Bea Sequeira on Crafting Uncomfortable Horror for SPEAK NO EVIL

Paddy (James McAvoy) in SPEAK NO EVIL | Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures and Blumhouse

By Shannon McGrew

In SPEAK NO EVIL, when an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare.

For the upcoming release of SPEAK NO EVIL, Creepy Kingdom's Shannon McGrew spoke with executive producer Bea Sequeira. During their chat, they discussed the film's intense psychological themes and how SPEAK NO EVIL reimagines horror through cultural collisions and everyday fears.

Thank you so much for speaking with me today, Bea. You have quite a history of producing horror films, especially those from Blumhouse. What draws you to this genre and what about SPEAK NO EVIL interested you in wanting to be a part of this project?

Bea Sequeira: What I love about the genre is that you can smuggle anything into the story. You have so much room to talk about so many things because, at the end of the day, you can just hide it between people getting murdered or ghosts - I love that part. I love that you can get away with many things just because of the genre. With SPEAK NO EVIL, it's that. You are telling a story of meeting new people, and what could go wrong? Everything could go wrong. I love the genre because of that. It allows you to experiment and not have to follow rules. Although I know some people believe that you have to follow [certain] rules but, no, you can experiment and throw things to see what sticks and what works. At Blumhouse, we do it really well, so I'm very excited for people to see the movie.

The casting really elevated this film. It needed strong actors who could play off one another and still hold their own. Can you discuss bringing James McAvoy on and how you approached casting the other roles?

Bea Sequeira: One thing we knew was that we needed to anchor the movie on somebody. When James McAvoy said yes, we were like, okay, we're off to the races [Laughs]. Looking back, we are so lucky that we got these four incredible actors who have this incredible chemistry, as well as the two kids, Dan Hough ("Ant"), who had never done anything on screen before, and Alix West Lefler ("Agnes Dalton"). James creates this environment on set for creativity and experimenting, and it's great. I have to give a huge shout-out to both Mackenzie Davis ("Louise Dalton") and Aisling Franciosi ("Ciara") because those roles could have gotten lost, but they didn't. They're at the forefront and are much more than what they seem.

(L-R): Agnes Dalton (Alix West Lefler), Ben Dalton (Scoot McNairy), and Louise Dalton (Mackenzie Davis) in SPEAK NO EVIL | Susie Allnutt/Universal Pictures and Blumhouse

How did the team balance staying true to the original while also making sure to set it apart from what had been done before?

Bea Sequeira: We wanted to keep the essence of the movie. I keep going back to the things that really scare me, which are things that can happen to you. Meaning this could happen to you. You can meet somebody, but being possessed by a demon maybe not so much [Laughs]. We are telling a universal story, and we see it from another point of view. The original is so intense and thrilling; we wanted to keep that level of intensity but also give it a spin and another point of view. I think we really succeeded in that.

What are you most excited for horror fans to experience with this film? What do you want to let die-hard fans of the original know about the movie so they will want to come check it out?

Bea Sequeira: The uncomfortableness. Every time the characters have an awkward interaction, it makes me want to crawl out of my skin [Laughs]. Also, pitting the American family versus the British one is such a good way to bring all of that to the next level.

Going back to this being an everyday story or something that could happen to you is a way to get the original's fans to see this from another point of view and from another cultural collision. They're complementary of each other, so I feel like we're going to get both fans, and both tracks are going to come together.

SPEAK NO EVIL arrives in theaters on September 13.