There tends to be a sense of wariness around an American remake of an international film: a worry that the American version will squander the inherent qualities of the original; that the filmmakers and studio might take something singular and turn it into a bigger, shinier blockbuster. Ironically, that is exactly the case with writer/director James Watkins’ “Speak No Evil” — a remake of a 2022 Danish horror film of the same name by Christian Tafdrup — and yet it works, thanks to a rock-solid, sickeningly horrifying premise dreamed up by Tafdrup and his brother Mads, with whom he wrote his screenplay.

“Speak No Evil” is a horror film “of manners,” so to speak. A couple with a young daughter meet another couple with a son on vacation in Italy and become friendly. The couple with the son invite the other family to stay at their home for a weekend, where the environment becomes increasingly awkward and even dangerous. The question becomes, where does self-preservation prevail over politeness? When does survival supersede social grace?

The original Danish film is suffused with an existential bleakness and a crushing sense of dread. Yet, there are moments throughout where the characters might escape their horrible fate, where you shout at them to keep going, don’t turn around now. There’s a bit of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” quality to the setup where the audience can insert themselves: at what point do you leave? Where is your red line? What would you do here? Because we come to find out that this terrible scenario has happened repeatedly, one can imagine the different ways this might play out with different people, which is exactly Watkins’ take on the remake: with a new set of players, how does this unfold?

From left, Alix West Lefler, Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis in “Speak No Evil.” (Susie Allnutt/Universal Pictures and Blumhouse/TNS)

In Watkins’ iteration, an American expat family who have just moved to London replace the Danish family; a working-class English trio from Devon take the place of the Dutch vacation friends who invite them for a visit to their farm in the West Country. The Americans have a sensitive, anxious daughter named Agnes (Alix West Lefler), the English have a withdrawn, mute boy, Ant (Dan Hough), whom they hope will be friends.

American husband Ben (Scoot McNairy) has his own set of issues that lead him to seek out a friendship with Paddy (James McAvoy), a funny, brutish, rough-and-tumble lad married to the sexy, easygoing Ciara (Aisling Franciosi). Ben, who has recently lost the job that brought them abroad, and whose marriage with strident Louise (Mackenzie Davis) is strained, is somewhat aimless and emasculated. Paddy is a confident, manly, back-to-the-land type, and he seems to hold the secret to masculine reinvigoration; the promise of his friendship is as intriguing to Ben as it is off-putting to Louise.

Yet Louise assents to her husband’s desires out of a sense of guilt and a feminine desire to please. She will squash her clanging inner alarm bells that go off every time Paddy offers her a slice of meat (she’s vegetarian), drives erratically, disciplines Ant harshly and consistently makes her uncomfortable. Her sense of empathy for Ciara and Ant overrides her impulse to flee until she can no longer ignore her instincts and her assertive American mama bear comes charging forth.

You don’t cast Davis, who once starred in a “Terminator” film, if that option isn’t on the table. And while the grinning, sinister McAvoy might grace the film’s poster, and McNairy’s Ben is the catalyst for the story’s engine, make no mistake, Davis emerges as the star of “Speak No Evil.” Her small, minute reactions as she’s trying to maintain the sweet wife image are as deft as her more powerful, action-oriented moments.

Watkins offers up a deeply faithful adaptation in the first hour, condensing a few moments here and there to make room for a more extended standoff and showdown in the climax. So yes, this American remake is the bigger, shinier version of the small, menacing Scandinavian film, boasting sweeping aerial photography, larger sets and pyrotechnics. It also more overtly explores themes of abuse cycles, embittered white male entitlement and complex marriage dynamics. The children, who are aged up, have more agency in the story too.

Perhaps for some, this will be an affront to the devastating, almost meaningless terror of the original, a cautionary tale about stepping outside one’s confines that offered no easy answers about its violence other than, “because you let me.” But in the remake, it is fascinating to see how Watkins teases out new themes, cultural nuances and endings with a whole new set of characters placed within this premise. Despite the differences, it is still a thrill to watch it play out in its own way.

‘Speak No Evil’

3 stars out of 4
MPA rating: R (for some strong violence, language, some sexual content and brief drug use)
Running time: 1:50
How to watch: In theaters on Friday, Sept. 13

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Today is Friday, Sept. 13, the 257th day of 2024. There are 109 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 13, 2008, crews rescued people from their homes in an all-out search for thousands of Texans who had stayed behind overnight to face Hurricane Ike.

Also on this date:

In 1788, the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election and declared New York City the temporary national capital.

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Today in History: September 10, Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court nomination hearings begin

In 1948, Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was elected to the U.S. Senate; she became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

In 1971, a four-day inmate rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility in western New York ended as police and guards stormed the prison; the ordeal and final assault claimed the lives of 32 inmates and 11 hostages.

In 1997, a funeral was held in Calcutta, India, for Nobel peace laureate Mother Teresa.

In 1993, at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

In 2010, Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic to win his first U.S. Open title and complete a career Grand Slam.

In 2021, school resumed for New York City public school students in the nation’s largest experiment of in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Barbara Bain is 93.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias is 84.
Rock singer David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat & Tears) is 83.
Actor Jacqueline Bisset is 80.
Singer Peter Cetera is 80.
Actor Jean Smart is 73.
Record producer Don Was is 72.
Chef Alain Ducasse is 68.
Rock singer-musician Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) is 63.
Olympic gold medal sprinter Michael Johnson is 57.
Filmmaker Tyler Perry is 55.
Fashion designer Stella McCartney is 53.
Former tennis player Goran Ivanisevic (ee-van-EE’-seh-vihch) is 53.
Country musician Joe Don Rooney (Rascal Flatts) is 49.
Singer-songwriter Fiona Apple is 47.
Actor Ben Savage is 44.
Soccer player Thomas Müller is 35.
Rock singer Niall Horan (One Direction) is 31.
Actor Lili Reinhart (TV: “Riverdale”) is 28.

The St. Paul Saints faltered late again Thursday in an 8-7 loss at Columbus.

A back-and-forth game appeared to be headed in St. Paul’s favor with a 6-3 lead after the top of the sixth inning, and a 7-5 lead after the top of the eighth. But the Clippers scored three times in the bottom of the eighth and the Saints couldn’t counter, taking their second straight loss in Columbus.

Andrew Morris started and allowed three runs — two earned — in five innings for St. Paul. Reliever Nick Wittgren (1-2) surrendered the three runs in the eighth to be saddled with the loss.

Michael Helman, back with St. Paul after a stint with the Minnesota Twins, started the scoring with a solo homer in the first. It was his 14th homer of the season for the Saints.

After facing a 3-1 deficit, the Saints put up four runs in the fourth. Jeferson Morales had an RBI single and Rylan Bannon followed with an RBI double. Anthony Prato capped the inning with a two-run double. Morales added another RBI single in the sixth.

Carson McCusker had two hits and scored three runs for the Saints.

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It’s difficult to imagine now, but Centennial football wasn’t some statewide football brand a decade ago.

The Cougars slanted far more toward good than bad, yet they still often fell into the giant gulf of “fine.” They weren’t flush with Division-I talent or behemoth linemen, which instantly makes it difficult to separate yourself in a class as stacked as 6A in Minnesota.

So six or seven years ago, Michael Diggins – the son of Centennial head coach Mike Diggins and the Cougars’ defensive coordinator and director of the strength program – noted the program developed a phrase of “Be different or be better.”

“Better” is often such an athlete-driven metric. But different? That was plausible.

Centennial utilized an option offense. It mixed up defensive schemes. And it truly attacked its strength program.

The latter is the focal point of the program’s culture.

Yes, that’s the buzzword of all buzzwords across the athletic and corporate spectrum. But addressing it was one of Michael Diggins’ primary prerogatives when the former player came on board as a coach.

“The one thing that we were really trying to do at that time was just kind of do what every team in America says they want to do,” he said, “and that’s create a great culture and use the word culture.”

It started with a definition. Within the Cougars football program, “culture” was “doing everything with high character and being committed to competing in everything we do.”

The three “Cs”: Character, commitment and compete.

“What it entails is essentially how we live our life, and how we do things in our program,” Diggins said. “We always kind of say, ‘It takes a lot to be a football player at Centennial.’ There’s a lot to it.”

And it extends well beyond the fall. Over the entirety of the school year’s second semester, the “leadership council” – consisting of the seniors-to-be – meet for lunch every Thursday.

“We talk about life, we talk about different things that we want to see within our program, whether that’s different policies, different things we just do in general,” Diggins said. “It’s their time to vocalize what they see in our program as a senior group.”

There’s also a book club element. For the last two years, incoming seniors have read The Twin Thieves: How Great Leaders Build Great Teams. The book is co-authored by Steve Jones, the architect of Kimberly’s high school football dynasty in Wisconsin. Senior linebacker Caden Coopersmith connected to the idea of watering bamboo and the lengthy period of work that’s required before results are realized.

That could be the case for Centennial this season, as it has been in many years past. The Cougars are the defending Class 6A champions – a result of the rare collision of “better” and “different” in 2023 – but they feature 17 new starters this fall. There were always going to be bumps in the road.

The first of which came last week, when Centennial fell 23-13 to Blaine. That was followed up by a practice Tuesday in which coaches got on players ahead of this Friday’s tilt against highly touted Maple Grove. That practice, Coopersmith said, “really gets us going.”

“Like last year and the year before, we’ve seen great leaders. And we want to be just like them. We want to fill those guys’ shoes. And sometimes we don’t really know how,” he said. “But (coaches) keeping us engaged and prepared will help us encourage other guys to be prepared.”

There is a standard that must be met. Not necessarily on the scoreboard – losses will occur – but in terms of the approach and preparation. That’s what matters most.

“Win, lose or draw, I know our kids are going to do it the right way,” Diggins said. “We could go 2-6, we could go 1-7, but I know the kids are going to do it the right way, I know our program is going to do it the right way.”

And, over time, the right way tends to win out. Like in 2020, when the Cougars started 1-4 and proceeded to end the year with three-straight wins to reach the “state tournament” in the COVID-shortened campaign. Or in 2021, when they started 0-2 before reeling off four-straight victories, including upsets of top-five teams in Maple Grove and Wayzata.

“Our whole philosophy around here is we’re going to continue to do it the right way. We’re going to continue to punch, we’re going to continue to work. Because you never know when it’s going to click,” Diggins said. “It might not click for awhile. And we have to understand we’re going to go through those frustrations, but if the kids continue to do it the right way, at least – win, lose or draw – they’re doing the right things for the future.”

The future could be the back-half of the season or it could be future Centennial campaigns – he texted more than 100 former players after the state title victory a year ago, thanking them for their contributions to the cause. But it will be for the rest of the players’ lives.

The whole idea of the three Cs is centered on building better people. Great football has merely been a byproduct. But the sport has been a useful vehicle in building a culture. Which still isn’t perfect, Diggins noted. There are still kids in every class who are negative and will make excuses. But the number of those athletes dwindles each year. Plus, culture is a constant work in progress.

“You have to continue to work at it. I don’t think it improves on its own. I think we have to continue to keep the pedal on the metal,” said Diggins, who noted the incoming junior class will have a book club of its own in the spring. “And the other thing we have to continue to do is find new ways to make it improved. Because kids are just like us, right? If you continue to do the same things we’re going to get bored and stay status quo. But our belief is to continue to stay on it.”

They have no choice but to nurture what’s been the driving force behind something special in Circle Pines which, even after a title run last fall, seems to again be flying under the radar. One loss later, Centennial isn’t ranked in the top-10 of the current Associated Press Class 6A poll.

Centennial prefers it that way.

“We literally built this thing on being the team that nobody thinks about. The team that wins a state title last year and doesn’t have one single first-team all-state kid. I’ve never heard of that,” Diggins said. “We’ve always had that underdog mentality.

“When you a state title, teams will target you. And we preached that so much, but now we’ve been reinstalling, ‘Hey, we’re back at it, the chip is on our shoulder again. We have to climb to fight back to earn our target back.’ I think that brings a whole mentality back.”

Everyone knows physicality is the Cougars’ M.O. Coaches don’t sugarcoat it with players.

“If you don’t like contact,” Diggins said, “this is going to be a really hard program for you to play in.”

Perhaps an early-season wound will sharpen the team’s bite. The top of a pedestal is no place for this program to rest for long. Cougars are born to hunt – it’s woven into their fabric, ingrained in their culture.

“Our coaches really preach pride in physicality. That’s who we want to be around here,” Coopersmith said. “It’s a lot, but everybody wants to hit everybody as hard as they can, and be the most physical players we can be. Because that’s what’s really cool around here.”

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