Yes, yes, yes Halle Berry we know you’re the first and, at present, the last black actress to have won a Best Actress Oscar but it’s something that she seems to never let go of. But there’s no mention of that here which instead refers to the rope she and her two children tie around themselves when venturing out of their remote cabin in the deep in the woods. It’s not because they’re afraid of getting lost in the woods but rather a device that protects them from the evil spirits that are lurking out there and will infect, corrupt and ultimately kill them. Like most children the two sons Samuel (Anthony B Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) are devoted to their mum believing this story she tells them that’s akin to other suspect old wives’ tales, ‘eat your crusts, it’ll make your hair curl’, or ‘if you tell the truth you won’t get in trouble’ and ‘If you want to be a journalist why don’t you email that lovely Huw Edwards?’
With their food supplies getting ever lower they have to venture out into the woods to forage in the forest for food grubbing around for anything that might be vaguely edible like those bargain hunters in the supermarket yellow sticker section. But food becomes ever more scarce and eventually they are reduced to eating fried tree bark or, as we like to call it, Nachos. But for Nolan there’s a creeping feeling that Mum might not be telling the truth especially as she tells them that she is the only one able to see, ‘The Evil. It’s a role that is open to interpretation as is the whole film – Is it an over protective mum not wanting to lose her children? Has mum suffered a catastrophic mental breakdown? A covid-19 lockdown allegory? The permutations are endless.
Written by KC Cougfhlin and Ryan Grassby it never quite nails down the rules of its premise and it is one that is easy to imagine M Night Shyamalan being at ease with. Directed by Alexandre Aja there’s plenty of opportunity for decent set pieces here but they are very few and far between none of which are particularly effective which is a surprise when he has proved so adept at these with his previous films that include his two remakes: Piranha &The Hills have Eyes and especially his fantastic creature feature, ‘Crawl’. Split into three chapters – The rope is your life line, How will I feed my children? and What will become of us? there’s an often sluggish pace with little effective suspense or jump scares and the nods to others films are numerous taking in most obviously The Evil Dead and to a certain degree A Quiet Place but Never Let Go is a disappointment for a director who, at the peak of his powers, can be excellent but here, in the words of ‘Frozen’s Eliza’, audiences may just want to let it go.
related feature : Alexandra Aja’s creature feature, ‘Crawl’
related feature : Alien Romulus – when facehuggers attack at the London premiere ….Fede Alvarez & cast save the day!
Here’s the Never Let Go trailer……
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