and complicit. Whatever befell her in the past, the current situation still reads as a performance.
Everyone except Ben took part in successfully taking down the villains.
Paddy and Ben performing The Bangles's 'Eternal Flame' together was an idea writer–director James Watkins had from early on; he felt the song would give the pair a strange energy by running counter to the moment on screen — a kind of friction between the music and the action that creates humour. The sequence was filmed before the rights to the song had been secured, but producer Jason Blum managed to arrange a deal via director Jay Roach, who is married to the Bangles' lead singer Susanna Hoffs.
The restaurant scene was originally longer: after Paddy and Ciara engage in a game of sexual innuendo, they were meant to get up and dance and then draw Ben into an awkward three-way dance, leaving Louise watching awkwardly from the sidelines. However, this was removed from the final cut because the filmmakers felt it was unnecessary.
As Ant sticks his "tongue" out at Ben by the bins, actor Dan Hough mouths the words "Scoot Mcnairy"
This marks the second horror‑remake role for Mackenzie Davis. She earlier featured in The Turning (2020).
Paddy says he overheard Ben and Louise's argument in their bedroom. He not only overheard it but also witnessed it, as he can be briefly seen peering from behind the bedroom door, unnoticed by the couple and perhaps by viewers.
Paddy's near-obsessive fixation on 1980s pop music closely mirrors that of one of cinema's best-known sociopaths, Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
