- Release year: 2024
- Director: Alexandre Aja.
- Producers: Alexandre Aja, Dan Cohen, Dan Levine and Shawn Levy.
- Screenplay by: KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby.
- Cinematography by: Maxime Alexandre.
- Music executive: Hillary Holmes.
Synopsis: a mother lives in a house in a forest with her two sons. She is convinced that evil is stalking them and the only way to protect her family is if they only go out tied to a rope that’s connected to the house.
Shotgun Commentary: interesting concept, average-going-on-clumsy delivery.
Review
Never Let Go is a horror film with strong Bird Box (2018) vibes that, unlike said film, delivers little to nothing. Not even Halle Berry’s acting abilities can save a wreck of a script that relies on a good idea that it never develops.
ABC narrative
The film tells the story of a woman and her two sons, who live in the middles of nowhere, convinced that they are the only people left in the world (not surprising coming from Americans). Their assumption is based on the mother’s belief that “the evil” has consumed everyone. Yes, you heard right. After the first “it started with a snake” biblical reference, one expects some sort of demon or a minimum of lore behind the villain… well, you can keep waiting. There isn’t an actual villain, it’s just “the evil”.
The evil takes any shape it wants in order to lure the trio out of the house and, hopefully, away from the only thing protecting them: a rope tied to their house. The idea is that the house is love and all things good, and having a physical connection with it keeps them safe. It is strange that the movie’s idea of a loving home is a house where no one trusts anybody, they starve, and they are made to stay under the floor for an hour to reinforce their faith, but to each their own.
So scary?
The main issue with Never Let Go, other than the characters, a subject that we’ll dive into in a bit, is the horror itself. Aside from, oh surprise, a decaying fat woman used as a source of fright, there isn’t much to begin with. The occasional zombified person in predictable moments just doesn’t hit as hard as it used to… in the 70s…
Other than the terrible threat of getting fat and dirty, the main instrument use to try and scare you is the sound effects. Yelling, screeching and sudden loud noises will, indeed, make you jump from time to time, but ultimately they are more annoying than they are scary. Plus, the sound editing is absolutely dreadful. The conversations are quiet and the action scenes raucous, a party in your ears about as delightful as the sound of a fork scratching a plate. Never Let Go could have taken a page out of Longlegs’ (2024) book in terms of how to properly use sound in horror. Sadly, it takes after Friday the 13th (1980) in that sense.
Today, in “Most Annoying Characters”…
A promise is a promise, let’s get into the characters. The story works well, developing their personalities and beliefs as the certain events take place. The play on whether the mother has some sort of schizophrenia or not is pretty interesting if you don’t pay too much attention to the obvious clues that are laid down for you, like her sons do. The difference between the brother’s personalities and principles also adds to the story beautifully. However, this is as far as the positive goes.
To say that the young boys are dumb would be to underestimate the stupidity of which they are capable. Both of them. You might start thinking, “well, but the other one isn’t as bad”, he is. It doesn’t matter who “the other one” is to you, they will keep surpassing each other until all you want is for all of them to die and the movie to be over. The mother is somewhat more likeable, a bit chaotic, but more tolerable than her sons. Overall, the issue with the trio is that they are so dense and unlikeable that it is practically impossible to relate or empathise with, making the feature incredibly boring because you simply can’t be bothered caring.
All in all, Never Let Go is a horror movie that will fade into the background, completely forgotten in a year when horror has had a big comeback. The premise was interesting, but the content itself is a huge letdown.
Thanks to Lionsgate for big screen access! Never Let Go will be released the 27th of September in the UK.
Advice to take from this movie:
- No matter what you do, your kids might turn out stupid.
- You can actually eat tree bark.
- Never trust little girls in the woods, that’s not their natural habitat.
What’s your take? Have you watched Never Let Go? Were you as bored as I was, or did you find it enjoyable?
Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀