Sundance ’22: Politeness Turns Unsettling in Psychological Horror “SPEAK NO EVIL”

Directed by Christian Tafdrup **2022 Sundance Film Festival: MIDNIGHT** World Premiere: (Virtual) Friday, January 21st at 11:55pm MT Second Screening: (Virtual) Sunday, January 23rd at 8:00am MT Synopsis On a vacation in Tuscany, two families – one Danish, one Dutch – meet and become fast friends. Months later, the free-spirited Dutch family extends an invitation to the more conservative Danish one for a holiday weekend getaway at their countryside home. However, it doesn’t take long before things gradually get out of hand as the joy of reunion is replaced with misunderstandings. The Dutch hospitality quickly turns unnerving for the Danes, and they find themselves increasingly caught in a web of their own politeness in the face of eccentric…or is it sinister…behavior. About the Director Christian Tafdrup graduated from The Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2003. As an actor Tafdrup has starred in both feature films and TV. Among other projects, he starred in Susanne Bier’s Academy Awards nominated After the Wedding (2006), the BAFTA winning tv-series ‘Borgen’ (2010-), and the TV-2 series ‘Park Road’ (2009-2010). In addition to his acting, Tafdrup has directed three shorts. In 1999 he wrote and directed the short The Copier, and followed it up with Debutanten (2003). His third short Awakening (2008) won the Robert-award (Danish Academy Award) for ‘best short’ as well as several other awards on the festival circuit. His feature film debut as a writer/director Parents (2016) was nominated for ‘Best International Feature Film’ at the Tribeca Film Festival, and won a Robert-award for ‘Best Director’, a Bodil-award (Danish Critics Award) for ‘Best Screenplay’ and both a Robert and Bodil for ‘Best Actor’. His second feature A Horrible Woman (2017) debuted in Denmark and was selected for multiple festivals. The film received a Bodil as well as a Robert-award for ‘Best Actress’ and a Robert-award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’. Tafdrup is known for his razor-sharp satirical tone in his films, where he mixes comedy and drama in order to examine the relation between people in our modern western society.