If you and your family are alone in a remote forest location, how do you truly know if the outside world is completely gone? With no way to communicate to anyone else with only long lengths of rope to tether you to the protection of the place you call home, can you truly ever know?
Halle Berry known as Momma, lives alone in an isolated cabin with only her two sons Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV). An insidious evil that only Momma can see stalks them at every corner. The only safety is their cabin, which they must be always tethered to via a rope, to prevent the evil from taking control of them and forcing them to murder the others. Momma explains that the rest of the world has been overrun by this evil and that the three of them are the only remaining “good” people. Surviving on the occasional squirrel, grubs and tree bark, the three’s daily routine is relegated to surviving.
After a close encounter where one of her boys ends up off rope, we see the lengths that she will go to to ensure that the evil does not find it’s way into their home. Forcing her sons to touch the “sacred wood” of the home, repeat a prayer of protection and then locking them one at a time under the floor, we begin to question whether her sanity has taken a toll.
Alexandre Aja, known for horror movies such as Piranha 3D and the Alligator movie Crawl, directs this unique take on the familiar end of the world genre. Halle Barry convincingly portrays a woman who the audience constantly guesses as to whether she is truly the divine being who can see the evil, or whether the evil itself is a delusion she’s constructed after the loss of her mother and her husband.
The true stars of the show however are the incredible acting by both Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins. They are so convincing as brothers, that you might begin to believe that they are in real life. The metamorphosis the two go through from the beginning of the movie until the end is a terrifyingly realistic view of what can happen to people (kids in particular) when they are sheltered away from the rest of the world. The suffering and desperation is palpable, growing even more intense the further the film progresses.
Never Let Go has a brilliant concept throughout, although not always executed as well as it could have been. The beauty of the filming location takes an eerie turn at every corner. Making what would normally be a fabulous place to go hiking or camping, it’s a source of terror and dread. The actors put themselves fully into the role and much of the film you are constantly changing your mind on whether momma is simply crazy, or whether the world outside truly is gone. Something that continues throughout its hour and forty-minute run time.
Never Let Go offers another good (albeit not great) suspense movie to see this Halloween season. While there are films that are far scarier and more suspenseful, this is a unique take on the end of the world that keeps you guessing throughout. While you likely will need to suspend your beliefs in order to truly take it all in, it’s at least effective in the story it wishes to tell.
3.5 out of 5 stars
