“Never Let Go” is a newly released horror film directed by Alexandre Aja and written by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby. It follows the story of a mother and her two sons who live in a house in a forest. The world has been ended by the Evils, people who are infected and attempt to make people kill each other. But the only thing that keeps the family safe is their house, and whenever they leave their house they must still be connected to it by rope. This keeps everyone safe from the Evils. The family’s safety and downfall is led by a shortage of food and lack of trust in reality. And what once was a consistent lifestyle quickly changes when the two boys, Sam and Nolan’s, mom dies. I did enjoy watching this movie and would recommend it to somebody who enjoys suspenseful movies with more serious tones or topics, but it is not the best movie I have ever seen.
The movie is separated into multiple parts, starting with part one: “The Rope Is Your Lifeline”. At the start of the movie, the audience is first introduced to the characters and their lifestyle. The movie shows the mother waking up her sons, feeding them a small breakfast, and then how they go hunting and end their nights. Viewers are shown how they are always connected to a rope when they are away from the house, and how they always have whistles. The rope keeps the family safe from Evil. While the two boys cannot see the actual Evil, the mother can. This helps her truly understand the importance of keeping her family safe, as the Evil reminds her of what they will do when they infect her. The story truly gets set into action when one of the two boys lets go of the rope while out hunting. The mother ends up saving him, but this event does help the audience understand the danger and importance of the character’s connection to the rope. Whenever each character has had close contact with the Evil, they must touch the wood of the house and repeat a phrase to prove they are not infected. After these events pass in the movie Nolan, one of the boys, loses trust that his mom is telling the truth and if the evil is actually real. This then drives him to later cut his mothers rope which led to her ultimate death. After this, the two boys are alone and eventually get infected as well. But instead of dying, they both are found and get sent to a hospital. This is where the movie is concluded. This is not a clear ending, as the audience itself does not know what the future holds.
I think the storyline in this film is pretty good. There were a lot of tense moments that set the storyline into action. This ultimately was able to keep the audience wondering what was happening next, and it held my interest throughout the whole movie. One thing I thought was especially interesting in the storyline was that there were multiple events that had the audience questioning the reality and realness of the situation along with the characters. I switched between moments where I thought the Evil was real and others where I didn’t. Therefore, that is why I think the storyline and plot was good, because it kept the audience on their toes and experiencing emotions along with the characters. One critique or negative point I have about the plot is that at the end of the movie I felt myself wondering “what was the point?” At the end of the movie there wasn’t a clear resolution, and all the commotion and events that had happened previously did not have an answer or an ultimate solution. Although this was probably intentional, it was still the one negative comment I have about this movie.
On the other hand, I think that the quality of acting in this movie is exceptional, especially Halle Berry’s acting. The topics in this movie are very serious, emotional, and fearful. These emotions are very complex, yet the actors do an exceptional job at portraying each of these emotions both separately and all together. Halle Berry, who plays the mother June, does an unbelievable job at illustrating a powerful and strong character while also showing the fear and worry of being a mother. Her skill level while acting in this movie is comparable to Sandra Bullock’s role in BirdBox. They both are mothers who are determined to keep their kids safe by being strong, and they both do an exceptional job at it. On the other hand, the actors who play Sam and Nolan, named Anthony B. Jenkins and Percy Daggs IV , do a great job in their roles as well. They both are able to play complex characters who are still kids but portray a level of maturity and awareness that somebody in their characters’ experience would have. They are able to illustrate curiosity, worry, devastation, hope, determination, and the complexities of trust all while being children in a movie. Halle Berry, Anthony B Jenkins, and Percy Daggs IV are all the primary characters in this movie, and they all do an exceptional job.
The music and soundtrack in this movie is good. The music is mostly all instrumental, yet it is still used very differently for different scenarios and purposes. The music tends to be more loud, fast paced, and higher pitched when there are intense moments and there is a lot of action. This creates a lot of focus and worry for the audience and what is currently happening in the movie. I like this, but would have preferred for the music to be different at the moments that were intense. I wish it would have been a lower tone, as the music used in those moments did annoy me a little bit. But, one of the most noticeable uses of music in this movie was when they used music to allude to the presence of someone or something. When music was used for this purpose, it was more quiet and calm. I really liked this aspect because it almost was used to characterize the Evil, which was a very smart way to hint to the audience that something was about to happen. Therefore the music in this movie was pretty good, although I did like the quiet and more intense music that the fast paced music.
Overall, I think this movie is a good film to watch, as long as you aren’t looking to watch the best movie to ever exist. It is a good movie to watch when you are looking for something random. I think it had a pretty interesting storyline and would recommend it to someone who likes movies with darker topics. If you mainly like comedy or more lighthearted topics, this movie is not for you.
For me personally, I would rate this movie a 7/10.
