Spoiler warning for Speak No Evil

James McAvoy plays such an incredibly toxic character in Speak No Evil that it’s almost impossible to watch. 2024’s Speak No Evil is a remake of the 2022 Danish thriller of the same name, and while the film mostly adheres to the original, it changes the ending enough to completely alter the tone and message of the film. In the movie, an American couple, Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy) Dalton, are on vacation with their young daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), in Italy when they meet a vacationing British family.

Paddy (James McAvoy), his wife, Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), and their nonverbal son, Ant (Dan Hough), cozy up to the Daltons so much that Paddy invites them to their remote cabin home for a vacation a few weeks later, and the Daltons take them up on it. While there, Ben and Louise ignore red flag after red flag as their hosts begin to reveal something sinister behind their friendliness. While the American version of Speak No Evil is not quite as strong or as shocking as the Danish one, McAvoy completely inhabits his character, almost for the worst.

Paddy Is One Of The Most Toxic Characters In Recent Movies

It’s Almost Hard To Finish The Movie With His Behavior

Paddy is all the worst parts of what could be called “toxic masculinity”, and he’s clearly digging as deep as he can into those characteristics to make the Daltons and we, the audience, as uncomfortable as possible. When we first meet Dalton, he is already mocking another couple, a Dutch pair who enjoy talking about cooking. He teases them to their faces, and though it’s played for laughs, it’s actually quite a cruel moment. Things only get worse back at his home, like when he mimes a Sєxual act with Ciara in front of his guests.

He constantly challenges Ben, calling him out for a perceived lack of masculinity. Paddy insists the Daltons let him drive Agnes on a Vespa. He chides Louise until she eats meat, ending a streak of vegetarianism. He is physical and aggressive with Ant. While each of these behaviors would be frustrating on their own, put together, Paddy would be one of the most insufferable, toxic characters ever put on screen. The only reason he’s not truly insufferable is that he’s a serial killer, which is a character defect that trumps “toxic”.

James McAvoy Hasn’t Often Played A Character Like Paddy

McAvoy Is Almost Never This Reprehensible

James McAvoy has played a few characters in horror movies in his time, maybe most memorably, as Kevin Wendell Crumb in the Unbreakable trilogy of movies, but he’s never played a character like Paddy. In Glᴀss and Split, McAvoy put on a ton of muscle to properly portray a character capable of fighting off SWAT team members and bending iron bars. That was superhuman physicality. What he has in Speak No Evil is a real-life type of strength. He’s not superhuman, but you wouldn’t want to mess with him if he spilled a drink on you at a bar.

Part of Paddy’s menace comes from Ben actually being a bit of a weak man. A weak human more appropriately, but a weak man nonetheless. Not only can Paddy bully him, if push came to shove, he could probably physically overpower him, a scary prospect for men who put stock in their strength and size. Beyond his physicality, McAvoy has rarely played a character so cruel and mean. Sharp-witted and angry, maybe, or even disillusioned, but never someone who is just a complete jerk, and it can be hard to watch him play the part so well.

Paddy’s Fate At The End Of See No Evil Is Very Satisfying

The American Version Is A Big Departure From The Original

At the end of Speak No Evil, which is a complete 180 from the Danish version, the Daltons have managed to fight back against Paddy and Ciara, and they’ve even managed to get Ant to safety too. However, their ordeal is not done yet, and Paddy chases the family to the roof. Wielding a gun and being much stronger than even the family combined, Paddy threatens to shoot Agnes. Agnes manages to get a needle of ketamine that was to be used on her and injects her captor with it. He falls from the roof and lands, still alive.

Ant approaches him with a brick, and the young boy gets his bloody revenge on the serial killer who murdered his parents and mutilated him. It’s an extremely satisfying end for Paddy, who has been the worst kind of person in basically every way since he was introduced. While some will say that the new ending to Speak No Evil is an improvement over the original, I would disagree. The only way it’s better is that it ensures the American remake at least is not a complete carbon copy of the original, giving it more of a reason to exist.

However, this heroic ending, which sees every character except for the murderers survive, is at odds with the rest of the film. The original Speak No Evil was a horrific and grim movie, and while not perfect, its refusal to absolve the parents for ignoring every instinct to protect their child is impressive and bold. This American remake insists on turning Speak No Evil into almost a superhero movie, with a clash of good vs. evil at the end. The Danish version lands with a heavy thud in your stomach and will remain with you long after it’s over.

What James McAvoy Has Said About Paddy

McAvoy Thought The Ending Worked For This Film

James McAvoy greatly enjoyed his time making Speaking No Evil and was particularly pleased with audience reactions to the movie. He also believed that ending the film with more hope was appropriate for this version of the movie. He said (via THR),

“For the audience to watch me and kind of enjoy me as this objectionable character with the worst kind of chauvinistic, un-PC, medieval views, then the movie has to judge Paddy. The movie can’t validate Paddy by the end, otherwise, you’re validating those views, as well, I think. So, anyway, I think the movie had to end differently, but to be honest with you, I hadn’t seen the original movie until I finished our movie, so it was never in my mind.”

It’s an interesting point about not waiting to justify a character’s behavior, though there are hundreds of films that end with the bad guy winning that don’t justify their behavior, so there may have been another way. However it ended, McAvoy just delighted in how much audiences seemed to hate Paddy. He said (via SkyNews).

“Every time I wanted them to laugh, they were laughing. Every time I wanted them to get shocked and scared, they were scared and then they surprised me with other stuff that happened. The biggest thing that surprised me is people were throwing stuff at the screen at one point when my character was being particularly toxic, which was amazing.”

Creating a character who can produce such a gut reaction must feel satisfying indeed, and it probably made doing the film more worthwhile than any paycheck. As toxic as James McAvoy’s character is in Speak No Evil, he’s still a fantastic creation, and as better as the Danish version is, the American version has something different to offer, which is a lot more than most remakes can say.