You’ve seen this movie before and you know exactly where it goes. Right at the outset you’ll probably think to yourself “ohhhh, I know what’s really going on,” and you’ll be right. You’ll remember multiple other films that have played around with similar concepts in similar worlds, and you’ll remember enjoying most of them much more than you’re enjoying this one. You will wonder why Halle Berry, whose horror filmography is…not great, decided to produce and star in this film. And if you’re a genre junkie, you’ll wonder why the legendary Alexandre Aja decided that this was the movie to make.
This ain’t to say that the film is terrible — that could actually be fun — just that it’s a bland, derivative film that fails to find a reason for its story to be told. Never Let Go is a long journey through well-worn territory, with a wishy-washy ending that undercuts what little thematic material it had in the first place. It’s a shame.
In it, Halle Berry plays a single mother to two boys, Samuel and Nolan (Anthony B. Jenkins and Percy Daggs IV, respectively). They live alone in a decrepit house in the middle of the woods, presumably after some sort of apocalyptic event. Per Mom, there’s an anonymous evil that lives in the woods surrounding their home, and the only way to avoid being affected by it is by remaining tethered to the house. To this end there are three ropes tied to the foundation of the home, and as long as the trio remains in contact with their rope, they can scavenge for food and supplies without coming to harm. They just have to…never let go.
Only Mom can see the physical manifestations of the evil, which typically takes the form of monster-ish humans, and it’s up to Mom to cleanse anyone who may be at risk of succumbing to it. She does this by locking the kids (if affected) in a small crawl space and reciting a prayer. There’s also a dog.
The premise is over-complicated, and it’s no wonder that one of the boys begins to question the veracity of their mother’s claims. Is Mom protecting them from a world-ending terror, or is she just crazy?
While some of the imagery, especially that of the personified evil, is no doubt scary in a vacuum, it all feels weightless on account of how it’s framed and how little of a tangible threat it poses. We never actually get to see the purported effects of the evil, instead just hearing about how bad an encounter with the evil would be, were it to ever occur. Mom, looking increasingly unhinged and full of beans, asserts that nothing could be worse. It’s why she had to kill her own parents back in the day, like a normal person who isn’t going crazy and inventing an apocalyptic scenario due to mental illness would do.
So we wait for answers for just under two hours as Mom and her boys work to stay alive and argue about what’s really going on in the woods. There are a few scenes that successfully capitalize on Berry’s undeniable acting talent, and both boys give exceptional performances. One particularly tense segment in which a potentially evil outsider offers a lifeline to the family is particularly well-constructed and executed, but it’s just impossible to get invested in it amidst such an undercooked script. Actually, come to think of it, perhaps overcooked is the proper terminology. Everything that could makes this story feel original and compelling has been boiled off, leaving behind a charred and familiar narrative shell.
Aja can’t help but make a handsome movie, and his stylistic stamps are all over this one, but when it comes to his body of work, Never Let Go is closer to Mirrors than it is to Haute Tension. It’s okay, Alex. I’ll still be back for the next one. You’ve earned it.
Everyone else? We’ll call it an A for effort.
Directed by Alexandre Aja
Written by KC Coughlin, Ryan Grassby
Starring Halle Berry, Anthony B. Jenkins, Percy Daggs IV, Mila Morgan
Rated R, 101 minutes