FORT WORTH, Texas — Mackenzie Davis knows the power of a horror movie.

The 37-year-old Canadian actress stars in the American version of “Speak No Evil,” which is a remake of the 2022 Danish film of the same name. The new “Speak No Evil," now in theaters, stars Davis, James McAvoy, Scoot McNairy and Aisling Franciosi.

Davis has been a Hollywood mainstay since the early 2010s, appearing in films such as “The Martian,” “Blade Runner 2049,” “Tully,” “Terminator: Dark Fate” and “Happiest Season.”

She is also known for television work in the “Black Mirror” episode “San Junipero” and for starring alongside McNairy in “Halt and Catch Fire,” a series about the computer revolution in the 1980s.

Now, she’s back on the big screen in “Speak No Evil.” The film follows an American family who meets a British family on vacation and is then invited to their estate, where it’s clear that something is off.

Before the movie’s release in theaters, Davis spoke with the Star-Telegram about the film, visiting Texas and why social horror is a terrifying concept.

(This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)

Q: Mackenzie, congrats on the movie. I saw it last night and had a good time.

A: Did you see it here in New York?

Q: Nope, I saw it here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

A: Did you see it with an audience?

Q: No, unfortunately not. I had a screener link that I watched. I really feel like its one of those movies where you need to have that joint experience. Do you think so?

A: Yeah, we saw it last night. It was the first time I’d seen it. I’ve never really been in a movie like that before, where everyone was screaming at the screen and like spontaneously clapping and groaning. It was really fun.

Q: Yeah, it was a good time. I was curious what drew you to the project?

A: I just thought it was a really interesting script and felt really smart and understated. Like genuinely horrifying, without falling into sort of easy horror. Like, it felt quite smart. And yeah, it just seemed like a fun ensemble piece to work with three other great actors and mine the sort of social horror of being alive.

Q: I think it tackles something more scarier than a masked killer or monster. It’s about being polite and pleasantries, and the push and pull of power. For you, was that something that resonated?

A: I feel the same way. It feels like exactly what happens when you make some sort of, what feels like, a gross social misstep or offend somebody in a way that really wasn’t your intention. Or you miscalculate the situation and how to react to it. You’re like, ‘Oh, I’ll die. Just kill me. I’d rather die than deal with this feeling.’ [laughs] The movie feels like it sort of places that social horror on the same plane. Then James McAvoy is actually gonna kill you.

Q: I don’t feel like we get many movies like that. But this movie is an American remake of the 2022 Danish film of the same title. Personally, as a fan of horror, that original movie was like, ‘Whoa, where did that come from?’ But for you, what’s your relationship with the Danish film?

A: Its reputation preceded it, for me. I had heard all about it, but once I signed on to do this, I sort of avoided watching it until we finished. Because it felt like that couldn’t be helpful to see how somebody else does all of these scenes. But I watched it afterward, and it’s brilliant. It’s the same in a lot of aspects in the setup and the conceit, and the sort of experiment of these two couples being thrown together and seeing how they react against each other.

But it’s really different, because it’s different cultures. I think at its heart, the original and this one, is this sort of cultural experiment of like, “How far will you let someone step all over you? What little agreements do you make with a dictator?” Like, ‘You can have this, you can have this, you can have this.’ Until you’re miles away from what you would have originally conceded to. Anyways, that’s a very roundabout way of saying I like the movie [laughs].

Q: No, that’s good [laughs]. It has one of those concepts like “Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” where this story could be happening anywhere. Like in the next town over to some other family.

A: Yeah, and it would be totally different if it happened in Japan with a Japanese and Chinese couple. Or if it happened in South America with an Argentinian and Brazilian couple. It’s likely infinitely reproducible, which is cool.

Q: Your character Louise has an interesting journey in the film. Things start and you can tell there’s some marital problems and then things really start when the family gets to the ranch house. You have this great speech at the end of the second act, where your character is really honest about what’s going on. It’s really powerful. What did you find with the character of Louise and what was it like playing her?

A: Sometimes it was frustrating because I was like, ‘Say something! Leave!’ But I thought it was really interesting for me to make sense of her, and her having really good instincts and really knowing the right thing to do in most occasions with this sort of family that they found themselves with. Not acting on it, she had to have made some agreements with her husband through therapy. There’s so much subtext in their relationship that’s sort of like hog tying her from being impulsive and reactive.

Because she needs to let him lead or not always overrule the things that he wants to do. I don’t know, I thought that was really true to life. How you have to sort of neuter your instincts or your impulses for the sake of your relationship. To be like, “Alright, it’s my turn to be a team player. So we’re gonna stay at this murderer’s house.” I think that’s really true to life.

Q: Speaking of murderers, James McAvoy is unreal in this movie. I can’t imagine being on set with him. He’s charming and menacing, but physically just looks huge in the movie. What was it like working with him and seeing him really go places?

A: Yeah, he’s an incredible actor, but he’s such a lovely guy. Watching the movie last night and was like, ‘Oh, my God, you’re good.’ Because he’s so far away from that and having that distance of being able to watch him on screen, instead of being with him on set. He looks so swollen, like he’s so muscular in the movie it’s insane. I didn’t really realize all the things he was doing at the time, like he was influenced by Andrew Tate. He was doing all these sort of bulking up, free rolling like muscle bulk exercises that actors do in action movies. I didn’t really pay attention to that at the time, because I’m just a space cadet. But yeah, it really worked. It looks incredible and the effect is so menacing and feels really animalistic as well.

Q: It does, yeah. On the other end of that, you have Scoot McNairy, who plays your husband in the film. All I could think about was “Halt and Catch Fire” when y’all were on screen together. How was it reconnecting with Scoot on this film?

A: Yeah, he’s such a great actor. I mean, again, I saw the movie for the first time last night as was just so affected by his performance. I think he’s so talented and is just incapable of being untruthful. You can see that in the movie, he’s great.

Q: Scoot is from Dallas and my publication is based in Fort Worth here in Texas. So this is my one question about Texas. Have you ever been to the state or Dallas-Fort Worth area?

A: I’ve driven through Texas a lot. I used to work in Atlanta, in “Halt and Catch Fire”, and I would drive across the country, get there and take like 10 days when I go into camp for the season. So I’ve driven through Texas a lot. I shot a movie in Smithville (“A Country Called Home”), which is outside of Austin. Love Texas.

Q: Nice, yeah. I wanted to ask you about the short film you directed, “Woaca.” So, this a two-part question. One, do you know if that will release online sometime in the future? Two, do you have plans to direct a feature film?

A: I have hopes and dreams to direct a feature, but nothing that’s currently happening. I’m in a few festivals right now and I can’t until those are complete. But I think at the end of this year, in a couple months, I’ll put in on Vimeo. Thanks for looking for it though, that’s cool.

Q: Yeah, there’s like a 28-second teaser on YouTube and I know the whole thing is about 13 minutes long.

A: Oh my God, you know all about it.

Q: Yeah, I was really trying to find it.

A: It’s really gross. Don’t eat before you watch it, or during, or after.

Q: Mackenzie, last question for you. What kind of conversations do you hope “Speak No Evil” makes people have as they leave the theater?

A: So I saw it last night, don’t know if I mentioned that, which was so fun to see with an audience. I’ve been to a surprise screening that we did in San Diego during Comic-Con and we did a Q&A afterwards, but we didn’t see the movie. The energy in the theater, both last night and this other time, is so fun and excited. People have that sort of like rabid energy that you get in a horror movie, where you’re like frothing afterwards because you’ve gone through this whole roller coaster of emotions.

I don’t know another genre that does that for you. That is necessarily a collective experience other than horror. I love seeing as many things as possible in the cinema, but horror just doesn’t work as well unless you’re in the cinema. This movie is so beautifully shot and such a collective experience. I just hope people see it theaters and then buzz, buzz, buzz.

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